"the door quickly opened ... soon as he
touched it with his hands."

[Sidenote: _The Poem as a Work of Art_.]

How shall we rank the _Legend of St. Andrew_ among the other poems of
the Anglo-Saxons? and what are its chief merits as a work of art? The
Old English epics may be divided into two general classes: the heroic
epic, of which the _Beowulf_ is the chief example; and the larger
group of religious epics, including the poems of Cynewulf, of
Pseudo-Caedmon, the _Judith_, and the _Andreas_.

In spite of occasional Christian interpolations the _Beowulf_ is
essentially pagan, the expression of English sentiments and ideals
before Augustine led his little band of chanting monks through the
streets of Canterbury. In the _Andreas_ we see better, perhaps,
than in any of the religious epics, these same sentiments and ideals
softened and ennobled by the sweet spirit of the Christian religion.
We see the conversion of England in the very process of its
accomplishment. We see the beauties of Paganism and those of
Christianity blending with each other, much as the Medieval and the
Renaissance are blended in Spenser. In the one aspect Andrew is the
valiant hero, like Beowulf, crossing the sea to accomplish a mighty
deed of deliverance; in the other he is the saintly confessor, the
patient sufferer, whose whole trust is in the Lord.

If we compare the poem with the other epics of its class, its most
formidable competitors are the anonymous _Judith_ and Cynewulf's
_Christ_. But _Judith_, though unquestionably more brilliant, is but
a fragment of 350 lines, and the _Christ_, in spite of its many
beautiful passages, is entirely lacking in movement. The _Andreas_ is
complete, and, if we except the long dialogue of Andrew and the Lord
at sea, moves steadily towards the end with considerable variety of
action. If the characterization is crude, the descriptions are vivid,
the speeches are often vigorous, and the treatment of nature is
throughout charming. It seems to me eminently suited by its subject
and manner to stand as an example of the Old English religious epic,
an example of a form of literature with which every serious student of
our English poetry should be familiar. For English literature does not
begin with Chaucer. He who would understand it well must know it also
in its purer English form before the coming of the Normans.

[Sidenote: _The Argument_.]

It only remains to give a brief synopsis of the poem. It has fall