The concise history of English literature, the early literature

“The concise history of English literature is a delightful article that will be published in a series of short articles covering, in a chronological order, eras, movements and events that have shaped and formed the English literature. Through these series, the reader will have a very concise and informative glimpse into the colorful history and evolution of the English literature.

The author Mr. Larbi Arbaoui takes us on a journey back in time, to a long and distant past. We are, thus, given images of an ancient culture  huddled around  their camp  fires or singing prayers of thanks and reverence to great powers such as the Sun,  the Weather, and all Mother Earth’s natural forces.

In this article, we encounter an ancient civilization known as the Celts. We are given a glimpse into the wonderful poetry of their bards. The author also highlights interesting details about life in these ancient times such as the Celts deep respect for woman in their culture and their appreciation of all natural beauty.” Simon Michael Murphy An English teacher from England, teaching in Budapest.

The English literature has been pieced together from different languages because of the diversity of influences shaping English history. The oldest literature known as English was written in a Germanic language called Anglo-Saxon; later on a kind of French called Anglo-Norman was used for literary purposes by the aristocracy. Throughout the early history of England –for more than a thousand years– Latin was used for composing serious and dignified literature.

Historians share the opinion that the earliest inhabitants of Britain left no written literature or history. They lived during what is known as the Stone Age, but we should not go far as to say that these people lived without any kind of literature; indeed, they worshiped the sun and said prayers and sang hymns to the weather and other natural forces. Unfortunately, we know nothing about what language they spoke, what songs they sung, and what tales they told as they crouched together around their fires.  While a lot of literature from the oral tradition wasn’t written down, many of these stories still exist today in some form, such as the King Arthur legend and many Irish folk tales (see below).

The Celts: Later on there came to the British Isles a group of tribes speaking various forms of language known as Celtic. This primitive people had many classes of poets, of which the most famous, the bards (professional poet, employed by a patron to commemorate the patron’s ancestors and to praise the patron’s own activities, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bards) sang songs in praise of their chiefs, accompanying themselves with a small harp with five strings. During the middle Ages, Irish and Welsh bards were well-known throughout Europe. These bards, tales and songs served to enrich the great stream of English literature. An ancient author said that the Celts had two passions: to fight well and to talk cleverly.

Frankly, their literature shows not only that they were fierce in battle, but also cultivated the art of poetry. It shows that they held a high respect for women and for the beauties of nature, the fairy charm of flowers, leaf and stream. This all is present in Celtic poetry. Many Celtic poems and prayers had been composed before the coming of Christianity and had been passed on orally from person to person.

An example of a Celtic poem addressing a little bird on a tree:

Little Bird

Little bird! O little bird!

I wonder at what thou doest,

Thou singing merry far from me,

I in sadness all alone!

Little bird! O little bird!

I wonder at how thou art

Thou high on the tips of branching boughs,

I on the ground a-creeping!

Little bird! O little bird!

Thou art music far away,

Like the tender croon of the mother loved

In the kindly sleep of death.

To be continued……….

By Larbi Arbaoui
Morocco World News
Taroudant, Morocco, May 10, 2012