The First Poems in English by Michael Alexander

The First Poems in English by Michael Alexander

This selection of the earliest poems in English comprises works from an age in which verse was not written down, but recited aloud and remembered. Heroic poems celebrate courage, loyalty and strength, in excerpts from Beowulf and in The Battle of Brunanburgh, depicting King Athelstan’s defeat of his northern enemies in 937 AD, while The Wanderer and The Seafarer reflect on exile, loss and destiny. The Gnomic Verses are proverbs on the natural order of life, and the Exeter Riddles are witty linguistic puzzles. Love elegies include emotional speeches from an abandoned wife and separated lovers, and devotional poems include a vision of Christ’s cross in The Dream of the Rood, and Caedmon’s Hymn, perhaps the oldest poem in English, speaking in praise of God.

Michael Alexander is much the best translator from Old EnglishHis Penguin Beowulf is much to be recommended, but so too is the volume entitled The First Poems in English -- A.N. Wilson

Michael Alexander is Professor of English at the University of St Andrews, and translator/editor of Beowulf: A Verse Translation and Beowulf: A Glossed Text, Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales: The First Fragment and The Earliest English Poems.

SKU	Nicht verfügbar
ISBN 13	9780140433784
ISBN 10	0140433783
Titel	The First Poems in English
Autor	Michael Alexander
Buchzustand	Nicht verfügbar
Bindungsart	Paperback
Verlag	Penguin Books Ltd
Erscheinungsjahr	2008-05-29
Seitenanzahl	176
Hinweis auf dem Einband	Die Abbildung des Buches dient nur Illustrationszwecken, die tatsächliche Bindung, das Cover und die Auflage können sich davon unterscheiden.
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