Cædmon (c. 7th century) is recognized as the earliest English poet whose name is known, documented by Bede. Originally a herdsman without poetic skill, he was divinely inspired in a dream to compose religious verses, becoming an influential Christian poet.
Cædmon (fl. c. 657–684) is the earliest known English poet, whose story is recorded by Bede. A herdsman inspired in a dream, he became a devout monk and a skilled Christian poet, composing verses that motivated people to spiritual devotion.
| Front | Caedmon |
|---|---|
| Back | 670-80 all that is known of him is what Bede relates in book 4 of his Histiria Ecclesiastica; that he was a herdsman ignorant of poetry and unable to sing until one night he was inspired by a dream Cædmon (/ˈkædmən, ˈkædmɒn/; fl. c. AD 657–684) is the earliest English (Northumbrian) poet whose name is known. An Anglo-Saxon who cared for the animals at the double monastery of Streonæshalch (Whitby Abbey) during the abbacy (657–680) of St. Hilda (614–680), he was originally ignorant of "the art of song" but learned to compose one night in the course of a dream, according to the 8th-century historian Bede. He later became a zealous monk and an accomplished and inspirational Christian poet. Cædmon is one of twelve Anglo-Saxon poets identified in medieval sources, and one of only three of these for whom both roughly contemporary biographical information and examples of literary output have survived.[1] His story is related in the Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum ("Ecclesiastical History of the English People") by Bede who wrote, "[t]here was in the Monastery of this Abbess a certain brother particularly remarkable for the Grace of God, who was wont to make religious verses, so that whatever was interpreted to him out of scripture, he soon after put the same into poetical expressions of much sweetness and humility in Old English, which was his native language. By his verse the minds of many were often excited to despise the world, and to aspire to heaven." |
Learn with these flashcards. Click next, previous, or up to navigate to more flashcards for this subject.
Next card: Middle caesura divisior metrical foot words line english
Previous card: Swift cadenus vanessa poem esther dean published vanhomrigh
Up to card list: Wordsworth companion to literature by Bahman Moradi