CHAPTER XXI.

BYRON, MOORE, SHELLEY, KEATS, AND CAMPBELL.

CHOICE SPECIMENS

OF

ENGLISH LITERATURE.

.

CHAPTER I.

ANGLO-SAXON, SEMI-SAXON, AND OLD ENGLISH LITERATURE.

A.-ANGLO-SAXON.

60

1. Caedmon, A.D. 650. The Creation (Manual, p. 18).

(From Guest's English Rhythins, vol. ii. p. 32.)
Ne wæs her tha giet, nymthe heolster- Ne had there here as yet, save the
sceado,

vault-shadow,
Wiht geworden ; ác thes wida grund Aught existed ; but this wide abyss
Stod deop and dim-drihtne fremde, Stood deep and dim-strange to its Lord,
Idel 2 and únnyt.

Idle2 and useless.
On thone eagum wlat

On it with eyes glanc'd
Stith-frihth cining, and tha stowe be- The stalwart king, and the place beheld

heold Dreama lease. Geseah deorc gesweorc All joyless. He saw dark cloud Semian 3 sinnilite, sweart under rod. Lour with lasting night, swart under erum,

heaven, Wonn and weste; oth thæt theos Wan 4 and waste ; till this world's creworuld-gesceaft

ation

[King. Thurh word gewearth wuldor-cyninges. Rose through the word of the gloryHer ærest gesceop éce drihten

Here first shap'd the eternal Lord
(Helm eall-wihta !) heofon and eorthan ; (Head of all things !) heaven and earth;
Rodor arærde, and this rume land Sky he rear'd, and this wide land
Gestathelode_strangum mihtum, He stablish'd

by his strong might, Frea ælmihtig!

Lord Almighty !
Folde was tha gyt

"Earth was not as yet Græs-úngrene; gár-secg theahte, Green with grass ; ocean cover'd, Sweart synnihte, side and wide,

Swart with lasting night, wide and far,
Wonne wægas.

Wan pathways.
Tha wæs wuldor-torht,

Then glory-bright,
Heofon-weardes gast ofer hólm boren, Was the spirit of Heaven's-Guard o'er

the water borne,
Miclum spedum.

With mighty specd.

• Fremde has a double ending in the nominative-vne vowel, the other consonantal,
2 Idel A. S. barren, idle. Deserts idle.- Othello. Idle pebbles.-Lear.
3 Seman is the active verb; semian, I believe, is always neuter. In Caedmon 4.
4 Wan, in the sense of dismal, was long known to our poetry ;

Min is the drenching in the sea so wan.-Chau. Knightes Tale.
SP. ENG, LIT.

B

Metod engla heht,
(Lifes brytta) leoht forth cuman
Ofer rumne grúnd. Rathe wæs gefylled
Heah-cininges hás - him wæs halig

leoht,
Ofer wéstenne, swa se wyrhta bebead.

Bade the Angel-maker,
(The Life-dispenser) light to come forth
O'er the wide abyss. Quick was fulfill’d
The high King's hest-round him was

holy light,
Over the waste, as the Maker bade.

scea

2. Ohther's Narrative in King Alfreds Translation of Boethius

(Manual, p. 20). (From Marsh's Origin and History of the English Language, pp. 125-128.) Fela spella him sædon tha Beormas, Many things him told the Beormas, ægther ge of hyra agenum lande ge of both of their own land and of the land thæm lande the ymb hy utan wæron; ac

that around them about were ; but he he nyste hwæt thæs sothes wær, for- wist-not what (of-) tbe sooth was, forthæm he hit sylf ne geseah. Tha Finnas that he it self not saw. The Finns him him thubte, and tha Beormas spræcon thought, and the Beormas spoke nigh neah an getheode. Swithost he for one language. Chiefliest he fared thi. thyder, to-eacan thæs landes

ther, besides the land's seeing, for the wunge, for thæm hors-hwælum, for- horse-whales, for-that they have very them hi habbath swythe etlele ban on noble bones in their teeth, these teeth hyra tothum, tha te hy brohton sume they brought some (to-) the king : and thæm cynincge: and hyra hyd bith swy- their hide is very good for ship-ropes. the god to scip-rapum. Se hwæl bith This whale is much less than other micle læssa thonne othre hwalas, ne bith whales, not is he longer than seven ells he lengra thonne syfan elna lang ; ac on long; but in his own land is the best his agnum lande is de betsta hwæl

whale-hunting, they are eight and forty huntath, tha beoth eahta and feowertiges ells long, and the largest fifty ells long; elna lange, and tha mæstan fiftiges elna (of-) these he said that he (of-) six some lange; thara he sæde thæt he syxa sum slew sixty in two days. He was (a) ofsloge syxtig on twam dagum. He was very wealthy man in the ownings that swythe spedig man on thæm æhtum the their wealth in is, that is in wild-deer. heora speda on beoth, thæt is on wild- He had yet, when he the king sought, deorum. He hæfde tha-gyt, tha he (of-) tame deer unsold six hundred. thone cyningc sohte, tamra deora unbe- These deer they hight reins, (of-) them bohtra syx hund. Tha deor hi hatath were six stale-reins, these are very dear hranas, thara wæron syx stæl-hranas, with (the) Finns, for-that they catch tha beoth swythe dyre mid Finnum, for- the wild reins with (them). thæm hy fod tha wildan hranas mid.

