THE WORD EXCHANGE © © , (a) m ANGLO:-SA;X6"l^ POEMS INiTgANSLATtON © © © EDITED BY GREG DELANTY MICHAEL MATTO ®i i- J W. W. NORTON t> COMPANY New York London CONTENTS Foreword xi Preface xv Introduction 3 * Guide to Reading Aloud 19 ' About the Old English Text 23 '';• •- <" ; - POEMS OF EXILE AND LONGING .. • . ' The Seafarer,/ Mary Jo Salter -27 <• •. >; .,;, The Wife's Lament / Eavan Boland 41 • Deor / Seamus Heaney 47 ' Wulf and Eadwacer / Paul Muldoon 51' The Husband's Message / Michael Schmidt 53 The Wanderer / Greg Delanty 57 FIRST RIDDLE-HOARD "Who Is So Smart, So. Crafty-Spirited" / Peter Campion 67 , _ • "Busy from Time to Time, in Rings" / Phillis Levin 75 . • "I Am a Monad Gashed by Iron" / David Curzon 77 "All That Adorns Me Keeps Me" / Lawrence Raab 77 - . •..• "I Can Chortle Away in Any Voice" / Patricia McCarthy 79 "Days before Birth I Was Left Here for Dead" /James McGonigal 81. "My Jacket Is Polished Gray" / Billy Collins 83 "I Crush and Compress, Ruin and Ravage the Raw" / Elizabeth Powell 85 "I Saw Ten of Them Ramble across the Land" / Enda Wyley ' !8f "Armed and Deadly Those Were My Early Days" / James McGonigal 89 V POEMS ABOUT HISTORICAL BATTLES, PEOPLE, AND PLACES The Battle of Maldon / David R. Slavitt 93 The Battle at Brunanburh / Robert Hass 113 The Death of Alfred / Robert Hass 119 The Death of Edgar / Paul McLoughlin 121 . Durham / Derek Mahon 125 The Battle of Finnsburh: a fragment / X.J. Kennedy 127 Waldere: two fragments / Matthew Hqllis 131 Widsith / Bernard O'Donoghue 137 -,,••. SECOND RIDDLE-HOARD "My Throat's a Torch, the Rest of Me Rust" / David Barber 149 "All My Life's a Struggle with Water and Wind" / Lawrence Raab 151 "Some Wonder Am I" / Dennis O'Driscoll 153 „ ^ "My Tooth Is Long, My Work Even Longer",/ Gary Soto 157 "Five Dozen Reached the Brink" / Paul Farley 159 , . "Wob Is My Name Approximately" /James McGonigal 161 "I'm a Creature to Conjure With" / David Barber 163 "Call Me Fabulous" / Gerry Murphy 163 "Some Enemy Took My Life" /Jane Hirshjield 165 "From Groves and Green Hills Girdling the City" / ; Robert B. Shaw 167 POEMS ABOUT LIVING Maxims I-A / David Curzon 171 Maxims I-B\ / , Brigit. Pegeen'.>•.•••••.• Kelly ' 177 • •• ' . • ••'.•• • ' Maxims I-C / Mark Halliday 187 Vainglory / Alan Jenkins 193 . The Riming Poem / A. E.Stallings . 199 ; ,; -.., The Rune Poem /James Harpur 207 VI CONTENTS Maxims II /Rachel Hadas 217 • n.: •;••"' ,.•/•,. The Gifts ofMe'n / Major Jackson 223 '• ' Precepts /Jay Pdrini 231 •.•.•<•<••• A Song of the Cosmos / Daniel Tobin 239 Two passages from The Second Dialogue of Solomon and Saturn / Fiona Sampson 247 THIRD RIDDLE-HOARD "A Part ofEarth Is Made Fairer" / Gail Hoist- Warhaft t 261 "I Watched a Wonder, a Bright Marauder" / Molly Peacock 263 "I Dance like Flames" / David Constantine 265 "Wondrous Is This World, Incomparable" / David Wojahn 267 "A Sea Monster Came Sailing" /James McGonigal 269 "At Rest, Laborers Lean on Me" / Gary Soio 271 "Dank Earth, Dealing Dumbfounding Chill" / Robert B. Shaw 273 "It Was a Creature Traveling with Pendulum Motion" / - • •'• i . Jacqueline Jones LaMon 275 .y . ..... , "I Saw This Creature, His Belly Arseways" / Paddy Bushe 275 "I Watched This Big Well-Hung Young Laddie" / Edwin Morgan 277 POEMS ABOUT DYING Bede's Dying Words /,Anthony Cronin 281 ,, ,, ~ The Fortunes of Men,/ Kelly .Cherry, 283 ,; • The Damned Soul Addresses the Body /Maurice Riordan 291 The Ruin / YusefKomunyakaa "299'' ' FOURTH RIDDLE-HOARD "It Is Written in Scriptures" / Saskia Hamilton 305 "Forever Is the Creator" / David Wojahn 307 "But When Renewal Comes" / David Constantine 313 "I Saw, atFbreplayirig, Two Wondrous Ones" / Marcia Karp 315 CONTENTS VTT "A Noble Guest of Brave Lineage" / David Cavanagh .317 :•*•„ "A King Who Keeps to Himself Dwells'' './Elizabeth. Spiresi •, 319 "A Curious Thing Dangles by Man's Thigh" / Peter Constantine 321 "I Saw in a Corner Something Swelling" / Richard Wilbur 321 "A Moth Ate Words" /Jane Hirshfield 323 ..