write an essay about old english religious poetry .
before the advent of christianity , anglo saxon literature was pagan or
secular . the same observation may be applied to the context of anglo saxon poetry
with the emergence of cademon and cynewulf , old english poetry becomes religious
in tone and temperament, in an indirect way ,those early poets gave emphasis on the
moral development of the masses .the sole intention of cademon and cynewulf was to
praise god and to scatter religious preaching through their poetry .
in order to make a proper estimate of old english religious poety , the
readers should go through the poems of cynewulf and cademon respectively.cynewulf
is mostly known for a series of hymns.besides, his notable poems that make him
immortal are "juliana", "elene", "christ"and " the fates of the apostles. the poem
"juliana", narrats the accounts of juliana , who despite beauty and grace,
surrenders herself to god . she is tempted on many occasions to surrender her body
to satan. ju;liana is even imprisoned and is tormented severly . but, she doesnot
give up god .ultimately , juliana is beheaded,thus, she become a martyr .
elene is another important poem of cynewulf.through this poem the poet
makes an instence appeal to surender body and soul to god . christ is a poem where
jesus has been depicted as a radient bird . the assumption is that christ is every
where and many occasion , he takes the disguise of a devine bird,in the poem " the
fates of the apostles' , cynewulf has atttempted to show the fates of the each of
twelve apostles.
nobody can ignore the contribution of cademon to the development of old
english religiou poetry. in his book " the ecclesiastic history" bede tells u that
cademon learn the art of poetry not from men but from god . the wellknown poems of
cademon are 'genesis" ,"daniel" ,"exodus" etc. through this poems cademon attempts
to scatter the message of religion .
" genesis " is a wellknown poem of cademon, this poem is consisted of
two parts " genesis-A" and "genesis-B". this poem deals with the creations of this
universe. there is a famous quotation that should be mentioned at this juncture .
the quotation is hod said ," let there be light and there was light."in this way,
the universe was enlightened. the stories of the bible have close proximity with
the theme of "genesis" . even john milton is indebted to cademon for the themes of
his "paradise lost" " daniel" is another poem of cademon, in this poem there are
two parts "daniel -A" and "daniel-B" .the dogmas of chritianity have well been
explored through the poem "daniel" . the poem exodus deals with the discovery of
the cross . it i assumed that the cross has been discovered by st.aelen. the
christias bealive that in this age of decayan desolationthe cross shines in the sky
and the virtuous people can see it .
to sum up ,a comperative study should be made between cademon and
cynewulf in order to apprehend their position in the pages of literature . cademon
was divinely inspired where as cyneulf was a poet of that age . cademon attempts
tore produce the themes of the bible , cywulf had no such intenton. it is suffice
to say that , cademon was more talented than that of cynewulf . it should be
pointed out that excluding the poems of cynewulf and caedmon , there are other
religious poems too in the old english period. such poems are " guthlac-
A" ,"guthlac-B". The charges of obscurity and difficulty are often brought against
old english religious poetry. but, nobody can ignore the religious tone of those
antique poems .
before the advent of christianity , anglo saxon literature was pagan or
secular . the same observation may be applied to the context of anglo saxon poetry
with the emergence of cademon and cynewulf , old english poetry becomes religious
in tone and temperament, in an indirect way ,those early poets gave emphasis on the
moral development of the masses .the sole intention of cademon and cynewulf was to
praise god and to scatter religious preaching through their poetry .
in order to make a proper estimate of old english religious poety , the
readers should go through the poems of cynewulf and cademon respectively.cynewulf
is mostly known for a series of hymns.besides, his notable poems that make him
immortal are "juliana", "elene", "christ"and " the fates of the apostles. the poem
"juliana", narrats the accounts of juliana , who despite beauty and grace,
surrenders herself to god . she is tempted on many occasions to surrender her body
to satan. ju;liana is even imprisoned and is tormented severly . but, she doesnot
give up god .ultimately , juliana is beheaded,thus, she become a martyr .
elene is another important poem of cynewulf.through this poem the poet
makes an instence appeal to surender body and soul to god . christ is a poem where
jesus has been depicted as a radient bird . the assumption is that christ is every
where and many occasion , he takes the disguise of a devine bird,in the poem " the
fates of the apostles' , cynewulf has atttempted to show the fates of the each of
twelve apostles.
nobody can ignore the contribution of cademon to the development of old
english religiou poetry. in his book " the ecclesiastic history" bede tells u that
cademon learn the art of poetry not from men but from god . the wellknown poems of
cademon are 'genesis" ,"daniel" ,"exodus" etc. through this poems cademon attempts
to scatter the message of religion .
" genesis " is a wellknown poem of cademon, this poem is consisted of
two parts " genesis-A" and "genesis-B". this poem deals with the creations of this
universe. there is a famous quotation that should be mentioned at this juncture .
the quotation is hod said ," let there be light and there was light."in this way,
the universe was enlightened. the stories of the bible have close proximity with
the theme of "genesis" . even john milton is indebted to cademon for the themes of
his "paradise lost" " daniel" is another poem of cademon, in this poem there are
two parts "daniel -A" and "daniel-B" .the dogmas of chritianity have well been
explored through the poem "daniel" . the poem exodus deals with the discovery of
the cross . it i assumed that the cross has been discovered by st.aelen. the
christias bealive that in this age of decayan desolationthe cross shines in the sky
and the virtuous people can see it .
to sum up ,a comperative study should be made between cademon and
cynewulf in order to apprehend their position in the pages of literature . cademon
was divinely inspired where as cyneulf was a poet of that age . cademon attempts
tore produce the themes of the bible , cywulf had no such intenton. it is suffice
to say that , cademon was more talented than that of cynewulf . it should be
pointed out that excluding the poems of cynewulf and caedmon , there are other
religious poems too in the old english period. such poems are " guthlac-
A" ,"guthlac-B". The charges of obscurity and difficulty are often brought against
old english religious poetry. but, nobody can ignore the religious tone of those
antique poems .
