Essay on An Analysis of the Epic Poem, Beowulf - The Style of Beowulf
The Style of Beowulf
A consideration of the stylistic features in the classic poem Beowulf involves a study of the poetic verse, the vocabulary, alliteration, litotes, simile, kennings, variation and double-meaning or ambiguity.
The poetic conventions used by this poet include two half-lines in each verse, separated by a caesura or pause. The half-lines are joined by the oral stressing of alliterative words in the half-lines, both consonants and vowels (Tharaud 34). "At least one of the two stressed words in the first half-line, and usually both of them, begin with the same sound as the first stressed word of the second half-line" (Donaldson 67). When a word was stressed in the first half-line, its alliterative counterpart was stressed in the following half-line; the words could either complement each other, like holy/heaven or sin/enemy, or they could contrast each other like happy/wretched or warm/winter.
Oft Scyld Scefing sceapena preatum
monegum maegpum meodo-setla ofteah (4-5)
The repetition of the "s" sound in line 4 and of the "m" sound in line 5 illustrate alliteration, and this occurs throughout the poem, providing to the listener what the rhyme of modern-day poetry provides – an aesthetic sense of rightness or pleasure.
The vocabulary of the poem is remarkable in several ways. First of all, about one-third of the vocabulary is compound words. For the concept of "the sea" there are 50 different compounds; likewise there are 50 compounds for the concept of "a battle;" and 30 words for "king" (Chickering 5). It is truly amazing that in this poem of about 3000 lines there are 4000 vocabulary entri...
...as involved a study of the poetic verse, the vocabulary, alliteration, litotes, simile, kennings, variation and double-meaning or ambiguity.
Chickering, Howell D.. Beowulf A dual-Language Edition. New York: Anchor Books, 1977.
Donaldson, E. Talbot. "Old English Prosody and Caedmon's Hymn." Beowulf: The Donaldson Translation, edited by Joseph F. Tuso. New York, W.W.Norton and Co.: 1975.
Magoun, Frances P. "Oral-Formulaic Character of Anglo-Saxon Narrative Poetry." In TheBeowulf Poet, edited by Donald K. Fry. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1968.
Essay on Beowulf Is An Epic Hero
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The Epic Poem - Beowulf Essay
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The Epic Poem, Beowulf - Vengeance and Revenge in Beowulf Essay
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themebeo Epic of Beowulf Essay - Style, Structure and Theme
- Style, Structure and Theme of Beowulf A consideration of the stylistic features in the classic poem Beowulf involves a study of the poetic verse, the vocabulary, alliteration, litotes, simile, kennings, variation and double-meaning or ambiguity. A consideration of the structure and the theme of the poem involve a wide diversity of opinion on the subject. First, let us talk about style. The poetic conventions used by this poet include two half-lines in each verse, separated by a caesura or pause.... [tags: Epic Beowulf essays]
The Style of Beowulf Essay
- The Style of Beowulf Ursula Schaefer in "Rhetoric and Style" gives an overview of the history of criticism of style: Examination of the poem's rhetoric and style started out with investigating common Germanic features. On the other end of the scale, attention was given to a possible Latin influence on the poem's style. Recently, there have been reconsiderations of authochthonous traditions linked mainly with the analysis of larger narrative patterns (105). Beowulf 's stylistic features will be examined in this essay, along with the perspectives of various literary critics.... [tags: Epic Beowulf essays]
Epic of Beowulf Essay - An Epic Poem