Cædmon's Hymn

Excuse my fresh-out-of-bed look.

A hymn composed by the earliest English poet whose name is known.

According to the story, this poem/hymn was written one evening while Cædmon's fellow monks were singing and feasting, but Cædmon had left early to sleep with the animals because he knew no songs. However, that night he dreamt that he was approached and asked to sing. Upon waking the next morning, he remembered exactly what he had sung in his dream, and he wrote it down. Hence, Cædmon's Hymn.

Note that in Old English poetry, more value was placed on alliteration than rhyme, so if you want to listen for the poetic cadence, listen for the bounce of repeated initial consonants.

Category:

Education

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• Cadmon
• Cædmon
• Cadmon's
• Hymn
• Cædmon's
• Poetry
• Poem
• Old
• Middle
• English
• Old-English
• Middle-English
• OE
• ME
• Anglo
• Saxon
• Anglo-Saxon
• Alliteration
• Historical
• Linguistics