Description

Book Synopsis
A collection of the finest and earliest poems composed in English, from tales of battle to love songs

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.

For more than seventy years, Penguin h

Trade Review
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

The First Poems in English Penguin Classics

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    A Paperback / softback by Michael Alexander

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      Book details

      Publisher Penguin Random House Group
      Imprint Penguin Classics
      Published 29 May 2008
      ISBN-13 9780140433784
      978-0140433784
      ISBN-10 0140433783
      Also in:
      Poetry

      Description

      Book Synopsis
      A collection of the finest and earliest poems composed in English, from tales of battle to love songs

      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.

      For more than seventy years, Penguin h

      Trade Review
      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

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