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The First Poems in English

Paperback / softback

Main Details

Title The First Poems in English
Authors and Contributors      By (author) Michael Alexander
Physical Properties
Format:Paperback / softback
Pages:176
Dimensions(mm): Height 199,Width 133
Category/GenrePoetry anthologies
ISBN/Barcode 9780140433784
ClassificationsDewey:821.108
Audience
General

Publishing Details

Publisher Penguin Books Ltd
Imprint Penguin Classics
Publication Date 29 May 2008
Publication Country United Kingdom

Description

There is no comparable edition that includes both the original text and a verse translation 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.

Author Biography

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.

Reviews

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