CHAPTER CXIl[XXIV]. That there was in her monastery
a brother who was divinely granted the gift of song.
In the monastery of this abbess there was a certain
brother specially distinguished by the divine grace,
in that he used to compose songs suited to religion
and piety; so that whatever he learnt by translators
from the divine Scriptures, he soon after put into
poetic words with the greatest sweetness and humility,
and brought it forth in his own language, that is,
English. By his songs the minds of many were often
fired with contempt of the world and with desire for
the heavenly life. And indeed others after him in the
English nation attempted to compose religious poems,
but no one could equal him. For he had not learned that art of
singing from men, nor taught by man, but he received
freely by divine aid the gift of singing. For this
reason he could never compose any trivial or vain poem,
but only those which belonged to religion suited his
religious tongue. For he had lived in the secular habit
until he was well advanced in years, and had never
learnt anything of versifying; and for this reason
sometimes at an entertainment, when it was resolved
for the sake of merriment that all should sing in turn,
if he saw the harp approaching him, he would rise from
the feast and go out and return home.
When he did this on one occasion, and having left the
house where the entertainment was, had gone to the
stable of the cattle which had been committed to his
charge that night, and there at the proper time had
composed himself to rest, there appeared to him someone
in his sleep, and greeting him and calling him by his
name, he said: ``Caedmon, sing me something.''
But he replied: ``I cannot sing; and for this reason
I left the entertainment and came away here, because
I could not sing.'' Then he who was speaking
to him replied: ``Nevertheless, you must sing to
me.'' ``What'', he said, ``must I
sing?'' And the other said: `` Sing of the
beginning of creation.'' On receiving this answer,
he at once began to sing in praise of God the Creator,
verses which he had never heard, of which this is the
sense: ``Now must we praise the Maker of the heavenly
kingdom, the power of the Creator and his counsel,
the deeds of the Father of glory; how he, since he
is eternal God, became the Author of all wondrous works,
who, as the almighty Guardian of the human race, first
created the heaven as a roof for the sons of men, and
next the earth.;quot; This is the sense, but not the order
of the words as he sang them in his sleep; for verses,
though never so well composed, cannot be translated
word for word from one language to another without
loss of their beauty and grandeur. Awaking from his
sleep, he remembered all that he had sung when sleeping,
and soon added more words in the same manner in song
worthy of God.
In the morning he came to the reeve, who was over him,
and told him of the gift he had received; and he was
conducted to the abbess and ordered to tell his dream
and sing the song in the presence of many learned men,
that it might be tested by the judgment of them all
what this which he related was, and whence it came.
And it seemed to them all that heavenly grace had been
conferred on him by the Lord. They expounded to him
a passage of sacred history or doctrine, enjoining
him, if he could, to put it into verse. And having
undertaken this task he went away, and returning the
next morning, he rendered what they had ordered composed
in most excellent verse. Whereupon the abbess, joyfully
esteeming the grace of God in the man, advised him
to give up the secular habit and take upon him the
monastic way of life, and she received him into the
monastery, and with all her people she joined hirn
to the company of the brothers and ordered that he
should be taught the course of sacred history
Caedmon's Hymn, composed c. 670, the earliest example
of religious verse, in its West Saxon version:
1 Nu we sculon herian heofonrices Weard,
Now we shall praise heaven-kingdom's Guardian,
2 Metodes mihte and His modgethanc,
Creator's might and His mind-thought (=intention, design),
3 weorc Wuldorfader, swa He wundra gehwaes,
work Glory-Father's how He of-wonders of-each,
4 ece Dryhten, or onstealde.
eternal Lord, (the) beginning established.
5 He aerest scop eorthan bearnum,
He first created earth for-men,
6 heofon to hrofe, halig Scieppend.
heaven to (as) roof holy Creator.
7 Tha middangeard mancynnes Weard,
Then middle-yard (earth) mankind's Guardian,
8 ece Dryhten, after teode
eternal Lord, afterwards fashioned
9 firum foldan, Frea almihtig.
for-men earth, Lord almighty.
guma gilphlaeden, gidda gemyndig,
a man laden with legends, mindful of poetry,
se the eal-fela eald-gesegna
he who a great many old-traditions,
worn gemunde, word other fand
a great number remembered, found a new word
sothe gebunden; secg eft ongan
bound up in truth; the man began again
sith Beowulfes snyttrum styrian
the glory of Beowulf to stir with wisdom
ond on sped wrecan spel gerade
and successfully to utter the story with skill
wordum wrixlan.
with words changing.