They are
exponents of the Saxon mind, frequently of more value than the vernacular
writings.
EARLIEST SAXON POEM.--The earliest literary monument in the Saxon language
is the poem called Beowulf, the author and antiquity of which are alike
unknown. It is at once a romantic legend and an instructive portraiture of
the earliest Saxon period--"an Anglo-Saxon poetical romance," says Sharon
Turner, "true in costume and manners, but with an invented story." Before
proceeding to a consideration of this poem, let us look for a moment at
some of the characteristics of Saxon poetry. As to its subject-matter, it
is not much of a love-song, that sentiment not being one of its chief
inspirations. The Saxon imagination was inflamed chiefly by the religious
and the heroic in war. As to its handling, it abounded in metaphor and
periphrasis, suggestive images, and parables instead of direct narrative.
METRICAL ARRANGEMENT.--As to metrical arrangement, Saxon poetry differed
from our modern English as well as from the classical models, in that
their poets followed no laws of metre, but arranged their vernacular
verses without any distinct rules, but simply to please the ear.
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