Sunday, September 18, 2011
Who is Caedmon?
He is the earliest poet that we know of.
He is an Anglo Saxon religious poet. A monk from his time (657–680) named Bede wrote about him that “By his verse the minds of many were often excited to despise the world, and to aspire to heaven."
His only surviving work is known as Caedmon's Hymn.
This poem is one of the earliest examples of Old English poetry.
“ It is also one of the earliest examples of a poem written in a Germanic language.”
Now [we] must honour
the guardian of heaven,
the might of the architect,
and his purpose,
the work of the father of glory
— as he, the eternal lord,
established
the beginning of wonders.
He, the holy creator,
first created heaven as a roof
for the children of men.
Then the guardian of mankind
the eternal lord,
the Lord almighty
afterwards appointed
the middle earth,
the lands, for men
