† Saint Cædmon †
- First known English poet
- Of British origin: name is Anglicisation of Welsh, Cadfan
- Story is told by Saint Bede the Venerable in Book IV, Chapter 24 of The Ecclesiastical History of the English People in Latin
- Cowherd. One night, he watched over the cattle and as he slept, a voice sang to him, and he sang back.
- He repeated the narrative as a harmonious verse to his masters. He sang the Creation of the World, the Origin of Man, and all the history of Genesis
- Became monk at Whitby
- None of Cædmon’s poems have survived, except the nine lines in Latin recorded by Bede and in the vernacular in an early version of the Ecclesiastical History:
“Praise we the Fashioner now of Heaven’s fabric,
The majesty of his might and his mind’s wisdom,
Work of the world-warden, worker of all wonders,
How he the Lord of Glory everlasting,
Wrought first for the race of men Heaven as a rooftree,
Then made he Middle Earth to be their mansion.”
- Importance: Latin was considered the only language of learning and culture, yet Bede found Cædmon’s English poetry as the “finest verse” and “sweetest song,” commenting that his Latin translation is unable to do justice to its “beauty and dignity.” Cædmon shows English’s beauty and importance.
