77. A fragment of a similar coin. BRITISH MUSEUM. PL. VI, FIG. 10. The title on these coins Rex Saxonum occurring in connection with the names of the mints of Exeter, 75, and Winchester, 76 and 77, seems to confirm my conjecture that the coins which also present this title in Pl. II are of West-Saxon origin. In connexion with these I give two similar coins of Alfred's son and successor Edward minted at Bath. PL. VI, Figs. 11, 12. THE FORMER IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM, THE LATTER IN MR CUFF'S COLLECTION. INTRODUCTORY NOTE. That the poems, of which king Alfred is known to have been the writer, are in themselves a better illustration of Anglo-Saxon poetry in general, than any laboured essay on the subject, has been already observed by the author of this version, in the short preface to the separate edition of the work.* But as these essays are professedly a regular series, having for their object to illustrate the Manners, Literature &c. of the ninth century, it seems desirable-if only as a matter of mere form-not to let this version, with its running commentary, appear a second time before the public without a few words on the poetry and general poetic character of our ancestors. It is a great draw-back to our appreciation of early poetry, that the help of rhythm and music can no longer be obtained. These are the most frail and fleeting of all the graces that wait upon the Fine Arts. It would seem, too, as if the very physical character of musical instruments were as transitory as the music itself. It appears, by the result of historical research, that the instruments used in different ages vary so considerably, that even those which pass under the same name, have never borne exactly the same form, and often not even the same adaptation to the uses of the musician. A very large, and in many cases, a very heterogeneous assortment of instruments, are all included under the name of HARP : and, though this instrument, as far as we know, was the only one generally used by the Saxons, yet we have little or no clue to a knowledge of its shape, size, or principle of construction. This is the more to be lamented, because almost every fragment that remains of Anglo-Saxon poetry bears evident marks of having been written to be sung to the harp. Thus, then, we have no external aid to guide us to the metrical principles of the ancient Anglo-Saxon Poems, and are, therefore, driven by necessity to an examination of those now existing, as the only source from which we can derive a scanty information on this subject. The eminent historian of the Anglo-Saxons, Mr Turner, has, with his usual diligence, discovered a passage in the works of venerable Bede, which aids us wonderfully in this enquiry. * King Alfred's Poems, now first turned into English metres, by M. F. Tupper esq. London, 12mo, A. Hall, Virtue and Co. 1850. In defining rhythm, Bede says, "It is a modulated composition of words, not according to the laws of metre, but adapted in the number of its syllables to the judgment of the ear, as are the verses of our vulgar [or native] poets. Rhythm may exist without metre, but there cannot be metre without rhythm, which is thus more clearly defined. Metre is an artificial rule with modulation; rhythmus is the modulation without the rule. Yet, for the most part, you may find, by a sort of chance, some rule in rhythm; but this is not from an artificial government of the syllables. It arises because the sound and the modulation lead to it. The vulgar poets effect this rustically; the skilful obtain it by their skill. Thus that celebrated hymn is very beautifully made like iambic metre: Rex eterne! Domine! Such are other Ambrosian poems, and those not a few. So they sing the hymn on the day of judgment, made alphabetically, in the form of the trochaic metre: Apparebit repentina Thus, then, it appears that the Anglo-Saxon poetry is not based upon a rigid metrical system of quantity like that of the Ancient Greeks and Romans, or upon the almost equally rigid system of accent, like that of the modern European nations; but is adapted in the number of its syllables to the judgment of the ear. then see what peculiarities an investigation of the existing AngloSaxon poems will furnish us with. Let us 1. They consist entirely of short lines, containing not always the same number of syllables, but nearly the same number, according to the judgment of the ear. 2. A second peculiarity is the almost total omission of particles. This Mr Turner considers to be a peculiarity of all rude nations. It may however be no more than an instance of the usual tendency of poetry to omit all such small words as impede the expression of poetic thought, or are unnecessary to the greatness of the poetic conception. In instance of these two peculiarities may be adduced the opening lines of King Alfred's poems, which rendered literally run thus; Thus Alfred [to] us [The] king of [the] West Saxons |