| based on EPILOGUE TO "ELENE" | THE AWAKENING |
| Cynewulf | trans. Graham Holderness (from 10c. English) |
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þus ic frod ond fus......þurh þæt fæcne hus wordcræftum wæf......ond wundrum læs, þragum þreodude......ond geþanc reodode nihtes nearwe.......Nysse ic gearwe be ðære rode riht......ær me rumran geþeaht þurh ða mæran miht......on modes þeaht wisdom onwreah.......Ic wæs weorcum fah, synnum asæled,......sorgum gewæled, bitrum gebunden,......bisgum beþrungen, ær me lare onlag......þurh leohtne had gamelum to geoce,......gife unscynde mægencyning amæt......ond on gemynd begeat, torht ontynde,......tidum gerymde, bancofan onband,......breostlocan onwand, leoðucræft onleac.......þæs ic lustum breac, willum in worlde.......Ic þæs wuldres treowes oft, nales æne,...... hæfde ingemynd ær ic þæt wundor ...... onwrigen hæfde ymb þone beorhtan beam,......swa ic on bocum fand, wyrda gangum,...... on gewritum cyðan be ðam sigebeacne. |
i A death-destined breath-catching Bone-brittle ramshackle Fleshwrapped body, awoken From sleep of senescence By a word-web woven Of cunning contrivance and curious Craft, mouth-made in another Tongue, yet sung By a darkling bird in waste Night-watches of shivering Sleep, dug deep Into pain and praise. ii It was the Cross Broke me apart, nailed Me with knowledge, In pain impaled me On truth's sharp spear; To horizons of hope My arms wide flung, hung Where the sleep of ignorance Ended, as I ascended Steep Calvary's slope. iii Grief-grappled, sin-shackled, Pinioned and paralyzed By fault-fettered manacles Of my own making, Till learning unlocked me And dealt me in darkness The blinding blow Of a life unpromised A gift half-grasped, When freely God's grace On my dry face dropped As a dew. iv Dawn Upsprung with a far-flung Shroud-tearing, chain-shearing Bond-breaking brightness Of light's laceration, broke With a big bang into my Bone-box, body with spirit So suddenly fïlled To the brim now, full. v Racked on the Cross A ghost, upgiven, received This songskill, craft and art, Exuberant eloquence, manifest Mastery of word and wisdom Service and song. vi How often I'd read in vellum and volume, codex And scroll, of the majesty Magic and might of the Cross; so many miracles Proving its power, so many lives Transformed by its force! vii Not till that fire-fork Dove-like descending Flamed on my forehead and Touched my tongue, Were the words that heard The song of the saviour My incantation The Cry of the Cross. |
Transl. copyright © Graham Holderness 2002 - publ. Shoestring Press
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