| CM SERIES HOME | CONCISE SUMMARIES | PARAPHRASED IN MODERN ENGLISH |
Charlotte Mason in Modern English
Charlotte Mason's ideas are too important not to be understood and implemented in the 21st century, but her Victorian style of writing sometimes prevents parents from attempting to read her books. This is an imperfect attempt to make Charlotte's words accessible to modern parents. You may read these, print them out, share them freely--but they are copyrighted to me, so please don't post or publish them without asking.
~L. N. Laurio
pg 141
Chapter 14 - Parents are Concerned to Give
the Heroic Impulse
[History
of Early English Literature by Stopford A. Brooke]
Heroic
Poetry Inspires Us to Live Noble Lives
'My goal in this book is to present the beauty and joy of living, the
beauty and blessedness of death, the glory of battle and adventure, the
nobility of being devoted to a cause or ideal or even a passion, the
dignity of resistance, the sacred quality of patriotism,' says the
editor of Lyra Heroica in the
preface to his book. We all feel like children's education should make
free use of works that express 'simpler feelings and more fundamental
emotions.' We all believe that heroic poetry contains inspiration to
noble living that can't be found much of anywhere else. We also know
that it's only the young who are able to fully experience the free
expression of these fundamental emotions in song. When we consider
using our own British ballads, we find that there are plenty of them,
but
they're too dedicated to limited occasions, and too disconnected.
Although we'd prefer for our children to develop patriotism and heroism
from the same resource, we don't think it's do-able.
pg 142
We claim that there isn't any truly British material for this kind of
education, so we fall back on Homer's mythical Iliad and Odyssey, using
one of the graceful, exciting versions written for children.
Beowulf
is Our English Ulysses
But what if we had our own Homer, our own Ulysses? Mr. Stopford Brooke
has discovered that we do! That's a great discovery for those of us who
tend to look at everything from the child's perspective. He might not
be happy if he found out that his book, History of Early English Literature,
which is a valuable addition to students' and scholars' libraries, is
being used as mental food for very young children. Still, this is what
we've needed for a long time. Beowulf has the fundamental emotions and
heroic adventures of the early English people written as a story in
verse form. It's as strange and eerie as the wildest fairy tale, yet
every line contains the distinctly British temper, and the British
virtue that are necessary ingredients in making heroes. Beowulf isn't
exactly English, but he lived in the place that the English originally
came from. He was adopted as England's national hero very early in
history, and his feats were sung in every hall.
Beowulf
is Sensible and Patient
Stopford Brooke says that the poem has 3283 lines and is divided into
two parts with a fifty year gap in the middle. The first part tells
about Beowulf's great deeds against the monster Grendel and his mother.
The second part tells about Beowulf defeating the Fire-drake, and his
death and burial. Brooke says that we're justified in claiming the poem
as English--the poem is only preserved in the English language, and
only
in England. The hero Beowulf is born of brave,
pg 143
noble parents. He's a combination of gentleness and superhuman daring.
When he arrives at Hrothgar's hall to conquer Grendel, we hear as much
about his wise advise as we do about his strength. The queen begs him
to be friendly in advising her sons. She says, 'Your faith is patient,
and your strength is wise. You will be a comfort to your people, and a
help to heroes.' It was said that no one could manage matters more
wisely than he could. Later, as he's dying, he looks back on his life.
What he thinks the most about isn't his great war deeds. He thinks more
about his patience, his wisdom, his power to control himself, and his
ability to avoid making enemies.
'Have
Patience in Difficult Times'
He says, 'Each of us has to wait for the end of our life. The person
who can should earn honor during his life. That's the best thing for a
warrior after he's dead. But everyone should be patient in difficult
times. That's what I want from you.' That's the philosophy of this
early hero whose deeds, whether legendary or not, were done in the
early centuries after Christ, before Christianity had been spread to
the northern tribes [Vikings?]
'I
Broke No Promises'
Beowulf was as gentle as Lord Nelson, and he had Nelson's iron will.
