Prelude
LO, praise of the prowess of people-kingsof spear-armed Danes, in days long sped,we have heard, and what honor the athelings won!Oft Scyld the Scefing from squadroned foes,from many a tribe, the mead-bench tore,awing the earls. Since erst he layfriendless, a foundling, fate repaid him:for he waxed under welkin, in wealth he throve,till before him the folk, both far and near,who house by the whale-path, heard his mandate,gave him gifts: a good king he!To him an heir was afterward born,a son in his halls, whom heaven sentto favor the folk, feeling their woethat erst they had lacked an earl for leaderso long a while; the Lord endowed him,the Wielder of Wonder, with world's renown.Famed was this Beowulf: far flew the boast of him,son of Scyld, in the Scandian lands.So becomes it a youth to quit him wellwith his father's friends, by fee and gift,that to aid him, aged, in after days,come warriors willing, should war draw nigh,liegemen loyal: by lauded deedsshall an earl have honor in every clan.
Forth he fared at the fated moment,sturdy Scyld to the shelter of God.Then they bore him over to ocean's billow,loving clansmen, as late he charged them,while wielded words the winsome Scyld,the leader beloved who long had ruled....In the roadstead rocked a ring-dight vessel,ice-flecked, outbound, atheling's barge:there laid they down their darling lordon the breast of the boat, the breaker-of-rings,by the mast the mighty one. Many a treasurefetched from far was freighted with him.No ship have I known so nobly dightwith weapons of war and weeds of battle,with breastplate and blade: on his bosom laya heaped hoard that hence should gofar o'er the flood with him floating away.No less these loaded the lordly gifts,thanes' huge treasure, than those had donewho in former time forth had sent himsole on the seas, a suckling child.High o'er his head they hoist the standard,a gold-wove banner; let billows take him,gave him to ocean. Grave were their spirits,mournful their mood. No man is ableto say in sooth, no son of the halls,no hero 'neath heaven, -- who harbored that freight!
Words in this poem 19
- prowess n.
- Distinguished bravery; valor; especially, military bravery and skill; gallantry; intrepidity; fearlessness. Chaucer. Sir P. Sidney. [OF. proece, proesce, F. prouesse. See Prow, a.]
- squadroned a.
- Formed into squadrons, or squares.
- tore n.
- The dead grass that remains on mowing land in winter and spring. Mortimer. [Probably from the root of tear; cf. W. tór a break, cut, tóri to break, cut.]
- awing adv.
- On the wing; flying; fluttering. Wallace. [Pref. a- + wing.]
- friendless a.
- Destitute of friends; forsaken. [AS. freóndleás.]
- foundling n.
- A deserted or exposed infant; a child found without a parent or owner. Foundling hospital, a hospital for foundlings. [OE. foundling, fundling; finden to find + - ling; cf. fündling, findling. See Find, v. t., and -ling.]
- welkin n.
- The visible regions of the air; the vault of heaven; the sky. [OE. welken, welkene, welkne, wolcne, weolcne, AS. wolcen, pl. wolcnu, a cloud; akin to D. wolk, OFries. wolken, OS. wolkan, G. wolke, OHG. wolchan, and probably]
- wealth n.
- Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
- folk n.
- In Anglo-Saxon times, the people of a group of townships or villages; a community; a tribe. [AS. folc; akin to D. volk, OS. & OHG. folk, G. volk, Icel. f, Sw. & Dan. folk, Lith. pulkas crowd, and perh. to E. follow.]
- wielder n.
- One who wields or employs; a manager; a controller.
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- billow n.
- A great wave or surge of the sea or other water, caused usually by violent wind. [Cf. Icel. bylgja billow, Dan. bölge, Sw. bölja; akin to MHG. bulge billow, bag, and to E. bulge. See Bulge.]
- winsome a.
- Cheerful; merry; gay; light-hearted. [AS. wynsum, fr. wynn joy; akin to OS. wunnia, OHG. wunna, wunni, G. wonne, Goth. wunan to rejoice (in unwunands sad), AS. wunian to dwell. Win, v. t., Wont, a.]
- roadstead n.
- An anchorage off shore. Same as Road, 4. [Road,4 + stead a place.]
- dight v. t.
- To prepare; to put in order; hence, to dress, or put on; to array; to adorn. [OF. dihten, AS. dihtan to dictate, command, dispose, arrange, fr. L. dictare to say often, dictate, order; cf. G. dichten to write poetry, fr. L. dictare. See D]
- breaker n.
- One who, or that which, breaks.
- nobly adv.
- Of noble extraction; as, nobly born or descended.
- wove
- p. pr. & rare vb. n. of Weave.
- sooth a.