3. King Alfred's Translation of the Pastorale of St. Gregory

(Manual, p. 20). (From Wright's Biograpbia Britannica Literaria, Anglo-Saxon period, p. 397.)

Ælfred kyning hateth gretung Wulf- Alfred the king greets affectionately sige bisceop his worthum luflice and and friendly bishop Wulfsige his worthy, freondlice, and the cythan hate, thæt and I bid thee know, that it occurred me com swithe oft on ge-mynd, hwylce to me very often in my mind, what witan geo wæron geond Angel-cyn, kind of men there formerly were ægther ge godcundra hada ge woruld- throughout the English nation, as well cundra, and hu ge-sæliglica tida tha of the spiritual degree as of laymen, wæron geond Angle-cyn, and hu tha and how happy times there were then cyningas the thone anweald hæfdon among the English people, and how the thæs folces, Gode and his æryndwritum kings who then had the government of hyrsumodon; and hu hi ægther ge the people obeyed God and his Evangehevra sybbe ge heora sydo, and ge lists, and how they both in their peace heora anweald innan borde gehealdon and in their war, and in their governber.

and eac ut hira ethel rymdon; and hu ment, held them at home, and also him tha speow, ægther ge mid wige spread their nobleness abroad, and how ge mid wisdome; and eac tha god- they then flourished as well in war as cundan hadas hu georne hi wæron in wisdom; and also the religious orders ægther ge ymbe lara ge ymbe leor- how earnest they were both about doc. nunga, and ymbe ealle tha theow-domas trine and about learning, and about all thi hy Gode sceoldon, and hu man ut the services that they owed to God; on borde wisdome and lare hider on and how people abroad came hither to land sohte, and hu we hi nu sceoldon this land in search of wisdom and ute begitan, gif we hi habban sceoldon. teaching, and how we now must obtain Swa clæne heo wæs othfeallen on Angel- them from without if we must have cynne thæt swithe feawa wæron be- them. So clean it was ruined amongst heonan Humbre the hira thenunge the English people, that there were cuthon understandan on Englisc, oththe very few on this side the Humber who furthon an arend-ge-writ of Ledene on could understand their service in EngEnglisc areccan; and ic wene thæt naht lish, or declare forth an epistle out of monige be-geondan Humbre næron. Swa Latin into English ; and I think that feawa heora wron, that ic furthon there were not many beyond the Hum. anne ænlepne ne mæg ge-thencan be

So few such there were, that I suthan Thamise tha tha ic to rice feng. cannot think of a single one to the Gode ælmightigum sy thanc, thæt we south of the Thames when I began to nu ænigne an steal habbath lareowa. reign. To God Almighty be thanks, For tham ic the beode, thæt thu do that we now have any teacher in stall. Swa ic ge-lyfe thet thu wille, thet thu Therefore I bid thee that thou do as I the thissa woruld thinga to tham ge- believe thou wilt, that thou, who pour. emtige, swa thu oftost mege, thet thu est out to them these worldly things as thone wisdome the the God sealde thær often as thou mayest, that thou bestow thær thu hine befæstan mæge befæst. the wisdom which God gave thee wherGe-thenc hwilce witu us tha becomon ever thou mayest bestow it. Think for thisse woruld, tha tha we hit na what kind of punishments shall come to hwæther ne selfe ne lufedon, ne eac us for this world, if we neither loved it othrum mannum ne lyfdon. Thone naman ourselves nor left it to other men. anne we lufdon thæt we Cristene wæron, have loved only the name of being and swithe feawa tha theawas. Tha ic Christians, and very few the duties. this eal ge-munde, tha ge-mund ic eac When I thought of all this, then I hu ic ge-seah ær tham the hit eal for- thonght also how I saw, before it was heregod wære and for-bærned, hu tha all spoiled and burnt, how the churches circan geond eal Angel-cyn stodon throughout all the English nation were mathma and boca ge-fylled, and eac filled with treasures and books, and also micel mæniu Godes theawa, and tha with a great multitude of God's serswithe lytle feorme thara boca wiston, vants, and yet they knew very little for tham the hi hira nan thing ongitan fruit of the books, because they could ne mihton, for tham the hi næron on understand nothing of them, because hira agenge theode awritene. Swilce they were not written in their own lanhi cwædon ure yldran tha the tbas guage; as they say our elders, who stowa ær heoldon, hi lufedon wisdome, held these places before them, loved and thurh thone hi begeton welan and wisdom, and through it obtained weal as læfdon.

and left it to us.

We

B.-SEMI-SAXON.
4. Layamon's Brut, 1150-1250. The Dream of Arthur