What new qualities does this cycle show? What is the subject matter of its most important poems? What is especially noticeable about the_ Andreas and the Phoenix_?
General Characteristics of the Verse.—What is its usual form? What most striking passages (a) in Beowulf; (b) elsewhere, show the Saxon love of war and of the sea? Instance some similes and make a list of vivid metaphors. What are the most striking parallelisms found in your readings? What conspicuous differences are there between Saxon and Celtic imagery? (See Morley, l, 165-239, or Guest's Mabinogion). What excellencies and defects seem to you most pronounced in Anglo-Saxon verse?
Prose_—The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle_ and Bede's Ecclesiastical History are both translated in one volume of Bohn's Antiquarian Library. The most interesting part of Bede for the student of literature is the chapter relating to Caedmon (Chap. XXIV., pp. 217-220).
In the Chronicle, read the entries for the years 871, 878, 897, 975, 1087, and 1137.
Alfred's Orosius is translated into modern English in the volume of
Bohn's_ Antiquarian Library_ entitled, Alfred the Great, his Life and
Anglo-Saxon Works, by Pauli. Sedgefield's translation of the_
Consolations of Boethius_ distinguishes the original matter by Alfred
from the translation. Selections from Alfred's works are given in C. &
T.(Prose), 85-146, and in Earle's Anglo-Saxon Literature, 186-206.
For selections from AElfric, see C. & T. (Prose), 149-192. Read especially the Colloquies, 177-186.
What was Bede's principal work? Why has Alfred been called the "father of English prose"? What were his ideals? Mention his chief works and their object. What is the character of AElfric's work? Why are modern readers interested in his Colloquium?
Why is the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle important?
FOOTNOTES TO CHAPTER I:
[Footnote 1: For special references to authors, movements and the history of the period, see the lists under the heading, Suggestions for Further Study, at the end of each chapter.]