King Alfred's Poems Now first turned into English Metres; By Martin F. Tupper |
OPENING. |
I. |
II. |
III. |
IV. |
V. |
VI. |
VII. |
VIII. |
IX. |
X. |
XI. |
XII. |
XIII. |
XIV. |
XV. |
XVI. |
XVII. |
XVIII. |
XIX. |
XX. |
XXI. |
XXII. |
XXIII. |
XXIV. |
XXV. |
XXVI. |
XXVII. |
XXVIII. |
XXIX. |
XXX. |
XXXI. |
King Alfred's Poems | ||
OPENING.
Eald-spell reahte,
Cyning West-sexna,
Cræft meldode, &c.
A spell of old;
Song-craft the West-Saxon king
Did thus unfold:
His people then
These mixt-sayings of sweet speech,
The joys of men;
As well it may,—
Drive away delight from truth,
But make it stay.
For his own pride:
A fytte of song I fitly speak,
And nought beside:
I have to say;
To all the best of men I sing,—
List, ye that may.
A short metre, and one full of echoes, is that which is best fitted to the genius of Anglo-Saxon verse, so as to represent it fairly. The writer in the first instance wrote another version of this opening rhyme; but saw cause to reject it, as not being literal enough, and because for the metre's sake he was obliged to interpolate two lines. The reason why it is here below inserted is, (not by way of proof of extraordinary pains-taking, for the same sort of labour has occurred in other portions of this version, but) because it is considered by a learned friend as on the whole the best of the two. To the writer's mind, a sin against faithful rendering was fatal, and he prefers the more literal rhyme just already given to the reader. Here then is the rejected one:
A tale of olden time;
The King of the West-Saxons thus
Shewed forth his skill in rhyme.
His people pleasant things,
In mingled changes of sweet speech,
And many counsellings,—
Lest weariness forsooth
Should drive away unfairly then
The selfsame word of truth.
For any selfish praise;
[But of these people only thought
To give them good always.]
What all the folk shall read;
List ye that may, and like my lay,
Let all the good give heed.
King Alfred's Poems | ||