BOOK Hig cythath wide Ece standath Ealle the heriath They widely declare manded. , World without end. And en worulda world And in the world for ever Will dwell and rule And his chosen In exalted dignity; Holy Spirits, Beauteous angels; And in grace and glory, In true peace, With thanksgiving of souls, And pitying mind. There is the greatest one. Of love of holyness, The heavens are Every where full, Over this middle earth, Manifest and seen, Amen. We that sothlice secgath, We this truly say, CHAP Thu eart cyninc on riht, Thou art the righteous king, Pure and skilful; Thou didst declare, Tha Thu, mihtig God, That Thou, mighty God, Man geworhtest; Wouldest make man; And him ondydest And to him thou didst infuse Breath and soul; wit, And wästma gecynd; And natural fertility; Cyddest thine cræftas; Thou didst declare thy skill ; Swilc is Christes miht. Such is the power of Christ. :8 MSS. Cap. x. Cantab. and Wanley, p. 146–148. 28 It is among the MSS. of the college of Corpus Christi at Cambridge; and see Wanley's Catalogue, p. 110. For more information on the Anglo-Saxon poetry, I refer the reader with great pleasure to Mr. J. J. Conybeare's Illustrations of Anglo-Saxon Poetry, collected and published since his death by his brother. I do not coincide in all the translations, but I feel the value of the researches, and the talent in both the brothers which the work displays. Mr. W. Conybeare has added an arranged catalogue of all the extant relics of Anglo. Saxon poetry under the following heads :- 1. Narrative poetry derived from historical or traditional sources. This comprizes the Beowulf; the fragment on the battle of Finsburgh, first published by Hickes, and the frrgment on the death of Beorhtnoth, printed by Hearne in his Johan. Glaston. Chron. Mr. J. J. Conybeare's translations of these are inserted. — II. Narrative poetry de. rived from scriptural sources, as Judith; and Cædmon's paraphrase. - III. Narrative poetry derived from the lives of saints, comprizing the life and passion of St. Juliana, and the visions of the hermit Guthlac, both in the Exeter MS. but never published. — IV. Hymns, and other sacred poems which he enumerates. – V. The odes and epitaphs in the Saxon chronicle. - VI. Elegiac poetry, of which the editor mentions only one specimen, in the Song of the Exile, besides what may be ranked as of this kind in Alfred's Boetius. — VII. Moral and didactic poetry, in which the latter work takes the lead. — VIII. Miscellaneous. The specimens which Mr. J.J. Conybeare and his brother have brought to light from the Exeter MS., as already noticed, are important and interesting ; and the value of some has been enhanced by the poetical paraphrases which accompany their Latin translations. CHAP. IV. On the ANGLO-Saxon Versification. IX. BOOK The best Saxon scholars have confessed that the versification of the vernacular poetry of our ancestors was modelled by rules which have not been fully explored. But the passage before quoted from Bede', shows that it had really no other rule than the poet's ear. To combine his words into a rythmical cadence was all he aimed at. A few specimens will enable the reader to see what this cadence usually was. In Alfred's Boetius, part of the specimens be- Spýlce seo sunne Speartra nihta Thiostro aspæsceth Thuph thine meht Blacun leoth Mona zemetyath Thuph thinpa meahta sped Dpilum eac tha sunnan Sines berearath Bæt. 154. The little poem which was cited from the Saxon Tha pearth eac abræfeb Ofa ýtha gepealc Ofer zano tes bæth Lamol feax hæleth | See before, p. 264. СНАР. Wis ans pors snottor Ofer hpæles æthel Ofer þætera zethping Dama bepeafos. The next lines may be cited because of their rhiming tendency: That pearth ætypes Patath pide Uppe on poderum Cometa be naman Steopra ou stathole Craft gleape men Thohe stith pæphthe Wire rothboran.2 Dæleth hige zleape The versification of Cædmon's paraphrase translated in p. 315., has a similar cadence. It begins Us is piht micel De is mægna spes Thæt pe podepa pears Deafoo calpa Wereba puldor cýning Deah gesceafta Wordum herigen Frea Ælmightıy. modum lucien Cæd. p. 1. a In Judith the versification is of the same species, which is taken from the description of the battle: - see the English before, p. 313. : : Tha peapth snellpa pero Wulf in palde Snude zegearepos And se panna hrefn Cenpa to campe Wæl gifpe fugel Stopon cỳnerofe Weftan bezen Secgas and zesithar Tha him tha theob zuman Bæpon thufar Tholiton tilian Fopon to yereohte Fylle on vægum Ac him pleah on last Salopig pada Sang hilde leoth plude hluinnon Dýrned nebba. Thæs se hlanca gereah Jud. p. 24. The description of Beowulf's sailing and landing is thus given : 2 Sax. Chron. 123, BOOK Cpærh he Luthcýning Fugle zelicost Oth tha įmb an tid Othjes dozores Wunden stefna Tha tha lidhende Land zerapon Brım clifu blıcan Beopgar steape 81de fæ næsrar: - Thanon up hrathe Wedera leode Sæ pudu sælton Sýrcon hrýsedon Luth zepædo Trepat tha ofer pæz holm Thæs the hım ythlade Eathe pupson. It appears to me that the only rule, or rather habit, of the Saxon versification which we can now discover is, that the words are placed in that peculiar rythm or cadence which is observable in all the preceding extracts. This rythm will be felt by every one who reads the following lines :Thohton tilian Modum lupien Peafod ealna Deah yesceasta Frea Ælmıhtıy. - To produce this rythm seems to have been the perfection of their versification. But, happily for the strength of their poetry, they extended their rythm sometimes into a more dignified cadence, as |