- True; faithful; trustworthy. [OE. soth, AS. s, for san; akin to OS. s, OHG. sand, Icel. sannr, Sw. sann, Dan. sand, Skr. sat, sant, real, genuine, present, being; properly p. pr. from a root]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Prelude is in the public domain. This text is taken from Beowulf, Project Gutenberg ebook #981, the Francis B. Gummere translation; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Anonymous, Prelude, in Beowulf (1910), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #981, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/beowulf/prelude.html, id L14188.
Form and metre
Prelude is 52 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 78%). 86% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.4 syllables. 9 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 29% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 ------A--------A-A------- kings · sped · won · foes · tore · lay · himA · throve · near · mandate · he · born · sent · woe · leader · himA · renown · himA · lands · well · gift · days · nigh · deeds · clan
- 2 ----AA-----B--C-C--B--B---- moment · god · billow · them · scyldA · ruledA · vessel · barge · lord · rings · treasure · himB · dight · battle · layC · go · awayC · gifts · done · himB · child · standard · himB · spirits · able · halls · freight
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| LO, praise of the prowess of people-kings | 10 | ····/˘·/˘· |
| of spear-armed Danes, in days long sped, | 8 | ········ |
| we have heard, and what honor the athelings won! | 12 | ·····/˘····· |
| Oft Scyld the Scefing from squadroned foes, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| from many a tribe, the mead-bench tore, | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| awing the earls. Since erst he lay | 8 | ˘/······ |
| friendless, a foundling, fate repaid him: | 9 | /˘·/˘·˘/· |
| for he waxed under welkin, in wealth he throve, | 11 | ·····/˘···· |
| till before him the folk, both far and near, | 10 | ·········· |
| who house by the whale-path, heard his mandate, | 10 | ········/· |
| gave him gifts: a good king he! | 7 | ······· |
| To him an heir was afterward born, | 9 | ·····/˘˘· |
| a son in his halls, whom heaven sent | 9 | ······/˘· |
| to favor the folk, feeling their woe | 9 | ·/˘··/˘·· |
| that erst they had lacked an earl for leader | 10 | ········/˘ |
| so long a while; the Lord endowed him, | 9 | ······˘/· |
| the Wielder of Wonder, with world's renown. | 10 | ·/˘·/˘··˘/ |
| Famed was this Beowulf: far flew the boast of him, | 12 | ···/˘······· |
| son of Scyld, in the Scandian lands. | 8 | ········ |
| So becomes it a youth to quit him well | 10 | ·˘/······· |
| with his father's friends, by fee and gift, | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| that to aid him, aged, in after days, | 9 | ········· |
| come warriors willing, should war draw nigh, | 10 | ·/˘˘/˘···· |
| liegemen loyal: by lauded deeds | 9 | ···/˘·/˘· |
| shall an earl have honor in every clan. | 11 | ····/˘·/˘˘· |
| Forth he fared at the fated moment, | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| sturdy Scyld to the shelter of God. | 9 | /˘···/˘·· |
| Then they bore him over to ocean's billow, | 11 | ·······/˘/˘ |
| loving clansmen, as late he charged them, | 9 | /˘······· |
| while wielded words the winsome Scyld, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| the leader beloved who long had ruled.... | 9 | ·/˘˘/···· |
| In the roadstead rocked a ring-dight vessel, | 10 | ··/˘····/˘ |
| ice-flecked, outbound, atheling's barge: | 8 | ··/····· |
| there laid they down their darling lord | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| on the breast of the boat, the breaker-of-rings, | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| by the mast the mighty one. Many a treasure | 12 | ····/˘·/˘·/˘ |
| fetched from far was freighted with him. | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| No ship have I known so nobly dight | 9 | ······/˘· |
| with weapons of war and weeds of battle, | 10 | ·/˘·····/˘ |
| with breastplate and blade: on his bosom lay | 10 | ·/·····/˘· |
| a heaped hoard that hence should go | 7 | ······· |
| far o'er the flood with him floating away. | 10 | ······/˘˘/ |
| No less these loaded the lordly gifts, | 9 | ···/˘·/˘· |
| thanes' huge treasure, than those had done | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| who in former time forth had sent him | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| sole on the seas, a suckling child. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| High o'er his head they hoist the standard, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| a gold-wove banner; let billows take him, | 10 | ···/˘·/˘·· |
| gave him to ocean. Grave were their spirits, | 10 | ···/˘···/˘ |
| mournful their mood. No man is able | 9 | /˘·····/˘ |
| to say in sooth, no son of the halls, | 9 | ········· |
| no hero 'neath heaven, -- who harbored that freight! | 11 | ·/˘·/˘·/˘·· |
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