Description
Book SynopsisOld English poetry offers a large number of shorter compositions, many of them on explicitly Christian themes. This volume presents twenty-nine of these shorter religious poems composed in Old and early Middle English between the seventh and twelfth centuries. These texts demonstrate the remarkable versatility of early English verse.
Trade ReviewThis handsome volume presents 29 Old English religious poems, each in the original language and facing modern English translation. Jones is wise in categorizing these non-narrative, anonymous poems under four loose headings (‘Poetic Allegories of Nature,’ ‘Poems of Worship and Prayer,’ ‘Poems on Christian Living,’ and ‘Poems on the Last Things’) but emphasizing that the poems nonetheless share inextricable themes of morality and future judgment. Texts are based on established editions, and newly prepared prose translations balance faithfulness to the original with the standards of clear, idiomatic, modern English. The introduction provides context that will heighten appreciation of the poems. Notes on the particular poems offer general textual and bibliographic information. The introduction, notes, and bibliography do not aim to be comprehensive, a laudable choice because it allows inexperienced readers to encounter these beautiful poems, many rarely read today, directly and independent of layers of textual and critical commentary. -- M. B. Busbee * Choice *
