The Cynewulfian poems are much more scholarly compositions than the Beowulf or even the Cædmon poems. There is a greater power of expression, less reliance on the feeble kenning, and some real expertness in description. The ideas expressed in the poems are broader and deeper, and a certain lyrical fervor is not wanting. The date is probably the tenth century.

PROSE

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1. Alfred (848-900). Though there were some prose writings of an official nature (such as the laws of Ine, who died about 730) before the time of Alfred, there can be little objection to the claim frequently made for him, that he is "the father of English prose." As he tells us himself in his preface to the Pastoral Care, he was driven into authorship by the lamentable state of English learning, due in large measure to the depredations of the Danes. Even the knowledge of Latin was evaporating, so the King, in order to preserve some show of learning among the clergy, was compelled to translate some popular monastic handbooks into his own tongue. These works are his contribution to our literature. As he says, they were often "interpreted word for word, and meaning for meaning"; but they are made much more valuable by reason of the original passages freely introduced into them. The books, four in number, are an able selection from the popular treatises of the day: the Universal History of Orosius; the Ecclesiastical History of Bede; the Pastoral Care of Pope Gregory; and the Consolation of Philosophy of Boëthius. His claim to the translation of Bede is sometimes disputed; and there is a fifth work, a Handbook or commonplace book, which has been lost. The chronological order of the translations cannot be determined, but they were all written during the last years of the reign.

We add a brief extract to illustrate his prose style. It is not a highly polished style; it is rather that of an earnest but somewhat unpracticed writer. When it is simplest

it is best; in its more complicated passages it is confusing and involved. The vocabulary is simple and unforced.

Swa clæne heo was oofeallen on Angelcynne p swide feawa wæron be-heonan Humbre þe hira þe-nunge cuðon understanden on Englisc, odde furdon an ærend-ge-writ of Ledene on Englisc areccan; and ic wene pnaht monige be-geondan Humbre næron. Swa feawa heora wæron pic furbon anne ænlepne ne mæg gebencan besuðan Thamise þa þa ic to rice feng. Gode Almightigum sy banc, we nu ænigne an steal habbað lareowa. For þam ic be beode, bu do swa ic gelyfe þu wille.

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So clean [completely] has ruin fallen on the English nation, that very few were there this side the Humber that could understand their service in English or declare forth an Epistle [an errand-writing] out of Latin into English; and I think that not many beyond Humber were there. So few such were there, that I cannot think of a single one to the south of the Thames when I began to reign. To God Almighty be thanks, that we now have any to teach in stall [any place]. Therefore I bid thee that thou do as I believe that thou wilt.

Preface to "Pastoral Care"

2. Elfric (955-1020) is known as "the Grammarian." Of his life little is known. It is probable that he lived near Winchester, and he was certainly the first abbot of Eynsham, near Oxford, in 1006. A fair number of his works, both in Latin and English, have come down to us. Of his English books, two series of homilies, adapted from the Latin, seem to have been composed about the year 990. A third series of homilies, called The Lives of the Saints, is dated approximately at 996. Several of his pastoral letters survive, as well as a translation of Bede's De Temporibus and some English translations of Biblical passages.

Elfric's style is interesting, for it is representative of the scholarly prose of his time, a century after Alfred. It is flowing and vigorous, showing an almost excessive use of alliteration. In many cases it suggests a curious hybrid between the poetry and prose of the period.

3. Wulfstan was Archbishop of York from 1003 till his death in 1023. In his prose, which survives in more than

fifty homilies and in his famous Letter to the English People (Lupi Sermo ad Anglos), he shows the effects of "style" to a marked degree. His Letter in particular is a fervid epistle, detailing with considerable power and fluency the dreadful plight of the English nation in the year 1014. The alliteration and rhythm are exceedingly well marked, much more so than in the case of Elfric.

4. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle was probably inspired by King Alfred, who is said even to have dictated the entries dealing with his own campaigns. The Chronicle has come down to us in four versions, all of which seem to have sprung from a common stock. The four versions are preserved in seven manuscripts, of which the most notable are those connected with Canterbury and Peterborough. From the period of the English invasions till the year 892 the books are fairly in accord. At the latter year they diverge. Each introduces its local events and miscellaneous items of news, and they finish at different dates. The last date of all is about the middle of the twelfth century.