•'••• • . ••.''. Li. ' •;.,' "I Heard of a Circle that Spoke before Men" / Lia Hills 323 BIBLICAL STORIES AND LIVES OF SAINTS from Genesis A: The Fall of the Rebel Angels and the First Day / Harvey Shapiro 327 from Genesis A: Offering of Isaac / David Ferry 337 from Exodus: The; Israelites, Cross the Red Sea / David Curzon 353 from Judith: Beheading Holofernes / Peter Constantine 361 ,, . The Vision of,the Cross / Giaran Carson ,367 The Descent into Hell / John.F*. Deane 379 from Andreas / Eamon Grennan 389 • •'•_ FIFTH RIDDLE-HOARD "Fighter across the Earth" / Peter Campion 407 "I Saw Four Beings" /Jane Hirshfield 407 "I Saw the Captives Carried In" / Macdara Woods '409 ' "I Saw a Tree Tinseled with Light'1'/ James Harpur 409 "A Boy Came; Walking to Where He Knew";/ Marcia Karp • 411 • "I Was in There Where I Saw a Turning" / Phillis Levin 413 - "The Wind Sends Small Creatures" / Gary Soto 413 "I Stood Once by Sand, Near the Sea-Surge" /Jane Hirshfield 415. "She Has Me Under Lock andXey" / Neil Rollinson 417 "I Am the Hard, Headstrong Push and Pull" / Gail Holst-Warhaft .417 PRAYERS, ADMONITIONS, AND ALLEGORIES Csedmon's Hymn / Harvey Shapiro 421 The Kentish Hymn / Derek Mahon = 423V ..." •••.-. '_ King Alfred's Epilogue to the.Pastoral Care of Gregory the Great / Maurice Riordan 427 from The Phoenix / Robert Anthony Welch 429-. •... _•:••. The Panther / Brad Leithauser 435 • • , " Whale / Robert Pinsky 441 SIXTH RIDDLE-HOARD "Alive I Was—I' Didn't Speak a. Bit"y/ PhiUis Levin 449 "Up Beyond the Universe and Back" / Edwin Morgan 449 "I Saw That Creature Wander on the Way" /Jennifer Grotz 451' "For the Hearing Ear She Shapes Her Sound" / Gail Hoist- Warhaft 451 "High on This Headland Day and Night I Stand" / Robert B. Shaw 451 "I Was Little (Little Did I Know)" '/ David Barber '453 ' ' "I Was a Girl, a Gray Queen" / Molly Peacock 455 "I Saw Her—Quick—She Slipped Behind" / Molly Peacock 455 "Sea Fed, Shore Sheltered" / Gail Hoist-Warhaft .455 "I Am a Prince's Property and Joy" / Macdara Woods 457 REMEDIES AND CHARMS ' Field Remedy / Nick Laird 461 The Nine Herbs Charm / Tom Sleigh 471 . Against a Dwarf / Thomas McCarthy 481 Against a Sudden Stitch / Michael Collier 483 Charm for Bearing a Full-Term Baby / Carol Muske-Dukes 485 Against Water-Elf Disease / Michael Collier 487 Charm for a Swarm of Bees / David Barber 489 Charm for Stolen Cattle /Jennifer Grotz 491 For Loss of Cattle / Kathryn Maris 493 CONTENTS IX Charm for a Journey / Peter Sirr 495 : . ; Against a Wen ('Maurice Riordan,499 • : ' ! FINAL RIDDLE-HOARD "I Stand at the Noble's Shoulder", I Jon Stallworthy 503 . • "Look at My Puffed-Up Breast"/ Patricia McCarthy ; 503 •'.•• ,, "Old Was My Race, Steady and Gaining" /JacquelineJones LaMon 505 . , - ; "On Earth There's a Creature Sprung from a Wonder" / David Constantine 507 "My Home Harps On as I Hold My Tongue'.' / David Barber. 511 "Many Men Were Sitting" / Marcia Karp 513 "When I Was a Tree in the Wood the Creatures" / Eilean Ni Chuilleandin 5 515 , - . ; "He Had His Way, His Pleasure" / Eilean Ni Chuilleandin 517 "Smoother, Than, Smoother Than. Where?" / Eilean N( Chuilleandin .519 "I Am Noble, Known to Earls" I Jane Hirshfield ,521 On Translating Old English Poetry 523 Index of Riddle Numbers and Solutions 541 Index of Anglo-Saxon Poetic Records Titles 546 , : For Further Reading on Old English 548 Acknowledgments 550 Index of Titles, Translators, and First Lines 553 Editors' Biographies 557 ' " CONTENTS.