Bede writes Hic est sensus, non autem ordo ipse verborum, and gives in Latin prose a translation of the hymn from the Northumbrian dialect, in which Cædmon wrote.
This does not mean that Cædmon was a herdsman, but that he served in turn as did the other secular attendants at the monastery.
It has often been surmised that Milton may have known of Cædmon through Junius, and that this knowledge may have affected the cast of his great poem as well as suggested some of his most famous touches.
For these are the years of the abbacy of Hild at Whitby, and it was in her time that Cædmon appeared, who had received the gift of divine song in a vision of the night.
Thereupon Cædmon began to sing verses that he had never heard before, of this import: Nu scylun hergan hefaenriches ward .
The monks heard him in wonder, and took him to the Abbess Hilda, who gave order that Cædmon should receive instruction and enter the monastery as one of the brethren.
In a beautiful chapter of Bede's History we may read how Cædmon (d.
Footnote: A friend of Milton, calling himself Franciscus Junius, first printed the Cædmon poems in Antwerp (cir.
The greatest names of the Northumbrian school are Bede, Cædmon and Cynewulf.
The nobility of style in the Genesis poem and the picturesque account of the fallen angels (which reappears in Paradise Lost) have won for Cædmon his designation as the Milton of the Anglo-Saxon period.
A study of the poems (now known as the Cædmonian Cycle) leads to the conclusion that they were probably the work of two or three writers, and it has not been determined what part Cædmon had in their composition.
Cædmon thought that he could not sing, and when he saw that his turn was coming near, he used to get up and quietly leave the table and go home.
Palgrave says that there are in Cædmon passages so like the Paradise Lost that some of Milton’s lines read like an almost literal translation.
Taine mildly states Milton’s obligations to Cædmon in saying, “One would think he must have had some knowledge of Cædmon from the translation of Junius.
Cædmon was a poor brother in Hild's monastery at Whitby, and he acquired the art of poetry by a miracle.
The Christian poem of Cædmon is tinctured on every page with ideas derived from the legends of the old heathen mythology.
But Cædmon conceived the notion of paraphrasing the Bible story in the old alliterative Teutonic verse, which was familiar to his hearers in songs like Beowulf.
John de Trevisa says, "Cædmon of Whitaby was inspired of the Holy Gost, and made wonder poisyes an Englisch, meiz of al the Storyes of Holy Writ.
Thereupon Cædmon began to sing verses that he had never heard before, of this import: "Now should we praise the power and wisdom of the Creator, the works of the Father.
When he awakened, Cædmon remembered the words of the hymn and added to them many more.
Though we have Bede's assurance that Cædmon "transformed the whole course of Bible history into most delightful poetry," no work known certainly to have been composed by him has come down to us.
The greatest work attributed to Cædmon is the so-called Paraphrase.
Can you quote any passages from Cædmon to show that Anglo-Saxon character was not changed but given a new direction?
Cædmon may be one of them: the question has been the cause of immense discussion, and remains doubtful.
The materials at hand for his study were a faulty edition of Cædmon and an insufficient dictionary.
When Cædmon awoke he remembered the verses that he had sung and added to them others.
Modern criticism has shown conclusively that the poetry of the "Cædmon MS.
Since, however, we learn from Bæda that already in his time Cædmon had had many imitators, the abstract probability is rather unfavourable than otherwise to the assumption that a collection of poems contained in a late 10th century MS.
The hymn said to have been composed by Cædmon in his dream is extant in its original language.
It would be impossible to prove that Cædmon was not the author, though the production of such a work by the herdsman of Streanæshalch would certainly deserve to rank among the miracles of genius.
Sidenote: Synod of Whitby] But even while Cædmon was singing the glories of Northumbria and of the Irish Church were passing away.
They translated for Cædmon a passage in Holy Writ, 'bidding him, if he could, put the same into verse.
They all said that Cædmon had received a wonderful gift from God, and that he must use it in a holy way.
Then Cædmon in wonder asked, “What shall I sing about?
Then in his sleep Cædmon sang a beautiful song, just as the youth had commanded him.
CÆDMON On one of the dark, rugged cliffs that jut out into the sea from the eastern part of England, stood, many centuries ago, the monastery of Whitby.
When Cædmon received this answer, then began he soon to sing in glorification of God the Creator, verses and words that he had never before heard.
It is a remarkable fact that only two of these poets are known to us by name, Cædmon and Cynewulf.
The above list will hopefully give you a few useful examples demonstrating the appropriate usage of "dmon" in a variety of sentences. We hope that you will now be able to make sentences using this word.
