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    Bede's Death Song: A Modern English Translation, Summary and Analysis of The Old English (Anglo-Saxon) Poem

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    Sako Housu
    The document provides background information and analysis of "Bede's Death Song", one of the earliest known poems in Old English. It may have been composed by the Venerable Bede, a renowned English monk, scholar, and historian, on his deathbed in 735 AD. The poem reflects on preparing for death and considering whether one has brought happiness or harm to others in life. It is notable for being the most widely copied Old English poem with over 45 surviving versions. The document also provides context on Bede's significant contributions as a historian and scholar, and his legacy as a saint.

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    Bede's Death Song: A Modern English Translation, Summary and Analysis of The Old English (Anglo-Saxon) Poem

    Uploaded by

    Sako Housu
    2K views3 pages
    The document provides background information and analysis of "Bede's Death Song", one of the earliest known poems in Old English. It may have been composed by the Venerable Bede, a renowned English monk, scholar, and historian, on his deathbed in 735 AD. The poem reflects on preparing for death and considering whether one has brought happiness or harm to others in life. It is notable for being the most widely copied Old English poem with over 45 surviving versions. The document also provides context on Bede's significant contributions as a historian and scholar, and his legacy as a saint.

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    Bede

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    The document provides background information and analysis of "Bede's Death Song", one of the earliest known poems in Old English. It may have been composed by the Venerable Bede, a renowned English monk, scholar, and historian, on his deathbed in 735 AD. The poem reflects on preparing for death and considering whether one has brought happiness or harm to others in life. It is notable for being the most widely copied Old English poem with over 45 surviving versions. The document also provides context on Bede's significant contributions as a historian and scholar, and his legacy as a saint.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    2K views3 pages

    Bede's Death Song: A Modern English Translation, Summary and Analysis of The Old English (Anglo-Saxon) Poem

    Uploaded by

    Sako Housu
    The document provides background information and analysis of "Bede's Death Song", one of the earliest known poems in Old English. It may have been composed by the Venerable Bede, a renowned English monk, scholar, and historian, on his deathbed in 735 AD. The poem reflects on preparing for death and considering whether one has brought happiness or harm to others in life. It is notable for being the most widely copied Old English poem with over 45 surviving versions. The document also provides context on Bede's significant contributions as a historian and scholar, and his legacy as a saint.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
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    Bede's Death Song: a Modern English Translation, Summary and Analysis of the Old

    English (Anglo-Saxon) Poem

    Bede's "Death Song" is one of the best poems of the fledgling English language now
    known as Old English or Anglo-Saxon English. Written circa 735 AD, the poem may
    have been composed by Bede on his death-bed. It is the most-copied Old English poem,
    with 45 extant versions. The poem is also known as "Bede's Lament." It was glossed by a
    13th century scribe known as the Tremulous Hand of Worchester because of the "shaky"
    nature of his handwriting.

    Was the celebrated scholar known and revered as the Venerable Bede also one of the
    earliest Anglo-Saxon poets? The answer appears to be "yes," since Bede was doctus in
    nostris carminibus ("learned in our song") according to his most famous disciple, Saint
    Cuthbert. Cuthbert's letter on Bede's death, the Epistola Cuthberti de obitu Bedae, is
    commonly taken by modern scholars to indicate that Bede composed the five-line
    vernacular Anglo-Saxon poem known as "Bede’s Death Song" (my modern English
    translation appears below). However, there is no way to be certain that Bede was the
    poem's original author.

    Bede's Death Song

    a modern English translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

    Facing Death, that inescapable journey,


    who can be wiser than he
    who reflects, while breath yet remains,
    on whether his life brought others happiness, or pains,
    since his soul may yet win delight's or night's way
    after his death-day.

    The original Anglo-Saxon (Old English) text:

    Fore ðæm nedfere nænig wiorðe


    ðonc snottora ðon him ðearf siæ
    to ymbhycgenne ær his hinionge
    hwæt his gastæ godes oððe yfles
    æfter deað dæge doemed wiorðe.

    Bede (673–735) is known today as Saint Bede, Good Bede and Venerable Bede
    (Latin: Beda Venerabilis). One may thus conclude that he was held in extremely high
    regard by his peers. The name Bede may be related to the Anglo-Saxon word for
    prayer, bēd. Bede was a English Benedictine monk of the Northumbrian monastery of
    Saint Peter at Monkwearmouth and of its companion monastery Saint Paul's in
    Wearmouth-Jarrow. Both monasteries were at the time part of the Kingdom of
    Northumbria. Bede, a distinguished scholar, had access to a library which included works
    by Eusebius and Orosius, among others. His most famous work, Historia ecclesiastica
    gentis Anglorum (The Ecclesiastical History of the English People), has resulted in Bede
    being called "the Father of English History." Bede has also been called the "Father of the
    footnote" because he was "the first author in any language to rigorously trace his sources,
    and as a result he set a precedent of scholarly accuracy for writers across the range of
    disciplines." He was also a skilled linguist and translator whose Latin and Greek writings
    contributed significantly to early English Christianity.

    Bede is now revered as a saint in certain circles:

    "Because, saith he,


    thou art a saint, Good Bede,
    pray for me ..."

    Bede was declared Venerable in 836 and was canonized (declared a saint) in 1899. He
    was named a "Doctor of the Church" by Pope Leo XIII because of his work and piety.
    Bede is considered to be the patron saint of scholars and historians.

    Bede died on Thursday, 26 May 735 (Ascension Day) and was buried at Jarrow. Cuthbert
    described Bede's death as follows: "Being well-versed in our native songs, he described
    to us the dread departure of the soul from the body by a verse in our own tongue, which
    translated means: 'Before setting forth on that inevitable journey, none is wiser than the
    man who considers—before his soul departs hence—what good or evil he has done, and
    what judgement his soul will receive after its passing.'" (A History of the English Church
    and People, translated by Leo Shirley-Price, Penguin Books, 1955)

    Bede also helped establish the foundations of medieval astronomy and chronology; he is
    primarily responsible for popularizing the western BC/AD dating system. George Sarton
    called the eighth century "The Age of Bede" because Bede was such an important
    scientific figure. He wrote major scientific works such as On the Nature of Things, On
    Time (which provided an introduction to the principles of calendars) and On the
    Reckoning of Time (which "became the cornerstone of clerical scientific education during
    the ninth century"). He also wrote a treatise on grammar and figures of speech.

    "Caedmon's Hymn," the oldest complete poem in the English language, was recorded by
    Bede in a Latin translation. You can read the original poem, its history and a modern
    English translation by clicking here: Caedmon's Hymn.

    If you want to learn more about the origins of English poetry, please feel free to
    investigate English Poetic Roots: A Brief History of Rhyme.

    The following are links to other translations by Michael R. Burch. "Wulf and Eadwacer"
    may be the oldest extant poem in the English language written by a female poet. "Sweet
    Rose of Virtue" is a modern translation of a truly great poem by the early Scottish master
    William Dunbar. "How Long the Night" is one of the very best Anglo Saxon lyric poems.

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