Old English Poems Part 10

Abraham answered (he had only one thing That he wished to perform, the will of the Father): "The Sovereign of all himself shall find it, 2895 As the Lord of men shall believe to be meet."

Up the steep hill struggled the stout-hearted man, Leading the child as the Lord had charged, Till climbing he came to the crest of the height, To the place appointed by the powerful Lord, 2900 Following the commands of his faithful Master.

He loaded the altar and lighted the fire, And fettered fast the feet and hands Of his beloved son and lifted upon it The youthful Isaac, and instantly grasped 2905 The sword by the hilt; his son he would kill With his hands as he promised and pour on the fire The gore of his kinsman. --Then G.o.d's servant, An angel of the Lord, to Abraham loudly Spoke with words. He awaited in quiet 2910 The behests from on high and he hailed the angel.

Then forthwith spoke from the s.p.a.cious heavens The messenger of G.o.d, with gracious words: "Burn not thy boy, O blessed Abraham, Lift up the lad alive from the altar; 2915 The G.o.d of Glory grants him his life!

O man of the Hebrews, as meed for thy obedience, Through the holy hand of heaven's King, Thyself shall receive a sacred reward, A liberal gift: the Lord of Glory 2920 Shall favor thee with fortune; his friendship shall be More sacred than thy son himself to thee."

The altar still burned. Abraham was blessed By the King of mankind, the kinsman of Lot, With the grace of G.o.d, since he gave his son, 2925 Isaac, alive. Then the aged man looked Around over his shoulder, and a ram he saw Not far away fastened alone In a bramble bush-- Haran's brother saw it.

Then Abraham seized it and set it on the altar 2930 In eager haste for his own son.

With his sword he smote it; as a sacrifice he adorned The reeking altar with the ram's hot blood, Gave to his G.o.d this gift and thanked him For all of the favors that before and after 2935 The Lord had allowed him in his loving grace.

1. This selection is based directly on the biblical account of the offering of Isaac. The clearness with which the picture is visualized by the poet, and the fine restraint in the telling of the dramatic incident make this pa.s.sage a fitting close for the paraphrase of Genesis.

2928. _Haran_, the brother of Abraham, is mentioned in Genesis, 11:26, ff.

SELECTIONS FROM EXODUS

[Critical edition: Francis A. Blackburn, _Exodus and Daniel_, Boston and London, 1907, Belles-Lettres Series.

Translation: Kennedy, _The Caedmon Poems_, p. 99.

There can be no doubt that both _Exodus_ and _Daniel_ are by different hands from _Genesis A_ or _Genesis B_, and they are themselves by different authors.]

The Crossing of the Red Sea

When these words had been uttered the army arose; 300 Still stood the sea for the staunch warriors.

The cohorts lifted their linden-shields, Their signals on the sand. The sea-wall mounted, Stood upright over Israel's legion, For day's time; then the doughty band 305 Was of one mind. The wall of the sea-streams Held them unharmed in its hollow embrace.

They spurned not the speech nor despised its teaching, As the wise man ended his words of exhorting And the noise diminished and mingled with the sound.

310 Then the fourth tribe traveled foremost, Went into the waves, the warriors in a band Over the green ground; the goodly Jewish troop Struggled alone over the strange path Before their kinsmen. So the King of heaven 315 For that day's work made deep reward, He gave them a great and glorious victory, That to them should belong the leadership In the kingdom, and triumph over their kinsmen and tribesmen.

When they stepped on the sand, as a standard and sign 320 A beacon they raised over the ranks of shields, Among the G.o.dly group, a golden lion, The boldest of beasts over the bravest of peoples.

At the hands of their enemy no dishonor or shame Would they deign to endure all the days of their life, 325 While boldly in battle they might brandish their shields Against any people. The awful conflict, The fight was at the front, furious soldiers Wielding their weapons, warriors fearless, And b.l.o.o.d.y wounds, and wild battle-rushes, 330 The jostling of helmets where the Jews advanced.

Marching after the army were the eager seamen, The sons of Reuben; raising their shields The sea-vikings bore them over the salt waves, A mult.i.tude of men; a mighty throng 335 Went bravely forth. The birthright of Reuben Was forfeited by his sins, so that he followed after In his comrade's track. In the tribes of the Hebrews, The blessings of the birthright his brother enjoyed, His riches and rank; yet Reuben was brave.

340 Following him came the folk in crowds, The sons of Simeon in swarming bands, The third great host. With hoisted banners Over the watery path the war-troop pressed Dewy under their shafts. When daylight shone 345 Over the brink of the sea, --the beacon of G.o.d, The bright morning,-- the battle-lined marched.

Each of the tribes traveled in order.

