Part I of Fitt 40: THE NEWS COMES TO CAMP

He bid them to tell the tidings of battle
over the cliff, to the armsmen there
sitting sadly that slow morning’s day,
the spearbearers expecting both    2895
their king was killed or would come again,
the dearest man.
                                       The despatch rider
left out little that lapsed on the headlands,
but told them all the honest truth.
“Now the one who held the Weders’ hopes,    2900
“the lord of the Geats, lies on his death-bed,
“in slaughter’s sleep from the serpent’s deed.
“He lies beside his lethal foe,
“weakened by saxe-blows. No sword was able
“to make a mark on that monstrous being,    2905
“whatever he tried. Wiglaf was sitting
“beside Beowulf, Weohstan’s son,
“a living lord at the lost ones' side,
“weary in mind, watching the dead,
“the loved and the loathed. Our land now must suffer    2910
“a time of war when the truth has spread
“to Franks and Frisians, unfriendly ears,
“the king was killed. The conflict started...

Apologies for the delay, and Hobbit Trailer 2

It's been a while since I've put up a section of the translation. If anyone out there has been impatiently waiting for the ending (speak up, if you're there!), I'm sorry. I have been spending spare time on my other blog and working on getting my book about poetry ready to place on the Amazon market.

There's a new trailer for the first movie in The Hobbit trilogy (which is how Peter Jackson intends to film it). Here it is

Fitt 39 Finishes: The cowards return, and Wiglaf criticizes them

The soldiers who had run into the forest come back to their dead king and see Wiglaf sitting, exhausted, beside him. He tells them exactly what he thinks of their cowardice. He points out all the gifts they had received from the king were not paid back by service when he needed it. He forecasts that they and their families will pay for their faithlessness by loss of land and name. Death would be kinder than that
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                                          Beowulf paid
by losing his life for lordly treasures.
Each of the pair* passed to the end
of his lease on life. Not long after,
the battle shirkers abandoned the woods—
gutless traitors, ten together—
who lacked the heart to heft their spears
when the lord they followed faced great danger.
Now, caught in shame, they carried shields,
battle armour where the old man lay.

They saw Wiglaf, sitting weary,
the shieldbearer by his baron’s shoulder,
He could not wake his king with water.
No way in the world, though he wished it, existed,
to lengthen the life of his leader in war,
to let or hinder Heaven’s servant.
The judgement of God would govern the deeds
of every man, as it still does.

Then the young man gave a grim answer
that came quickly for those whose courage fled.
Wiglaf spoke out, Weohstan’s son,
a sorehearted swordsman, on seeing the outcasts.

“What one would say, who wants the truth,
“is that the great lord gave you treasures,
“the horseman’s gear and garb you stand in,
“when he often, on the ale bench, gave
“helmet and byrnie to the hall sitters,
“the Lord to his followers, the finest ones
“that could be found, close by or far,
“this one who discarded his war clothing.
“How can you boast, his brothers in arms,
“of your glorious king? Yet God allowed him,
“Triumph's Master, to take his revenge
“alone with a sword when spirit was needed."

“I had small power to save his life
“to bring to battle, but I began
“to better my best, backing my kinsman.
“With every stroke its strength diminished,
“the lethal foe. The fire lessened
“that flowed from its head. Too few heroes
“came to the king in his cusp of need."

“Now gifts of treasure and tendered swords
“will come to a close, accustomed delights;
“your clan will lose their claim to land,
“each man among them, the moment earls,
“however far, hear how you ran,
“dead to glory. Death is better
“to any earl than an empty life.”


*Beowulf and the dragon.

Hypermetric Lines

I promised long ago to explain Hypermetric Lines. The following explanation is from my book, The Complete Poetry Guide and Workbook:

A poet might choose to make some longer lines, called hypermetric lines. In them, the first half-line is preceded by an extra lift and dip(...) and the second by a dip(...). These lines do not occur by themselves, but in groups a few lines long, like this one from the poem Beowulf, lines 1160-1164.

...Bearers offered
wíne from | wóndrous containers. || And then | Wealtheow entered,
góing in | a gólden tórc || to where | the twó góod ones
ídled | úncle and néphew || without | émnity yét,
éach one | trúe to the óther....

Why the old poets used hypermetric lines, I cannot say, but you might find a use for them to slow up the action or add a little variety.

My Poetry Workbook is on Sale!

