, Bishop of
Lindisfarne, who died about 781; or that he was a priest, Cynewulf, who
executed a decree in 803. There is no real proof that either of these men
was the poet. For a good discussion of the Cynewulf question, see Strunk,
_Juliana_, pp. xvii-xix, and Kennedy, _The Poems of Cynewulf_,
Introduction.

Of the signed poems of Cynewulf, selections are here given from _Christ_
and _Elene_.]

_a_. CYNEWULF

SELECTIONS FROM THE CHRIST

[Critical edition: Cook, _The Christ of Cynewulf_, Boston, 1900. Text and
translation: Gollancz, _Cynewulf's Christ_, London, 1892. Translation:
Kennedy, _The Poems of Cynewulf_, pp. 153, ff. The poem consists of three
parts:

1. Advent, largely from the Roman breviary.
2. Ascension, taken from an Ascension sermon of Pope Gregory.
3. Second coming of Christ, taken from an alphabetical Latin hymn on
the Last Judgment, quoted by Bede.

Is there enough unity to make us consider it one work? Cook thinks we
can. The differences in the language and meter are not so striking as to
make it unlikely. The great objection to it is that the runes occur at
the end of the second part, which is not far from the middle of the
entire poem. In the three other poems signed by Cynewulf the runes occur
near the end.]

1. Hymn to Christ

. . . . . . . . . . . to the King.
Thou art the wall-stone that the workmen of old
Rejected from the work. Well it befits thee
To become the head of the kingly hall,
5 To join in one the giant walls
In thy fast embrace, the flint unbroken;
That through all the earth every eye may see
And marvel evermore, O mighty Prince,
Declare thy accomplishments through the craft of thy hand,
10 Truth-fast, triumphant, and untorn from its place
Leave wall against wall. For the work it is needful
That the Craftsman should come and the King himself
And raise that roof that lies ruined and decayed,
Fallen from its frame. He formed that body,
15 The Lord of life, and its limbs of clay,
And shall free from foemen the frightened in heart,
The downcast band, as he did full oft.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

2. Hymn to Jerusalem

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