At the head of the helmeted host was one man, Mightiest in majesty and most renowned; 350 He led forward the folk as they followed the cloud, By tribes and by troops. Each truly knew The right of rank as arranged by Moses, Every man's order. They were all from one father.

Their sacred sire received his land-right, 355 Wise in counsel, well-loved by his kinsmen.

He gave birth to a brave, bold-hearted race, The sage patriarch to a sacred people, To the Children of Israel, the chosen of G.o.d.

The folk were affrighted with fear of the ocean; Sad were their souls. The sea threatened death; The sides of the hill were soaked with blood; 450 Gory was the flood, confusion on the waves, The water full of weapons; the wave-mist arose.

The Egyptians turned and journeyed backward; They fled in fright; fear overtook them; Hurrying in haste their homes they sought; 455 Their pride had fallen; they felt sweep over them The welling waters; not one returned Of the host to their homes, but behind they were locked By Wyrd in the waves. Where once was the path The breakers beat and bore down the army.

460 The stream stood up; the storm arose High to the heavens, the harshest of noises.

Dark grew the clouds. The doomed ones cried With fated voices; the foam became b.l.o.o.d.y.

The sea-walls were scattered and the skies were lashed 465 With the direst of deaths; the daring ones were slain, The princes in their pomp-- they were past all help In the edge of the ocean. Their armor shone High over the hosts. Over the haughty ones poured The stream in its strength. Destroyed were the troop 470 And fettered fast; they could find no escape.

The Egyptians were For that day's work deeply punished, Because not any of the army ever came home; Of that mighty mult.i.tude there remained not a one 510 Who could tell the tale of the traveling forth Who could announce in the cities the sorrowful news To the wives of the warriors of the woeful disaster.

But the sea-death swallowed the sinful men, And their messengers too, in the midst of their power, 515 And destroyed their pride, for they strove against G.o.d.

299. Moses has just finished telling the children of Israel that he has been able to make the sea part its waves so that they may walk across unharmed.

307, 308. This pa.s.sage is obscure in meaning.

310. The tribe of Judah lead the way. They are followed by the tribe of Reuben (v. 331) and then by the tribe of Simeon (v. 340). This order is perhaps taken from Numbers, chapter ii.

331. The Children of Israel are called "sailors" in the poem, but no satisfactory explanation has been made of the usage.

335, 336. See Genesis 49:4.

354. This refers to G.o.d's promise to Abraham. See Genesis 15:18; 22:17.

2. CYNEWULF AND HIS SCHOOL

[Aside from Caedmon's Hymn, the only Old English poems whose author we know are four bearing the name of Cynewulf, _Christ_, _Juliana_, _Elene_, and _The Fates of the Apostles_. In these he signs his name by means of runes inserted in the ma.n.u.script. These runes, which are at once letters of the alphabet and words, are made to fit into the context. They are [image: Anglo-Saxon runes: cen,yr,nyd,eoh,wynn,ur,lagu,feoh]

Several other poems have been ascribed to Cynewulf, especially _Andreas_, _The Dream of the Rood_, _Guthlac_, _The Phoenix_, and _Judith_. Except for internal evidence there is no proof of the authorship of these poems.

The Riddles were formerly thought to be by Cynewulf, but recent scholars have, with one notable exception, abandoned that theory.

Many reconstructions of the life of Cynewulf have been undertaken. The most reasonable theories seem to be that he was Cynewulf, Bishop of Lindisfarne, who died about 781; or that he was a priest, Cynewulf, who executed a decree in 803. There is no real proof that either of these men was the poet. For a good discussion of the Cynewulf question, see Strunk, _Juliana_, pp. xvii-xix, and Kennedy, _The Poems of Cynewulf_, Introduction.

Of the signed poems of Cynewulf, selections are here given from _Christ_ and _Elene_.]

_a_. CYNEWULF

SELECTIONS FROM THE CHRIST

[Critical edition: Cook, _The Christ of Cynewulf_, Boston, 1900. Text and translation: Gollancz, _Cynewulf's Christ_, London, 1892. Translation: Kennedy, _The Poems of Cynewulf_, pp. 153, ff. The poem consists of three parts:

1. Advent, largely from the Roman breviary.

2. Ascension, taken from an Ascension sermon of Pope Gregory.

3. Second coming of Christ, taken from an alphabetical Latin hymn on the Last Judgment, quoted by Bede.

Is there enough unity to make us consider it one work? Cook thinks we can. The differences in the language and meter are not so striking as to make it unlikely. The great objection to it is that the runes occur at the end of the second part, which is not far from the middle of the entire poem. In the three other poems signed by Cynewulf the runes occur near the end.]