The Ruin
In a time where literature and poetry began to dawn, the writers of the Anglo-Saxons focused upon simple, yet broad poetry. There are two types of Old English poetry: the heroic, the sources of which are pre-Christian Germanic myth, history, and custom; and the Christian. Although nearly all Old English poetry is preserved in only four manuscripts—indicating that what has survived is not necessarily the best or most representative—much of it is of high literary quality. Moreover, Old English heroic poetry is the earliest extant in all of Germanic literature. It is thus the nearest we can come to the oral pagan literature of Germanic culture, and is also of inestimable value as a source of knowledge about many aspects of Germanic society. The 7th-century work known as Widsith is one of the earliest Old English poems, and thus is of particular historic and linguistic interest.
Although the author of "The Ruin" is
unknown, through translation it unravels a story detailing a
fallen structure.
'This description of a deserted Roman city, written on two leaves
badly scarred by fire, may well stand at the gate of a selection
of Anglo-Saxon poems. The Romans had held[Britain] for four
centuries before the Angles came; and they had been gone three
centuries when this poem was written. It would be another three
hundred years before the Normans reintroduced the art of massive
construction in stone to these islands. The Anglo-Saxons usually
referred to Roman ruins as 'the work of the Giants'. The
following description will provide insight of the type of
techniques used within the Anglo-Saxon literary period:
"Ruined the roofs and broken barred
gates."
"And grit holds in its grip, the hard embrace"
"Of giants crumbled. Tumbled are the towers."
"And now the high curved wall itself has fallen."
"Ruined the roofs and broken barred gates," presents an image of cracked tiles worn down by harsh weather and barred gates broken and disfigured from the atrosities that lie in the outer realm. This poem does not use the technique of rhyme, but perhaps was told by word of mouth through the strummings of a harp. In a line "And grit holds in its grip, the hard embrace," the visualization allows one to perceive grit and dusty gravel binding together a large stone structure. "The hard embrace," describes the rugged solidness of the mass. In the description, "Of giants crumbled," a sense of an overwhelming image can be conjured that admits defeat. "Tumbled are the towers," provides a simple image of pillars once touched the sky fallen to grace. In the exclamation, "And now the high curved wall itself has fallen," the great wall which once housed the lives of so many could not harness enough strength to hold it's own existence. "Fallen," perhaps is used as a dramatic ending to an architectural wonder.
