Периоды английской литературы. Карпова В.А - 4 стр.

struggles with the invading Danes. The greatest of the rulers of the period was
Alfred, who remains the only English ruler to be styled "The Great".
       Learning and culture flourished in the monasteries. Although most writing
throughout the period was in Latin, Christian monks began writing in the
vernacular that we call Old English about 700. In the earliest part of the period
the poetry, written in accentual meter and linked by alliteration 1, was centered
on the life of the Germanic tribes and was basically pagan, although Christian
elements were incorporated early. The best of the poems that has survived is the
great epic2 Beowulf which belongs to the seventh century. It is a story of about
3,000 lines which gives us an interesting picture of life in those old days. It tells
us of fierce fights and brave deeds, of the speeches of Beowulf, a brave young
man from southern Sweden, and the sufferings of his men.
       Beowulf goes to help the King of the Danes whose great hall is visited at
night by a terrible creature which lives in a lake and comes to kill and eat the
king's men. The brave young man kills the terrible creature in a fierce fight.
       In later days Beowulf, now king of his people, has to defend his country
against a fire-breathing creature. He kills the animal but is badly wounded in the
fight, and dies. The poem ends with a sorrowful description of Beowulf's funeral
fire. The name of its author is unknown. In fact in Old English poetry,
descriptions of sad events or cruel situations are commoner and in better writing
than those of happiness. Early poetry of a more emphatically Christian nature
included Caedmon's "Song"; Biblical PARAPHRASES such as Genesis,
Exodus, Daniel, Judith; religious NARRATIVES such as the Christ, Elene,
Andreas; and the allegorical Phoenix (a translation from Latin).
       Old English lyrics include Deor's Complaint, The Husbend's Message,
The Wanderer and The Wife's Complaint. Deor is a singer who has lost his
lord`s favour. So he complains, but tries to comfort himself by remembering
other sorrows of the world. Of each one he says "That passed over; this may do
so also". There are many other poems in Old English. One of the better ones is a
late poem called The Battle of Maldon. This battle was fought against the Danes
in 991 and probably the poem was written soon after that. In general it is fairly
safe to say that Old English prose came later than Old English verse; but there
was some early prose. The oldest Laws were written at the beginning of the
seventh century. These Laws were not literature, and better sentences were
written towards the end of the seventh century.
       The most interesting piece of prose is the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, an early
history of the country. There are, in fact, several chronicles, belonging to
different cities. No doubt King Alfred (849-901) had a great influence on this
work. He probably brought the different writings into some kind of order. He
also translated a number of Latin books into Old English, so that his people
could read them. He brought back learning to England and improved the
education of his people.

1
    alliteration - two or more words beginning with the same sound.
2
    epic - the story in poetry of the adventures of a brave man (or men).

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