CHOICE SPECIMENS OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. CHAPTER I. ANGLO-SAXON, SEMI-SAXON, AND OLD ENGLISH LITERATURE A.-ANGLO-SAXON. 1.—CAEDMON, A. D. 650. The Creation. (Manual, p. 26.) (From Guest's English Rhythms, vol. ii. p. 32.) 1 Fremde has a double ending in the nominative -- one v swel, the other consonantal. Idel, A. S., barren, idle. Deserts idle.- Othello Idle pebbles. - Lear. Seman is the active verb; semian, I believe, is always neuter. In Caedmon 4. Wan, in the sense of dismal, was long known to our poetry: Min is the drenching in the sea so wan. - Chaucer, Knightes Tale. |