When he took on a task, he accomplished it without any thought except
finishing it. He knew no fear, and, like Nelson, he seems to have been
able to inspire his men with his own courage. 'I broke no promises,' he
said as he lay dying. He also stayed honorable by being faithful to his
lord, the king. While he had any life within him, he defended his king,
even when he was alone and on foot at the battle. Even after the king
died, he stayed loyal, even though it wasn't in his best interest to do
so. When the kingdom was offered to him, he turned it down and,
instead, trained the king's son Heardreg in
pg 144
war and educated him. He guarded him kindly with honor, and avenged him
when he was killed. He was generous and gave away all the gifts he
received. He was courteous and even gave gifts to people who had been
rude to him. He was always gentle and serious with women. Most of all,
he was faithful and honorable in war, as this quote shows: 'this is how
a man acts when he wants to earn praise that never ends, and doesn't
cherish his life in battle.' He cries, 'Let's have either fame or
death!' When Wiglaf comes to his aid against the dragon and finds him
surrounded in the dragon's fire, he reminds him of his life goal:
'Bear
Yourself Well'
'Beowulf, beloved, bear yourself well. When you were young, you used to
say that you would never let honor go. Now you're strong in deeds and
your soul is firm, my prince. Guard your life with every bit of
strength you have left; I'm coming to help you.' Brooke says, 'These
are the qualities that this man and hero had. I thought it was
worthwhile to focus on them because they represent the English ideal,
the kind of manhood that English people valued even before they came to
Britain. And, in all of our histories for the 1200 years since Beowulf,
these qualities have been repeated in the lives of the English warriors
we honor most, whether they fought on land or sea.'
The
English Ideal
'But Beowulf doesn't only present the concept of a hero. He also
presents the concept of a king, a fair ruler, a wise politician, and a
defender of his own people, even when defending them cost him his very
life. Beowulf is 'a good king, the people's governor, a beloved ruler,
a guardian of his land during war, an adventurer who wins treasure for
the needs of his people, a hero who thinks about his sailors while he's
dying, a gentle
pg 145
and fierce warrior, who is buried while his people weep for him.' '
We should be grateful to Stopford Brooke for making Beowulf's heroic
ideal accessible to those who haven't learned to appreciate it. But
what were we thinking to have neglected it for more than a thousand
years when it could have been inspiring our youth with a noble impulse?
Someone may protest, 'But we already have lots of English heroes; we
don't need to drag one out of the long-buried past.' Yes, it's true
that we do have heroes galore that we're proud of, but for some
reason, they've never been put into the kind of song that touches the
hearts of children and uneducated people.
Children
Should be in Touch with Beowulf
Tennyson has given us our image of Arthur, and Shakespeare has given us
our image of Henry the Fifth. But I think that parents will discover
that their children's souls are more touched by Beowulf than with
either of these, probably because children can most easily relate to a
nation's earliest history, and Beowulf belongs to a period of history
that goes back even earlier than Arthur. We hope that Brooke will
someday provide the entire poem with children in mind, interspersed
with his enlightening comments, like we have here. The quaint metre he
uses gives the reader a feeling of an ancient time, successfully
carrying the reader back to the long-ago age of the poem.
We've already used a lot of quotes from the History of Early English Literature,
but a longer quote might give a better idea of what the book is like,
and show how helpful it can be to parents. The two volumes are rather
expensive, but the cost is well worth it if even one
pg 146
single child is passionately inspired to imitate heroic qualities when
he hears:
The
Action of the Poem
'Now the poem gets more action-packed as Beowulf sails to the Danish
coast. Our hero Beowulf has heard that Hrothgar, the chief of the
Danes, is tormented by Grendel, a man-eating monster. Whenever
Hrothgar's
warriors go to sleep in Heorot, the great hall he has built, Grendel
seizes them, tears them to pieces, and eats them. 'I will save the
king,' thought Beowulf, when he heard the tale from the roving seamen.
'I will go over the swan sea to seek Hrothgar. He needs more men.' His
comrades urged him to undertake the adventure, and fifteen of them were
even willing to fight it out with him. Among the rest was a sea-wise
man who knew the ocean-paths. Their ship lay drawn up on the beach,
under a high cliff. Then--
'The heroes with all their gear
Stepped into the ship, while the ocean waves
Whirled the sea against the sand. To the ship,
to its breast.
