And I daily wait for the blessed morn, When the Cross on whose arms my Lord was borne To eternal bliss, and without alloy, With the happy saints, in the feast of God. And in souls by the nether fires tried The Lord on His throne-His rightful seat.1 The sacred songs of Aldhelm, Cædmon's sainted contemporary at Malmesbury, are unfortunately not extant. He was a scholar of renown, and wrote various Latin treatises, but was well aware of the power which verse in their native tongue could exercise over the minds of a rude peasantry. It vexed him to see the people rushing back into the country from the mass without one further thought of sacred things. And so, abbot though he was, he would often post himself as a minstrel on the bridge and check them in their haste by charming their ear with song. Then, when he had thoroughly gained the attention of the throng, he would introduce here and there a story from sacred writ or some word of timely admonition. He gained more, says the Chronicler, by so doing than if he had dealt severely and 'cum excommunicatione.' The poem of Beowulf may date in its existing form from the beginning of the eighth century. It is essentially a Scandinavian saga, thoroughly infused with the spirit of the old heathenism. The exploits of the hero 1 J. M. Kemble's Poetry of the Codex Vercellensis, 1843: 'The Holy Rood: a Dream,' lines 231-310: Dhe him ær in breóstum beredh from whom its name is taken are told in it-how he vanquished Grindel, the horrible monster of the fens, and lost his life at a later time in a fierce combat with a dragon. But here and there Christian passages occur in it, probably the interpolations of Cynewulf or some other English poet. Such, for instance, are the following lines: They knew not Him who meted earth and sky, Yet he bethought him of his strength, the gift Such also are the words expressive of hope of amendment and amelioration after death : Well shall it be to him who may After his death-day Seek the Lord, And in his Father's bosom Crave peace.2 There has been much controversy about the poet Cynewulf, who has strangely incorporated his name in detached Runic characters in various poems preserved in the Exeter and Vercelli Manuscripts. According to one view, he did not live till the age preceding the Norman Conquest, and was identical with Kenewulf, abbot of Peterborough, who died in 1014. Another leading opinion is that he was Cynewulf, a bishop of Lindisfarne in 780. Professor Morley is most inclined. to the belief that he lived in the eighth century, but that he was neither priest nor monk; that he was a man of noble birth who had taken a vigorous part in 1 S. Thorpe's Beowulph, etc., 1835, vol. ii. : Metod hic ne cuthon. 2 Wel bith them the mot the life and action of his age, and that it was he to whom we owe the beautiful sea-faring Ode of toilsome travel told in The Wanderer. Without further preface, I will bring before the reader some passages of sacred song, most of them by Cynewulf, from the Vercelli and Exeter books. The Vercelli Codex opens with a long poem entitled The Legend of St. Andrew. It tells how St. Matthew carried the Gospel to the Mermedonians, a race of cannibals and sorcerers, but was cast in prison, and had his eyes put out. A drink also had been given to him which drove men into eating grass like cattle. His reason, however, was preserved to him by the special grace of God, and St. Andrew was sent to release him from his sufferings, and was rowed thither by three men, who, though he knew it not, were an incarnation of the Holy Trinity. The rest of the poem tells of the deeds of the apostle when he reached the land, of his recovery of St. Matthew, of the persecutions he endured, of the judgments that fell upon the land, and of the final conversion of the people. We may notice in passing how evidently saintly legends of this kind were intended to give a Christian tone to the minstrelsy which formed so conspicuous a part of old Teutonic gatherings. The story begins with the 'Hweat!' the premonitory signal of the harp, and then, in words well calculated to catch the ear of a warlike race, proceeds to tell 'of the twelve who in days of yore were heroes gloriously blessed, servants of the Lord, the renown of whose warfare failed not when banners pressed. These were famous men throughout the earth, pious leaders and bold in warfare, brave warriors, when shield and hand guarded the helmet on the battle-field.' The first passage I will quote is that which embodies the mandate of Christ to go forth into all lands, and preach the Gospel to every creature: Twas Christ's behest, The Glorious King,(We are His thanes To battle bid)— Both earth and Heaven, Great Conqueror ! Himself hath said— Father of folk And bid us fare As the vast water rounds, Or as the steadfast plains Tell forth throughout the towns The bright belief, O'er the wide-bosomed world. I give unto you peace; And in your hearts I whet the keen set will Of truest good.'1 The second passage is where St. Andrew is on his way to Mermedonia. A great storm had arisen, and the apostle tells the mysterious rowers of a similar tempest which had once burst over the Lake of Galilee when Christ was in the boat : So did it hap of old : 1 Vercelli Codex: Legend of St. Andrew, 644-72: 'Swa that Crist bebeád.' Flood back to flood again From its deep boiling breast, There the Almighty One, But our men became And through the keel-ship Prayèd for peace, Boon from the blessed. Joy our hearts cheered, When that we saw Neath the high sun-track, How that the winds and waves, How the dread water-flood, Was scathed und scared, The Exeter Codex is a valuable collection of early English poetry, presented by Bishop Leofric to his Cathedral Church about the middle of the eleventh century. Its earlier part consists of hymns, probably by Cynewulf, to the Saviour, and the Virgin Mary, and on the Nativity, the Crucifixion, the Ascension, the Harrowing of Hell, and the Last Judgment. The tone of them all is gravely devotional and very earnest. give a rendering of part of one on the Nativity: I |