Dream Of The Rood

IV. Old English Christian Poetry. § 9. The fantasy of the Rood. But the yell which, above all otherwises, betrays the spirit of tender yet concupiscent veneration, of confusion and adoration for the wondrous cross on which the Prince of ring died, is The fancy of the Rood. It is transmitted to us in a west Saxon form in the Vercelli Book, and elements of it are to be found mould in runes on the Ruthwell cross in Dumfriesshire. 12  The metrical composition is now claimed as Cynewulfs by believably the majority of English scholars, though it is possible that he worked on honest-to-god material. At the same time, we have none unless aesthetic demonstrate to go upon. A resemblance has been picture or notice between the reference to the cross in the concluding portion of Elene discussed above and the subject and treatment of this poem. It would be possible to overrate the value of this coincidence. References to the cross are general in both(prenominal) p rose and verse. They need prove nothing beyond the undoubtedly advance(prenominal) custom of the adoration.

At the same time, the cardinal poems have more than in common: the character of the confidant self-revelation contained in each, the elegiac tone of the reflections on the transitoriness of the field and the sinfulness of man, the enunciation and syntactical structure are besides to a mark which makes the Cynewulfian authorship of both more than probable. The Dream of the Rood is the choicest boot of Old English Christian metrical composition; religious feeling has never been more exquisitely enwrapped than in these one hundred and forty lines of alliterative verse. It is p racticed of grotesque power and enters deep! ly into the mysteries of sin and of sorrow. We have no other instance of a dream-poem in pre-Conquest England, though the Venerable the Venerable Bede relates several visions. The poet dreamt a dream and in it saw the consecrate rood decked with gems and shining gloriously. Angels guarded it, and, at its sight, the singer was afeared, for he was stained with guilt. As he watched, the tree changed colour; anon it was...If you want to get a full essay, order it on our website: OrderEssay.net

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