Dream of the Rood Commentary
- Created by: lozzyboxington
- Created on: 02-04-19 15:54
1-21
KEY ELEMENTS:
First Line: Hw(ae)t! Ic swefna cyst secgan wylle
Last Line: forht ic w(ae)s for (th)(ae)re f(ae)gran gesyh(th)e. Geseah ic (th)(ae)t fuse beacen
- Language of dreaming in first person perspective
- Heavenly linkages of the Tree (L6 beama beorhtost)
- Hypermetric Lines (L8,9,10)
- Repetition w/ inversion of word order: (L8 + 10) (L9 + 11) (L10+12)
- Hapax Legomena: reordberend/eaxlegespanne
- Specifying Variation--> Tree and Persp beholding one another
- L13: VSSV opposites emphasised
- Dramatic Shift between L14-17: Beauty to Gore, repetition, wordplay and later imagery
- HW(AE)(TH)RE holds paradoxes together
- Hypermetricity L18-19
- Water Imagery (dative plurals)
- L21-23 calling back to language of 15,16,17
22-42
Key elements:
First Line: wendan w(ae)dum ond bleom; hwilum hit w(ae)s mid w(ae)tan bestemed,
Last Line:Bifode ic (th)a me se beorn ymbclypte. Ne dorste ic hw(ae)(th)re bugan to eor(th)an,
- L22: Subtle personification, hint towards L15
- Switching tenses- escatological (end of times), uniting past, present and future through parad.
- L25: Shift from seeing to hearing, and in dominant syntactical structure, INT RHYME
- L30: Hypermetric Lines, emphasis on actions of enemies, tree a passive force, no deixis
- Links to 14b and 21b Cross seeing Christ--> dreamer's lang inf by Christ
- Active Christ Paradox: passive as it happens to him, active as God, choosing this
- L39 Heroic language
- L42: switched syntax
43-63
Key Elements:
First Line: feallan to foldan sceatum, ac ic sceolde f(ae)ste standan.
Last Line:Aledon hie (th)(ae)r limwerigne, gestodon him (ae)t his lices heafdum,
- L43 Double alliteration, use of oppositions, language of the Dreamer, links to L37
- Chiasmus (L44), NVVN, Double alliteration
- L46 parallels of Christ and the Cross, then decreasing unity--> switch back to 'I'
- focus on Cross' experience
- Clashing Verbs
- L55 Formulaic poetic syntax
- L56 Bold Static Image: 'Crist w(ae)s on rode.'
- L60: Start of envelope, nouns reinforcing Christ's immortality
- L63: Syntactical Structuring
- 63-64 Patterning encloses Christ in the tomb
64-84
Key Elements:
First Line: beheoldon hie (th)(ae)r heofenes dryhten, ond he hine (th)(ae)r hwile reste,
Last Line: (th)rowode hwile. For(th)an ic (th)rymf(ae)st nu
- L66: Paradoxical
- L70: Expectation of Biblical knowledge
- 300 year jump, interchangability of tense--> L76 Hypermetric/Broken line
- L77: End of Narratio, switch to Explanatio
- L78: Homiletic form of address, themes of speaking/hearing
- L81: Rhyming (highly rare in AS Literature)
- L83-4: Parallels with L12, language of cross influenced by lang. of dreamer
- Shift in characterisation, to third person
85-105
Key Elements:
First Line: hlifige under heofenum, ond ic h(ae)lan m(ae)g
Last Line: on domd(ae)ge dryhten sylfa
- Past suffering, CAUSE + EFFECT for present
- Broadening concern within narrative (L86)
- Ambiguity created by difficulty of translation with 'egesa'
- L87 superlative 'heardost'
- L92, Parallels b/w the Cross and Mary: Enunciation on the Crucifixion (learnt of pregnancy)
- L95 Halfway through section: hearing turns into responsibility to tell/preach
- L97 no longer just temporal connections (MORAL), switch to 3rd person
- 'ealdgewyrhtum'--> all humankind inherits sin
- L101: 'Byrigde'- deliberate ambiguity of tasted/conquered, Adam/Christ
- L103: 'Hider eft funda(th)', 1st person, unpoetic? Specifying variation over next few lines
- Christian Doctrine via complex sentence
106-126
Key Elements:
First Line: (ae)lmihtig god, ond his englas mid,
Last Line: langunghwila. Is me nu lifes hyht
- L107: Expansion of Purpose
- L110: Martyrdom
- Words as the root of power
- L110-115: Fear of Doomsday switches then to hope/vision of unity
- L115: Shift in certainty, temporal connections
- L118: Sound play/Alliteration
- L121: End of narration, shift back to verb openings/metrical/dense in poetic language
- L122-23: Christ ascending the Cross/.The Cross setting Christ down
- Hapax Legomenon: langunghwila (periods of longing)
127-147
Key Elements:
First Line: (th)(ae)t ic (th)one sigebeam secan mote
Last Line: He us onlysde ond us lif forgeaf,
- L129: Patristic/Intelligence--> open desire for God/Grace- Paradox
- L135: Unity/partnership of the Lord/Cross/Dreamer
- L138-9: Reiteration of same point from different perspectives--> FETCH + BRING
- L140: Anaphora (chant like)
- Cross becoming increasingly active-> ambig. of 'symle' as feast vs always
- L145: Harrowing of Hell, simultaneously depicting the end of time
148-156
Key Elements:
First Line: heofonlicne ham. Hiht w(ae)s geniwad
Last Line: (ae)lmihtig god, (th)(ae)r his e(th)el w(ae)s.
- L148: Formulaic Half Line- 'hiht w(ae)s geniwad'
- L156: Christ specific terms w/ much overlap
EXPLANATIO FEATURES:
- Temporal and spatial adverbs
- Normalised syntax
- Connections: Longer sentences
- Metrically different- more traditional
- Harking back to beginning
HAPAX LEGOMENA
Eaxlgespanne
ærgewin
Inwidhlemmas
Limwerigne
Feorgbold
Bealuwara
Langunghwila
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