Cynewulf's Signed Poems

Poem Review # 101500

English > Analysis
Literature > Poetry

An analysis of Cynewulf's use of colophons in his four signed poems: "Juliana", "Christ II", "Elene", and "Fates".

1,221 words () | 16 sources | MLA | 2008 United States

Paper Summary:

This paper analyzes Cynewulf's four signed poems. The paper specifically discusses the colophons of the signed poems and describes what they tell us about Cynewulf's poetic practice. The paper cites many examples from the four poems, "Juliana," "Christ II," "Elene" and "Fates" and shows how "Elene" differs from his other three signed poems.

From the Paper:

"Cynewulf's self-presentation is ambivalent. He is a sinner and distant from God. Yet he is not fully self-abasing. In Christ II he speaks of himself explicitly as a teacher of men, which he also does implicitly in the other poems, indicating that although he is sinful, he is at least knowledgeable about how a Christian ought to behave. And the act of writing, of educating people and asking their aid, is a deed that may eventually lead to his salvation. He takes credit for the majority of his writing rather than claiming it as divine inspiration. Only in Elene does he involve God in the poetic process. Finally, the very presence of the signatures and colophons indicate a strong sense of himself as a poet. He has worked his name into the poems in such a way that it cannot be removed without damaging the poem. And he has appended personal colophons to four poems in contrast to any of their original sources. Although he has failings as a man, Cynewulf conceives of his poetry as a means to salvation."

Sample of Sources Used:

AElfric. "The Invention of the Holy Cross" in The Homilies of the Anglo-Saxon Church, v.ii, ed. Benjamin Thorpe. Oxford: Oxford University Press (no date): 303-7.
Aldhelm. Aldhelm: The Poetic Works, ed. Michael Lapidge and James Rosier. Cambridge: D.S. Brewer (1985).
Aldhelm. Aldhelm: The Prose Works, ed. Michael Lapidge and Michael Herren. Cambridge: D.S. Brewer (1979).
Allen, Michael, and Daniel Calder, eds. Sources and Analogues of Old English Poetry. Cambridge: D.S. Brewer (1976): 60-8.
Bodden, Mary-Catherine, ed. and trans. The Old English Finding of the True Cross. Cambridge: D.S. Brewer (1987).