Anglo-Saxon Literature Poetic Elements

A two-word metaphorical name for something A two-word metaphorical name for something. A simple kenning expresses a single idea or thought. Kennings became so popular in their early stages that about one- third of the text of Beowulf is composed of them. Some kennings became so common that they became cliches, such as “ring-giver“ for every prince. Kenning

Kenning Examples whale’s road = the sea bone’s house = the body sky’s candle = the sun world-candle = sun sun-table = sky horse of the sea = ship Kenning Examples

A “compound kenning" is defined as one or more kennings used inside of another kenning. Compound kennings became “miniature riddles". Example If “ship" was a “sea-stallion" and the sea was the “whale-road", then a ship became a “stallion of the whale-road". Compound Kenning - “Provider to the swans of the mean of battle“ “mean of battle" is blood, “swans of blood” are ravens, and “a provider to ravens” is a warrior. Compound Kennings

Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in nearby words Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in nearby words. It is used to reinforce the meanings of words or to set the mood. Assonance examples are sometimes hard to find, because they work subconsciously sometimes, and are subtle. The long vowel sounds will slow down the energy and make the mood more somber, while high sounds can increase the energy level of the piece. Assonance

Assonance Examples From Early Moon, by Carl Sandburg “Poetry is old, ancient, goes back far. It is among the oldest of living things. So old it is that no man knows how and why the first poems came.” -- The long “o” sounds old or mysterious. From Cormac McCarthy's book, Outer Dark: “And stepping softly with her air of blooded ruin about the glade in a frail agony of grace she trailed her rags through dust and ashes, circling the dead fire, the charred billets and chalk bones, the little calcined ribcage.” -- The words "glade," "frail," "grace," and "trailed" help set the chilling mood of the work, and it is repeated and emphasized at the end with “ribcage.”

Assonance Short Examples "Try to light the fire“ "I lie down by the side of my bride"/"Fleet feet sweep by sleeping geese"/"Hear the lark and harden to the barking of the dark fox gone to ground" by Pink Floyd "It's hot and it's monotonous." by Sondheim

Alliteration is a literary device that repeats a speech sound in a sequence of words that are close to each other. Alliteration typically uses consonants at the beginning of a word to give stress to its syllable. Alliteration plays a very crucial role in poetry and literature: It provides a work with musical rhythms. Poems that use alliteration are read and recited with more interest and appeal. Poems with alliteration can be easier to memorize. Alliteration lends structure, flow, and beauty to any piece of writing. Today, alliteration is often used to make slogans more memorable or to make children’s stories more fun to read out loud. The repetition of stressed sounds, particularly consonants from the beginning of words or syllables. Example: She sells seashells by the sea shore. Alliteration

Alliteration Examples Raven by Edgar Allan Poe: Once upon a midnight dreary while I pondered weak and weary ...rare and radiant maiden And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing, Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before In this Poe poem, weak and weary; rare and radiant; silken and sad; deep and darkness; and wondering and fearing are all examples of alliteration. Alliteration Examples

Alliteration Examples Hot-hearted Beowulf was bent upon battle - from Beowulf. This example of Medieval Anglo-Saxon poetry contains alliteration using Beowulf, bent and battle. Behemoth, biggest born of earth, upheaved His vastness - from Paradise Lost by John Milton. This example also contains alliteration with Behemoth and biggest born. Fly o'er waste fens and windy fields - from Sir Galahad by Alfred Tennyson. The example contains alliteration with fly, fens and fields. Mary sat musing on the lamp-flame at the table - from The Death of the Hired Man by Robert Frost. Here, the alliteration is Mary and musing. For the sky and the sea, and the sea and the sky - from the Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Sky and sea are alliterative devices here. Alliteration Examples

Most Anglo Saxon poetry contained lines with regular rhythms, usually four strong beats (also called stresses) to a line. Read the following line aloud: “This tale is true, and mine. It tells….” Notice how one stresses the words “tale,” “true,” “mine,” and “tells.” These are the four strong beats. Regular Rhythms

Regular Rhythm Examples I have la bored sore     and suf fered death , and now I rest     and draw my breath ; but I shall come     and call right soon hea ven and earth     and hell to doom ;

Caesura is “A pause or break within a line of poetry, usually dictated by the natural rhythm of language.” This was probably quite useful to the scops telling the poems. Often times, the caesura happens by way of a punctuation mark in the middle of a poetic line. In Anglo-Saxon, the Caesura is medial; that is, it occurs in the middle of the line. Words in one half of the line were stressed one way, while words in the second half could be stressed another. Caesura

A “line” of poetry from this period is really two half-lines put together. Example: “There Théoden fell, Thengling mighty.” In the Théoden example above, a comma conveniently separates the half-line, but this isn’t always the case. The intentional pause (sometimes called a syntactical boundary) between half-lines is known as a caesura. In period, the caesura was generally a natural pause (such as the end of a sentence), and it is possible a harp strum or other musical “break” would separate the half-lines when a speaker recited the poem; Anglo-Saxon poetry was an oral tradition more than a written one. In modern transcription, the caesura is usually denoted by two vertical lines or by an exaggerated space: Examples:  “There Théoden fell, || Thengling mighty.” “The elder warrior, unwounded, sinks down.” Caesura