The advent of poetry: Christ I

Two masterpieces stand out of the mass of Anglo-Saxon religious poetry: The Dream of the Rood and the sequence of liturgical lyrics in the Exeter Book variously known as Christ I, the Advent Lyrics or simply Advent. The two works are similar in focus and technique as well as in quality. Both express...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Anglo-Saxon England 1996-12, Vol.25, p.123-134
Main Author: Irving, Edward B.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Lyric poetry
Poetry
Praise songs
Prisoners
Radiance
Religious poetry
Riddles
Song lyrics
Sons
Sunlight
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Summary:Two masterpieces stand out of the mass of Anglo-Saxon religious poetry: The Dream of the Rood and the sequence of liturgical lyrics in the Exeter Book variously known as Christ I, the Advent Lyrics or simply Advent. The two works are similar in focus and technique as well as in quality. Both express the mystery of Incarnation in terms of a riddle: how can it be that Deus and Homo make their impossible contact? What terms can make this meeting graspable by the imagination? Both give eloquent voice to human suffering and human hope, and seem to recognize that it is only through appealing to these feelings that theology can come to life for us by being experienced.
ISSN:0263-6751
1474-0532
DOI:10.1017/S0263675100001976