This selection of the earliest poems in English comprises works from an age in which verse was not written down, but recited aloud and remembered. Heroic poems celebrate courage, loyalty and strength, in excerpts from Beowulf and in The Battle of Brunanburgh, depicting King Athelstan's defeat of his northern enemies in 937 AD, while The Wanderer and The Seafarer reflect on exile, loss and destiny. The Gnomic Verses are proverbs on the natural order of life, and the Exeter Riddles are witty linguistic puzzles. Love elegies include emotional speeches from an abandoned wife and separated lovers, and devotional poems include a vision of Christ's cross in The Dream of the Rood, and Caedmon's Hymn, perhaps the oldest poem in English, speaking in praise of God.

About the Author
Michael Alexander is Professor of English at the University of St Andrews, and translator/editor of Beowulf: A Verse Translation and Beowulf: A Glossed Text, Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales: The First Fragment and The Earliest English Poems.

Reviews
Michael Alexander is much the best translator from Old English. His Penguin Beowulf is much to be recommended, but so too is the volume entitled The First Poems in English -- A.N. Wilson



Book Information
ISBN 9780140433784
Author Michael Alexander
Format Paperback
Page Count 176
Imprint Penguin Classics
Publisher Penguin Books Ltd
Weight(grams) 126g
Dimensions(mm) 199mm * 133mm * 11mm