Special Features of Anglo-Saxon Poetry

The Anglo-Saxon invaders, who came to Britain in the latter part of the 5th century A.D and eventually established their kingdom there, were the founders of English culture and English literature.

The surviving Anglo-Saxon literature consists of two features of writing; heroic poetry which bears the pictures of the pre-Christian heroic society of the continental Saxons, and the predominantly religious poetry of Christiansted English.

Heroic poetry is the product of a pagan society. Beowulf is the best specimen of that kind of poetry, although it was modified by relatively sophisticated Christian sentiments. One of the earliest surviving Anglo-Saxon poems is, Widsith which is the autobiographical record of a cup or a court minstrel.

Although some parts of the poem are a later interpolation, the core of the work reflects the heroic attitude. It gives us a fascinating glimpse of the Germanic world as it appeared to the imagination of the Anglo-Saxons. Excepting Widsith and Beowulf, there is little else surviving of the Anglo-Saxon literature which makes direct contact with the ancient heroic view of life.

Anglo-Saxon Heroic Features in Beowulf

Beowulf represents the characteristic features of Anglo-Saxon heroic poetry most vividly. It is a poetic representation of that bygone Germanic civilization where heroic code and pagan virtues were held in utmost veneration. There, people lived and died for honor.

Beowulf is the earliest epic poem concerned with the exploits of a hero who has superhuman powers. The poem has all the features of an epic – a grand theme, a grand hero, and an objective narration.

Melancholy or Elegiac Sadness Note in The Anglo-Saxon Poetry

One important feature of Anglo-Saxon poetry is the note of melancholy or elegiac sadness. There is a whole group of Anglo-Saxon lyric poems that can be one group, neither under ‘heroic’ nor religious’ subtitles. These poems are elegiac in the note and generally known as laments of individual people.

“The Wanderer”, “The Seafarer”, and “The Wife’s Lament” are notable among the elegiac poems. In these poems, hardship and sorrow, are in association with the exile theme from the subject of personal lyrical laments. In fact, a note of sadness pervades the whole body of Anglo-Saxon literature.

Even heroic poetry life Beowulf is not free from the elegiac tone. Beowulf, the indomitable hero who wrenches victory from the clutches of the dragons and monsters, also suffers from pessimism from the start to the end.

Elegiac tone or note of sadness is present in many other heroic poems like “The Battle of Malden” and “The Ruin.” However, the first expression of this motif is found in the body of shorter lyrical poems. Here, the speaker is an exile or wanderer.

They contrast their present state of misery, with an earlier happier life and in most of them, the feeling of the speaker evokes references to external natural surroundings and phenomena. As a result, nature plays a significant role in Anglo-Saxon elegiac poetry.

Examples of Elegiac Tone Poetry: “The Sea Farer” And “The Wanderer”

“The Seafarer” is the lament of a weather-beaten sailor who has passed most of his life on the sea. He has undergone terrible psychical as well as mental hardships. He is far away from his near and dear ones, from his friends who live on the shore. The Seafarer has to sit day and night on the prow of his boat.

“Cold then

Nailed my feet, frost shrank on

Its chill clamps, cares sighed

Hot about heart, hunger fed

On a mere-wearied mind”

The Seafarer, An Anglo-Saxon Poem

“The Wanderer” is the lament of a solitary man who had once been happy in the service of a loved lord. He now long after his lord’s death. Passing away from that earlier time of happiness has become a wandering journey through the path of exile across the icy-sea.

Elegiac Poems Consist of Pagan Sentiment and Christian Morals

Elegiac poems like “The Seafarer” and “The Wanderer” are basically pagan in sentiment, but all of them end with conventional Christian moralizing about the temporariness of the world and the short-livedness of earthly fame and glory.

It seems possible that Christian scribes’ supernatural superadded the Christian moralizations while they put them into writing. This is true about Beowulf also. These poems show a blend of pagan and Christian elements – they move in two worlds at the same time.

Although Beowulf is a pagan hero, the Christian poet who wrote the existing story into an epic form, gave the whole narrative a Christian coloring. As a result, the pagan hero Beowulf’s fight with the Dragon becomes a symbol of Jesus Christ’s fight against Satan, and so on. The two worlds have also been blended together in the shorter elegiac poems.

The Christian Poems in The Anglo-Saxon Poetry

These remain to be discussed on another set of Anglo-Saxon poetry – the Christian poems. The Christianizing of the Anglo-Saxons had a far-reaching effect on their literature. By the 8th century, the techniques of Anglo-Saxon heroic poetry were being applied to purely Christian themes. As a result, we have a substantial body of Anglo-Saxon religious poetry.

Instead of seeking subjects poetry in the heroic themes common to old Germania, the Anglo-Saxons turned their face to the new world of Christianity.

Two poets of the 8th century are known to have written a large number of poems on religious themes – Caedmon and Cynewulf.

Final Thoughts

What we can derive from the above discussion about the Anglo-Saxon poetry features is that mostly, their poetry was influenced by either heroic saga or the Christian sentiment. It seems their poetry celebrated bravery as well as the religious direction in a single literary cup.

Besides, elegiac or melancholy sadness toned the hardship of life in their poems, making them empathetic and appealing to the readers. Hence, Anglo-Saxon poetry left a distinct feature in the foundation of English literature.

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