English poetry

The history of English poetry stretches from the middle of the 7th century to the present day. Over this period, English poets have written some of the most enduring poems in European culture, and the language and its poetry have spread around the globe. Consequently, the term English poetry is unavoidably ambiguous. It can mean poetry written in England (and, by extension, the United Kingdom), or poetry written in English.

The earliest English poetry

The earliest known English poem is a hymn on the creation written by Cædmon (fl. 658–680), an illiterate herdsman who produced extemporaneous poetry at a monastery at Whitby. This poem marks the beginning of Anglo-Saxon poetry.

Related Topics:
Cædmon - 658 - 680 - Illiterate - Monastery - Whitby - Anglo-Saxon

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Although the great epic Beowulf has been dated on internal evidence to around 608, the next verifiable event in the history of English poetry is the writing of The Dream of the Rood, parts of which were carved on the Ruthwell Cross around 700. The most notable poems of the 8th century include Christ II, Elene, The Fates of the Apostles, and Juliana, all signed by Cynewulf. The second half of the 10th century saw the compilation of four important poetry manuscript volumes; Junius manuscript, the Vercelli Book, the Exeter Book, and the Beowulf manuscript and the composition of The Battle of Maldon, which tells the story of a battle between the English and the Danes in 991.

Related Topics:
Beowulf - 608 - The Dream of the Rood - Ruthwell Cross - 700 - Christ - Cynewulf - Manuscript - Junius manuscript - Exeter Book - The Battle of Maldon - Dane - 991

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In addition to Beowulf and religious verse, Anglo-Saxon poetry encompasses poems of exile such as The Wanderer and The Seafarer, the magnificent elegy on the remains of Roman Bath called The Ruin, riddles and Medical charms. Although most surviving manuscript copies are written out in unbroken prose, scholars have been able to recreate the metrical structure. The poems were written in a particular form of alliterative verse. This form consists of a basic line of four beats or stressed syllables and an irregular number of unstressed ones. The line is broken by a caesura somewhere between the second and third stresses and the alliteration occurs on stressed syllables only.

Related Topics:
The Wanderer - The Seafarer - Roman - Bath - The Ruin - Riddle - Medical - Charm - Metrical - Alliterative verse - Syllable - Caesura - Alliteration

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