1. Anglo-Saxon Literature
Lyric Poetry
Jennifer Bennett, Sanderson High School, Raleigh, NC

2. Anglo-Saxon Poetry Genres
Narrative poem
Tells a complete story
Example: Heroic epic (Beowulf)
Lyric poem
Expresses the observations and feelings of a single speaker
Presents an experience or single effect (does not tell a full story)
(orig.) A song accompanied by a lyre
Planctus
Elegy

3. General Poetry Terminology
Speaker
Who is the voice of the poem—the character who tells the poem? Do NOT say it’s the author! Give a description. What can you infer about the speaker from within the poem?
Subject (story)
What is the speaker telling about—what’s going on in this poem? (where? When? What?—if supplied)
Tone
What is the speaker’s attitude about the subject/story?
Mood
What is the poem’s atmosphere—what the audience feels?
Theme
What message about life, about the human experience, does the poem present?

4. Anglo-Saxon Lyric Poetry
Elegy
A solemn and formal lyric poem about death
Mourns the passing away of an individual person or reflects on a tragic theme, such as the passing of youth, beauty, or a way of life
(adj.) elegaic
Planctus
Medieval literary genre
Means “complaint”
Distinguished from elegy—
Fictional speaker
Mourns a loss other than death

5. Anglo-Saxon Threads
Exile: separation or banishment from one’s native country, region, or home
Expressed with memorable sadness and pain
Wraecca—wretch, stranger, unhappy man, and wanderer
Allegiance: pledging loyalty to a particular lord or king (hlaford –“lord”)
Source of sustenance (hlafweard—“guardian of the [bread] loaf”)
Dispenser of wealth
Guarantor of the security of his followers in a dangerous and uncertain world

6. More Thematic Threads Longing for home and comfort
Mead hall
The lord and his followers shared the warmth of a fire, the comfort of food and drink (mead), and the pleasures of recited poetry (scops)
Prevailing philosophies & religious beliefs evident:
Uneasy mix of Christian and pagan elements (images, symbols, beliefs)
One pagan belief included fatalism: a belief that humans are not in control of their own destinies; Fate is.
An opposing Christian belief: humans have free will, the freedom to choose their own paths

7. Anglo-Saxon Literary Characteristics
Kennings
Appositive phrases (rename something or someone)—act as nouns, not adjectives (not simply describing; they must rename)
All kennings are appositives, but not all appositives are kennings (see next bullet).
Often a colorful metaphor
Examples:
The ocean: “the whale’s home”
Grendel: “shepherd of evil, guardian of crime”

8. Anglo-Saxon Literary Characteristics
Caesura
A natural break/mid-line pause in the middle of a line of Anglo-Saxon poetry
Divides each four-stress (4 strong beats) line in half
Essential to the rhythm (meter) of the poem
Example:
. . . My feet were cast In icy bands, bound with frost With frozen chains, and hardship groaned Around my heart. Hunger tore At my sea-weary soul.

9. Anglo-Saxon Literary Characteristics
Alliteration
Repetition of initial consonant sounds in words in close proximity in a line or lines of poetry
Examples:
“I feel my fate in what I cannot fear.”
“This tale is true, and mine. It tells . . .”
Anglo-Saxon convention (tradition) is to use alliteration with a heavy hand (today we would consider it a bit over-the-top)