The style of the Chronicle varies greatly; it ranges from the baldest notes and summaries to quite ambitious passages of narrative and description. Of the latter class the well-known passage on the horrors of Stephen's reign is a worthy example. We give a brief extract, dated 1100, just at the close of the Old English period, which is a fair average of the different methods:

On þisum geare aras seo ungeþwærnes on Glæstinga byrig betwyx þam abbode Durstane and his munecan. Ærest hit com of þæs abbotes unwisdome

he misbead his munecan on fela thingan, and þa munecas hit mændon lufelice to him and beadon hine phe sceolde healIdan hi rihtlice beon and lufian hi, and hi woldon him beon holde and gehyrsume.

In the year arose the discord in Glastonbury betwixt the Abbot Thurstan and his monks. First it came from the Abbot's unwisdom: In that he mis-bade [ruled] his monks in many things and the monks meant it lovingly to him and bade him that he should hold [treat] them rightly and love them and they would be faithful to him and hearsome [obedient].

THE DEVELOPMENT OF LITERARY FORMS

From the time when it first appears till it is swamped by the Norman Conquest Old English literature undergoes a quite noticeable development. In the mass the advance appears to be considerable, but when we reflect that it represents the growth of some five hundred years, we see that the rate of progress is undoubtedly slow. We shall take the poetical and prose forms separately.

1. Poetry. Poetry is much earlier in the field, and its development is the greater. It begins with the rude forms of Beowulf and concludes with the more scholarly paraphrases of Cynewulf.

(a) The epic in its untutored form exists in Beowulf. This poem lacks the finer qualities of the epic: it is deficient in the strict unity, the high dignity, and the broad motive of the great classical epic; but a crude vigor and a certain rude majesty are not wanting. It is no mean beginning for the English epic. The later poems of the Cædmon and Cynewulf types are too discursive and didactic to be epics, though in places they are like The Battle of Maldon and The Fight at Finnesburgh in their narrative force.

(b) The lyric-that is, the short and passionate expression of a personal feeling-hardly exists at all. The nearest approach to it lies in the dramatic monologues, such as Deor's Complaint. These poems are too long and diffuse to be real lyrics, but they have some of the expressive melancholy and personal emotion of the lyric.

2. Prose. The great bulk of Old English prose consists of translation; and in its various shapes English prose adopts the methods of its originals. We have many homilies, some history, and a few pastoral letters, all based strictly upon Latin works. There are very few passages of real originality, and they are short and disjointed. Of historical writing we have the rudiments in the AngloSaxon Chronicle. On the whole, the development is very small, for the prose is bound by the curse of imitativeness.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF LITERARY STYLE

1. Poetry. We have once more to distinguish between the earlier Beowulf stage and the later Cynewulf stage. In the earlier period the style is more disjointed, abrupt, and digressive, and is weighted down by the reliance upon the kenning. In the later stage there is greater passion and insight, less reliance upon the stock phrases, and a greater desire for stylistic effects.

2. Prose. In spite of its limited scope, Old English prose shows quite an advance in style. The earlier style, represented by the prose of Alfred, is rather halting and unformed, the sentences are loosely knit, the vocabulary is meager, and there is an absence of the finer qualities of rhythm and cadence. By the time of Wulfstan the prose has gained in fluency. It is much more animated and confident, and it freely employs alliteration and the commoner rhetorical figures.

But within this development both of prose and poetry there was already the seed of decay. During the last century of the period the poetical impulse was weakening; there is little verse after the time of Cynewulf. The prose too was failing, and the language was showing symptoms of weakness. The inflections were loosening even before the Norman Conquest, and the Old English vocabulary was being subtly Gallicized. The Norman Conquest was in time to put an abrupt finish to a process already well advanced.

EXERCISES

1. Examine the style of the following poetical passages. Point out examples of kennings, and mention the purposes they serve. Comment upon the type of sentence, the use of alliteration, and the nature of the vocabulary. Compare the style with that of the Beowulf extract given on page 4.

(1) Us is riht micel,

That we rodera weard,

Wereda wuldor-cining,

For us it is much right

That we the Guardian of the skies,

The glory-King of hosts,