The Earliest English Poems

by Michael Alexander

Paperback, 1975

Status

Available

Call number

829.108

Collection

Publication

Penguin (1975), Mass Market Paperback

Description

Anglo-Saxon poetry was produced between 700 and 1000 AD for an audience that delighted in technical accomplishment, and the durable works of Old English verse spring from the source of the English language. Michael Alexander has translated the best of the Old English poetry into modern English and into a verse form that retains the qualities of Anglo-Saxon metre and alliteration. Included in this selection are the "heroic poems" such as Widsith, Deor, Brunanburh and Maldon, and passages from Beowulf; some of the famous 'riddles' from The Exeter Book; all the "elegies," including The Ruin, The Wanderer, The Seafarer, The Wife's Complaint and The Husband's Message, in which the virtu of Old English is found in its purest and most concentrated form; together with the great Christian poem The Dream of the Rood. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member phillippus
These are the only translations I've read by Michael Alexander, but I'll be picking up a copy of his Beowulf if I see it on my travels. This book has all that a casual reader needs - a detailed introduction and prefatory notes to each poem detailing its provenance, sources, a synopsis and relation
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to other known poems in the corpus. However, it's Alexander's way with words that impressed me while reading this book. He's not afraid to use archaicisms, some poetic licence and to compound words to evoke the distant world that these poems hail from... at least, I prefer Alexander's "And wielders and wrights?/Earthgrip holds them - gone, long gone,/fast in gravesgrasp while fifty fathers/and sons have passed," to the more literal "The grasp of the earth possesses/the mighty builders, perished and fallen,/the hard grasp of earth, until a hundred generations of people have departed." (Watson)
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LibraryThing member jukke
Some very handsome, some very beatiful poems, like "Wife's lament" and "Wulf and Eadwacer". Good translation.
LibraryThing member anthonywillard
The Earliest English Poems (Penguin Classics), translated by Michael Alexander, who also did the excellent Penguin translation of Beowulf.

Alexander selected what he regards as the cream of the crop of Anglo-Saxon poetry. The style of his translations varies somewhat since he translated these
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works over a period of time, during which his attitudes toward translation changed. He adhered throughout, however, to the Old English verse format, built on a line composed of two clearly distinct half-lines, each with two beats, all held together by alliteration. He also tried to use as many of the Old English words as he could that would be still intelligible to modern readers. This choice of words gives his renderings a lot of strength and differentiates the diction from a more generalized heroic verse style that is often found in translations from various literatures and eras.

I find this old poetry, especially the battle poems, very involving and moving. I am not an Old English scholar, so I can't comment on the accuracy of the translation, but I like Alexander's translation of Beowulf better than any other I have read, and these shorter poems measure up to it.

The notes are sometimes helpful, but usually aimed at philologists. The introduction will be helpful to anyone unfamiliar with Anglo-Saxon society and literature, but Alexander's introductory comments on his own translation can be fussy and persnickety, quite the opposite of his poetic style, which is straightforward and forceful. He should let his poetry stand on its own.
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LibraryThing member sloopjonb
The chief interest in this edition of Old English poetry is in the translation. Michael Alexander took the bold step of not trying to translate the literal sense of the poems into modern English, but to try and preserve both the original form of the poems (alliterative, with each line broken into
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two half lines) and as much of the original vocabulary as can be retained without destroying the sense completely. And I must say this technique, for the most part, works brilliantly (at least for someone like myself who has some acquaintance with the poems and the language). It works best in the best poem, The Battle of Maldon, which conjures up a real and strong flavour of the original.

The choice of verse is perhaps not optimal: myself I would have left out the Riddles and had a bit more Beowulf, but this is really the only quibble. The notes are both extensive and useful, and the introduction clear and informative aboth about the poems and the translator's objectives and techniques.

Highly recommended for anyone with an interest in Old English or in Anglo-Saxon England generally.
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LibraryThing member krisiti
The Earliest English Poems (Penguin Classics) by Various (1992)
LibraryThing member DinadansFriend
Exactly as advertised. I think Mr. Alexander is a capable translator, and the book contains my favourite Early English Poem, "The Ruin" on page 28 -9. ...It is a kingly thing....City...
LibraryThing member nmhale
If readers ever stop to consider Old English literature, they likely will think about Beowulf or Chaucer. This collection of poetry fragments is one of the few accessible books to present a selection of other preserved works written in Old English. The intention of the anthology is to demonstrate
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the variety of recorded texts from a distant past that is not as appreciated as it should be, to illustrate the oral skill of the storytellers and show how this storytelling was converted to the written form, and to teach on the particular traits of this poetry that made this a highly polished art form, a fact not often recognized.

The book does offer several fragments from Beowulf. The rest, however, are pieces that are likely new to most readers who aren't scholars in the field. Several of the poems are sections from extended poems that detailed important battles. Others are described as elegies or laments, and a few are nearly incomprehensible in their subject matter now that we are so far removed from their contexts. The book presents a selection of riddles, a typical past time, and an example of a beautiful poem that blends of the new Christian religion with preexisting pagan themes. Themes that were important to the listeners and tellers of those tales quickly become apparent: the importance of kin and community, the need for battles, an emphasis on honor and courage, the seafaring life, the despair over being isolated and separated from family, and the power of the story teller.

I found this to be an intellectual read, very interesting in revealing an old culture and a way of storytelling that had power and beauty but is no longer practiced in the same manner. Our poetry has evolved into a very different form. Every excerpt, and most of these were excerpts, are accompanied with introductions and extensive footnotes. The selections were short which helped to keep the reading move along smoothly. On the other hand, the reading was quite different from an escapist book. It was methodical and focused, and appealed to me because it expanded my knowledge of literature, not because it was a thrilling story. Occasionally I read for the fun, sometimes for the dense play of language and literature, and at other times for information or growth. In this case, I was interested in the language and the information. This fascinating world of reading or ours has so many rich new avenues to explore; this book sheds just a small light on one of them.
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Language

Original language

English

Original publication date

1966

Physical description

160 p.; 7 inches

ISBN

0140441727 / 9780140441727

Local notes

Anglo-Saxon poetry produced between 700 and 1000 AD

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