English Literature for Boys and Girls. H. E. Marshall

For that they had devised

       Against God to war."

      Then after all the fierce clash of battle come a few lines which seem like peace after war, quiet after storm.

      "Then was after as before

       Peace in heaven,

       Fair-loving thanes,

       The Lord dear to all."

      Then God grieved at the empty spaces in heaven from whence the wicked angels had been driven forth. And that they might at last be filled again, he made the world and placed a man and woman there. This to the chief of the fallen angels was grief and pain, and his heart boiled within him in anger.

      "Heaven is lost to us," he cried; "but now that we may not have

       it, let us so act that it shall be lost to them also. Let us

       make them disobey God,

       "Then with them will he be wroth of mind,

       Will cast them from his favor,

       Then shall they seek this hell

       And these grim depths,

       Then may we have them to ourselves as vassals,

       The children of men in this fast durance."

      Then Satan asks who will help him to tempt mankind to do wrong. "If to any followers I princely treasure gave of old while we in that good realm happy sate," let him my gift repay, let him now aid me.

      So one of Satan's followers made himself ready. "On his head the chief his helmet set," and he, "wheeled up from thence, departed through the doors of hell lionlike in air, in hostile mood, dashed the fire aside, with a fiend's power."

      Caedmon next tells how the fiend tempted first the man and then the woman with guileful lies to eat of the fruit which had been forbidden to them, and how Eve yielded to him. And having eaten of the forbidden fruit, Eve urged Adam too to eat, for it seemed to her that a fair new life was open to her. "I see God's angels," she said,

      "Encompass him

       With feathery wings

       Of all folk greatest,

       Of bands most joyous.

       I can hear from far

       And so widely see,

       Through the whole world,

       Over the broad creation.

       I can the joy of the firmament

       Hear in heaven.

       It became light to me in mind

       From without and within

       After the fruit I tasted."

      And thus, urged by Eve, Adam too ate of the forbidden fruit, and the man and woman were driven out of the Happy Garden, and the curse fell upon them because of their disobedience.

      So they went forth "into a narrower life." Yet there was left to them "the roof adorned with holy stars, and earth to them her ample riches gave."

      In many places this poem is only a paraphrase of the Bible. A paraphrase means the same thing said in other words. But in other places the poet seems to forget his model and sings out of his own heart. Then his song is best. Perhaps some of the most beautiful lines are those which tell of the dove that Noah sent forth from the ark.

      "Then after seven nights

       He from the ark let forth

       A palid dove

       To fly after the swart raven,

       Over the deep water,

       To quest whether the foaming sea

       Had of the green earth

       Yet any part laid bare.

       Wide she flew seeking her own will,

       Far she flew yet found no rest.

       Because of the flood

       With her feet she might not perch on land,

       Nor on the tree leaves light.

       For the steep mountain tops

       Were whelmed in waters.

       Then the wild bird went

       At eventide the ark to seek.

       Over the darling wave she flew

       Weary, to sink hungry

       To the hands of the holy man."

      A second time the dove is sent forth, and this is how the poet tells of it:—

      "Far and wide she flew

       Glad in flying free, till she found a place

       On a gentle tree. Gay of mood she was and glad

       Since she sorely tired, now could settle down,

       On the branches of the tree, on its beamy mast.

       Then she fluttered feathers, went a flying off again,

       With her booty flew, brought it to the sailor,

       From an olive tree a twig, right into his hands

       Brought the blade of green.

      "Then the chief of seamen knew that gladness was at hand, and he sent forth after three weeks the wild dove who came not back again; for she saw the land of the greening trees. The happy creature, all rejoicing, would no longer of the ark, for she needed it no more."*

      *Stopford Brooke

      Besides Genesis many other poems were thought at one time to have been made by Caedmon. The chief of these are Exodus and Daniel. They are all in an old book, called the Junian MS., from the name of the man, Francis Dujon, who first published them. The MS. was found among some other old books in Trinity College, Dublin, and given to Francis Dujon. He published the poems in 1655, and it is from that time that we date our knowledge of Caedmon.

      Wise men tell us that Caedmon could not have made any of these poems, not even the Genesis of which you have been reading. But if Caedmon did not make these very poems, he made others like them which have been lost. It was he who first showed the way, and other poets followed.

      We need not wonder, perhaps, that our poetry is a splendor of the world when we remember that it is rooted in these grand old tales, and that it awoke to life through the singing of a strong son of the soil, a herdsman and a poet. We know very little of this first of English poets, but what we do know makes us love him. He must have been a gentle, humble, kindly man, tender of heart and pure of mind. Of his birth we know nothing; of his life little except the story which has been told. And when death came to him, he met it cheerfully as he had lived.

      For some days he had been ill, but able still to walk and talk.

       But one night, feeling that the end of life for him was near, he

       asked the brothers to give to him for the last time the

       Eucharist, or sacrament of the Lord's Supper.

      "They answered, 'What need of the Eucharist? for you are not likely to die, since you talk so merrily with us, as if you were in perfect health.'

      "'However,' said he, 'bring me the Eucharist.'

      "Having received the same into his hand, he asked whether they were all in charity with him, and without any enmity or rancour.

      "They answered that they were all in perfect charity and free from anger; and in their turn asked him whether he was in the same mind towards them.

      "He answered, 'I am in charity, my children, with all the servants of God.'

      "Then, strengthening himself with the heavenly viaticum,* he prepared for the entrance into another life, and asked how near the time was when the brothers were to be awakened to sing the nocturnal praises of our Lord.

      *The Eucharist given to the dying.

      "They answered, 'It is not far off.'