The Lost Token of Youth

1. Do-Now The Lost Token of Youth Think of a treasured item/possession that you had as a child, but for whatever reason, is now just a memory. Despite it being lost to the past, some part of you continues to long for its return. Write down this item and explain why it was so important to you.

2. AGENDA SWBATidentify key literary devices, mood, and purpose in Anglo-Saxon elegiac poetry. Learning Objective • Mini-Lecture: Anglo-Saxon Literature • Class Reading/Discussion: “The Seafarer” Complete analysis of “The Seafarer” Homework Reminders

3. Early Anglo-Saxon Literature • Began with spoken verse and chants • Two types of literature • Anglo-Saxon Prose • Anglo-Saxon Poetry

4. Anglo-Saxon Prose • The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles • Historical journals written and compiled in monasteries • Written in Old English • History of the English Church and People • Provides history of England from Roman invasion to 700s • Written in Latin • Romans primary Contribution to the Anglo-Saxon culture

5. Anglo-Saxon Poetry • Heroic Poetry: • Celebrates achievements of warriors • Beowulf • Elegiac Poetry • Grieves over loved ones or loss of the past • “The Wife’s Lament”

6. Elegy • Elegy (n.): poem mourning the death of loved ones and/or the loss of the past • Listen carefully to the song “Someone Like You” by Adele. • What is the singer grieving over? • Describe the mood of the song. How does it make you feel? • How might this song be an example of an elegy?

7. The Anglo-Saxon Storytelling • Little writing was preserved as the written language was still being developed • Storytelling was the oral tradition • Scops(Bards): traveling poets who captivated audiences with long narrative poems often accompanied by music • Scops were hired entertainers • Lyres: stringed instrument that accompanied poetry readings • The term bard would later be synonymous with poet; Shakespearewas known as “The Bard”

8. Literary Devices • Anglo-Saxon lyrics were written to be memorized and recited easily • Poems contained six key literary elements: • Alliteration • Assonance • Caesura • Compounding • Kenning • Variation

9. Alliteration • Alliteration: Repetition of initial consonant sounds, especially at the beginning of words or stressed syllables • Mr. Brennan bought bags of balloons for the birthday bash. • Write your own example in your notebook.

10. Assonance • Assonance: Repetition of vowel sounds in unrhymed, stressed syllables • Write your own example in your notebook. • I know • this rose is only • an ink-and-paper rose • but see how it grows and goes • on growing • beneath your eyes • From “A Rose for Janet” by Charles Thomlinson

11. Kenning • Kenning: Two-word poetic renaming of people, places, and things. • Whales’ home: • sea • Nation builder: • teacher • Write your own example in your notebook

12. Kenning • Sky Candle (the sun) • Swan-Road (the sea) • Light of battle (sword) • Battle sweat (blood) • See Worksheet

13. Caesura • Caesura: (Latin: "a cutting") A break or pause in a line of poetry where the speaker could pause for breath, usually at the half-line. • Sometimes shown through punctuation • “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.” • From “How Do I Love Thee” by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

14. Compounding • Compounding:the combining of two words to make a new word. • Gardena ("Spear-Danes”) • (gar = spear, Dena = Danes) • Write your own example in your notebook

15. Variation • Variation: restatement of a concept or term using different words. • The nobleman's son then passedthe steep rocky cliffs, the narrow path,the narrow single-file path, an unknown way,precipitous headland, the homes of many water-monsters. • Write your own example in your notebook

16. Anglo-Saxon Poetry In preparation for our reading of Beowulf, we will analyze an Anglo-Saxon poem, which will highlight the blending of the • Germanic warrior culture and • the Christian value system

17. The Seafarer

18. “The Seafarer” • Author is anonymous • Also discovered in The Exeter Book • Largest collection of Old English poetry in existence • Compiled in the late 10th century (c. 975) • Read and annotate the poem carefully • Pay particular attention to how the poem shifts in the second half • Respond to the questions at the end

19. “The Seafarer” • Theme • Man and the Natural World • mercy of the elements • Sadness/Loss • Transience (nothing is permanent) • happiness and life's joys are fleeting, everything, including all of creation, passes away with time • Isolation/Exile • Anglo-Saxon worriers did not identify as a citizen of a country, rather as a follower of a king/lord

20. “The Seafarer” • Allusions Germanic warrior culture and Christian value system • “Fate” – people recently converted to Christianity and still hold some of their pagan beliefs including those of predestination and a lack of free will. • “Heaven” – Christian heaven; that the person who arrives there is to be rewarded.

21. “The Seafarer” • mead: (n.) liquor from fermented honey & water • admonish: (v.) advise; caution • Sentinel: (n.) a soldier or guard whose job is to stand and keep watch • rancor: (n.) ill will

22. “The Seafarer” • Imagery • “My feet were cast in icy bands, bound with frost, with frozen chains ... Hunger tore at my sea-weary soul...Alone in a world blown clear of love, hung with icicles.” (8-17) • describes fear/loneliness using sensory images • “The death noise of birds instead of laughter, the mewling of gulls instead of mead...” (21-22) • Describes loneliness/depression using auditory images

23. “The Seafarer” • Alliteration • “This tale is true, and mine. It tells” (1) • “To the open ocean, breaking oaths” (64) • “With love or with hate but never with harm” (112) • Assonance • “How the sea took me, swept me back” (2) • “Even from hatred and rancor, of bravery” (75)

24. “The Seafarer” • Kennings • “death-noise” (21) = cries • “the coldest seeds” (32) = hail • “summer’s sentinel” (53) = cuckoo • “whales’ home” (60-61) = sea • “hosts of Heaven” (80) = angels • “givers of gold” (83) = kings • “creator of Earth” (124) = God • Remember, if it’s not a metaphor, it’s not a kenning