I've been away from this site for over a month now, but I have an excuse. I was editing a book for publication. The book is The Complete Poetry Guide and Workbook. It represents two years of research and writing plus I don't know how much editing.  You should be able to order a copy on Amazon, but I will get a larger share of the purchase cost if you buy it direct from Lulu.com on this page. The cost to you is the same either way. Let me tell you about it, though. Here's the cover:

Here is the Table of Contents for the first half of the book, including the page numbers:

Introduction 10

• Poetry in General 11
• What is Poetry? 11
• Poetry Came From Music 13
• A Working Definition of Poetry 14
• Barriers to Poetry 15

Poetic Devices 17

• Poetic Devices of Timing and Stress 19
• Lines 19
• Rhythm 25
• Metre 29
• Poetic Devices that Repeat Sounds 38
•  Alliteration 39
• Assonance 45
• Consonance 48
• Rhyme 51
• Repetition 59
• Onomatopoeia 61
•  Poetic Devices of Meaning 64
• Simile, Metaphor, and Personification 64
• Imagery 69
• Symbolism 73
• Allusion 81
• Poetic Forms 87
• Introduction 87
• Non-Metric Forms 88
• Prose Poetry 88
• Free verse 98
• Alliterative Verse 107
• Japanese Forms: Haiku, Senryu, Tanka 116
• Metric, Unrhymed Forms 131
• Cinquains 131
• Blank Verse 133
• Metric, Rhymed Forms 140
• Couplets and Heroic Couplets 140
• Tercets 143
• Quatrains 149
• Quintains, Especially Limericks 159
• Sonnets 161
• Typographic Forms 170
• Acrostics and Acronyms 170
• Calligrams and Concrete poetry 177
• Translation 184
• What is a Good Translation? 184
• Why Translate? 186
• How to Translate 187
• Sharing Your Work 194
• Glossaries 199
• Poetic Terminology 199
• Examples of Poetic Forms and Subjects 208

Each of the chapters is followed by exercises, graded into three levels of difficulty. The second half of the book is an anthology of over 150 classic poems. They serve as examples of forms as well as inspiration for poets and just plain enjoyable reading for everyone else.

I really believe in this project. I hope you'll consider buying it and that you let me know what you think. The next challenge is to distribute it as an e-book.

Fitt 39, Part 1: The Dragon and Beowulf Praised

Wiglaf has heard Beowulf's last request. Now the poet contrasts the dead dragon with the power and pride it had in life. Beowulf is praised for his rare courage in killing the beast. (89% of the translation's done).

---------------------------------

Then everything took a turn for the youth
towards the worse. There was, on the ground,
his beloved lord, his life at its end,
still suffering. The slayer, too,
the dreadful earth dragon, was dead himself,   2825
badly beaten. The bounty of rings
could not be kept by the coiling wyrm.
Instead, the stroke of steel took him,
the hard, war-dented hammers' leavings,
so the far-flier, transfixed by wounds,    2830
fell to the earth not far from his hoard,
no longer lithe, aloft in the air
in deep darkness, drunk with treasure,
displaying himself, but sank to earth,
which was the work of the war-leader's hands.   2835

I find there are few fighters on earth,
however strong, as I hear tell,
and daring in every act of valour,
to brave a dragon's deadly breath
or disturb with hands his hall of rings      2840
if a warden, watching, were discovered
denned in the barrow.

Poetry Praising Objects

The Beowulf poet cannot seem to mention the tools of a warrior's trade without giving them a physical description, sometimes its history, and usually its fine protective or offensive qualities. He sometimes does this for swords and helmets but always, it seems, for shirts of mail. For example, Beowulf tells Hrothgar,

“But if I sink in death, send Hygelac      452
“the wonderful armour worn over my breast,
“the best of hauberks that Hrethel left me,
“Wayland's handwork."

and

“An aid against foes, my armoured shirt 550
“strong and hand-linked, helped me withstand,
“safeguarding my breast, my braided sark
“adorned with gold."

The modern reader might wonder why so much attention goes to an item of protective clothing, but the listeners apparently never tired of hearing such details. Perhaps we can understand them by describing other items that are of narrow but deep interest to particular groups. For example, passages like this would interest one segment of society:

His vehicle waited,   a V-8 turbo
with twin overhead cams   that came from his father
an avid collector.   The Camaro was painted
in metallic red.   A racing stripe
adorned its length   and leather seats,
factory-fresh,   in front and back.
An over six-thousand   cc engine
carefully tuned   by qualified techs
zoomed in three seconds    from zero to sixty.

If you are aware that Camaros did not have 6000 cc V-8 engines, you are a perfect audience for this type of description. Other people would pay attention to

A chinois Chanel   shaped to perfection...

or

A Mac computer   from Cupertino...