Anglo Saxons
Christian Poetry
One of the notable landmarks in the growth
and development of Anglo-Saxon Literature has been the Christian writings both
in prose and poetry. Christian writings centered around and lives of the saints
and martyrs such as Judith, Elene, Genesis, Exodus, etc. We also
witnessed the elements of Christianity even in secular or non-Christian poetry,
carrying the distinct tradition of heathenism.
The coming of Christianity in the island had
a tremendous impact on the life and thought of people. The already strong
heathen tradition in both intellectual and social departments of life had come
into contact with the new philosophy that was based on moral and devotional
principles of sacrifice and dedication. This contact generated changes that
influenced and enriched both the Christian and Pagan life views and perceptions
of the world. What is remarkable about the spread of Christianity is that it
was not carried out with the power of sword, there were no forced conversions,
but was largely left to the will of the people.
In Literature, the heathen legends were not
abandoned, but a gradual comingling of the Christian values and heathenism
occurred. Worship of natural elements such as sun, moon, fire, sea, light,
darkness, rain, clouds, forests and the festivals celebrating these underwent
changes as Christianity spread. In the words of Prof. Brooke,
“The great nature festivals of Yule-and-Eastra-tide were taken into
Christian service, and bound up with the story of the birth and resurrection of
Jesus. The festival of Mid summer lives in many Christian observances. New
Christian festivals were made to fall on heathen holidays. Church took the
place of the heathen temple, the Holy Road of the sacred trees; the groves of
the Nature God became the groves of the convent.”
New religion of the Romans needed new
meaning, new interpretation and new social relevance in order to gain popular
ground and penetration into the hearts of the people. How could a new religion
and a new philosophy of life suddenly do so unless it expressed itself in
symbols, myths and metaphors that had become deep-rooted in the life of the
populace? Christianity presents perhaps the finest example of how a new thought
system can be established through the process of slow assimilation, and not by
means of hostile posturings. In this way it was ensured that the old religion
would disappear soon enough and the new would gain from all the basic
supportive material it needed to sustain itself for long. It is in this process
of mutual enrichment that one observes the Christian life view lending a new
dimension to Anglo-Saxon Literature, conspicuous in such works as The Ruin,
Deor, Seafarer and Wanderer.
Influence of Christianity brought into focus
such humanistic values as grace, devotion, gentleness and mercy above the crude
glee and rejoicing over the fallen and the slain. Bede's Ecclesiastical History
is replete with tales of love and tenderness. Even the description of nature
wears the gentle clothing of tender design.
Winsomely
the running water, all well-spring that be,
Washed the happy lands, nor as yet the Welkin
Rose above the roomful land, nor dispersed
the rains that are
Wan-gloomed with the gale; yet with the
growing
Blooms was the earth made fair.
These lines from Genesis suggest a strain
of reflective mood in the presence of a natural scene that respond to the
beauty of nature in a pleasant, joyous frame of mind. Again in the Azarias
occur passages that indicate the English awakening to the subtle nuances of
“blossoming earth, the flowers, honey- flowing… the fragrant woods”.
Calm and fair the glorious field,
Flashes there the sunny groove:
Happy is the halt of trees;
Never winters fruitage there!
In the winter, in the summer, is the wood
forest
Hung with blossomed boughs;
Nor can ever break away
Leaf below the lift…
This treatment of the nature contrasts
sharply with the bitter, hostile, harsh and inclement seas, frost, snow-storms,
waves and woods of earlier poetry such as we read in Beowulf. The change is
often attributed to the influence of Christian life-view that beginning to
spread since 597 A,D. In an essentially crude society given to express itself
in concrete terms of gains and looses, the induction of abstract values of
grace, loyalty, love and tenderness posed formidable challenges and created
bewilderment. Christian Literature at this time gives us enough idea as to how
this new spiritual emotional dimension was introduced. As one historian said,
At the end of the seventh and throughout the
eight century they made the great island they had conquered in an age of
darkness into the most ardent and most radiant home of Christianity.
Alliterative verses came to the aid of Latin to express their faith, spread it
among the laity and made it really possible.
With Christianity came Latin in England, and
we witness a remarkable co-mingling of the Latin and Anglo-Saxon literary
resources. The lyric element went into the purely epic character of a poem and
the heavy alliterative lines, so typical of the Anglo-Saxon verification
embellished many a Latin Christian composition. These early Christian poets
don’t sing of the earthly love but of the religious sentiments. As M.Benedick
Smith says
The
sentiment that gives life to the poetry of Dante and Milton is not absent from
the best of our early poet’s attempts at religious self-expression.
0 Comments