Then expensive bright, carved things carried
the heroes
And the well-organized armor. So the men
pushed off
Towards the adventure they wanted. Their tight
ship
Went over the waves swiftly, with a suitable
wind,
Flying like a bird, floating with the ocean
foam all around it,
Till about the same time, on the second day,
The up-curved prow had traveled so far,
That at last the seamen saw the land ahead,
And shining sea-cliffs, soaring peaks,
Broad peninsulas. So the Sailor of the Sea
Reached the end of his sea voyage.'
Beowulf, I. 211
'This was the voyage, ending in a bay with two high sea-capes at its
entrance. This is the same kind of scenery as they left at home. When
Beowulf returns over the sea, the boat groans as it is pushed forth
because it's so heavily loaded. The hollow space
pg 147
under the mast that holds up the single sail is holding eight horses,
swords, treasure and expensive armor. The sail is hoisted, the wind
pushes the ship through the foam and waves, until they see the
well-known Geats' Cliffs. The wind blows them up to the sand. The
'harbor-guard who had been watching out across the sea for them,
longing for their return'--this is one of the poem's many human
touches--'fastens chains to anchor the wide-bodied ship to the land so
that the wind doesn't sweep the ship away.' The shore is low at one end
of this bay, so Beowulf drives the ship there, stem first. Planks are
pushed out on both sides of the prow for the Weder men to disembark.
They step off the ship and tie up their sea-wood, their armor clanging
as they move. Then they thank their gods for the easy battle victory .
. . Above them, on the ridge, the guard from the coast of the Scyldings
sits on his horse, watching the strangers carrying their bright shields
over the sides of the ship to the shore. He wondered, and rode down to
the shore, waving his heavy spear and calling,
'Who are you, you with your weapons,
Wearing coats of mail? Whose ship is it
That you have sailed over the ocean
Here on the high sea?
* *
* *
'I never saw an Earl
Who was greater than your leader,
A hero on his horse. He's not one to stay home.
If he's anything like he looks, he's impressive with his weapons
And has an air of nobility!'
Beowulf, II. 237-247.
pg 148
'Beowulf answers that he's a friend of Hrothgar's and that he's come to
free him from 'Grendel, the mysterious enemy who stalks in the dark of
night.' He pities Hrothgar, who's old and good. As he speaks, the
thought of Wyrd comes to his mind, and he doubts that Hrothgar will be
able to avoid sorrow. He says, 'If sorrow would only leave him, if
only relief would come, if only his burden of anxiety would be
lightened.' The
coastguard gives him direction to Hrothgar's and promises to watch the
ship. They go up a hilly ridge. Heirot is on the other side of the
hill.'
Our
Gentle Ancestors--Old English Riddles
The History of the Early English
Literature talks about some other pleasant things. Here are a
couple of examples of the riddles that the old bards used to tell. It's
in riddle and song that we get the most vivid images of the life,
thoughts, ways and words of our ancient forefathers. We tend to
picture them as rough and wild, but they're portrayed here as gentle,
kind and generous. They're the kind of people that we, their
descendants, are proud to honor.
1. This is Cynewulf's Riddle of the Sword:
I'm a wondrous thing created for battle,
Decorated beautifully by my beloved Lord.
My armor is multi-colored and a clasping wire
Glitters around the gem of death that my owner gave me.
He spurs me on, I'm quite a traveler.
I go with him to conquest.
Then I carry treasure,
Cold above the walled garden, through the glittering day.
I'm the handiwork of smiths! Many times I extinguish
Living men with battle edges! A king clothes me
With his jewels and silver, honors me in the banquet hall,
Lavishes praise on me! He boasts about what I can do
As he feasts and drinks mead with the many heroes.
pg 149
He restrains himself and sheaths me, then he lets me loose again
Far and wide, to rush along. I am weary from long journeys,
Most cursed of all weapons.'
(Riddle xxi.)
2. The Helmet Speaks:
I suffer misery
Wherever the spear-carrier takes me!
Streams of rain beat down on me and I still stand.
The hard pellets of hail hit me, the cold frost covers me,
And the flying snowflakes fall all over me.'
(Riddle lxxix. 6-10.)
I don't need to say how literary and important Brooke's great book is.
'There is nothing like genuine leather,' and parents are able to see
the educational value in almost anything. This book is truly a
treasure-chest.
Paraphrased by L. N. Laurio
Please direct any comments or questions to me by emailing me at cmseries-owner at yahoogroups dot com.
|
CM SERIES HOME | CONCISE SUMMARIES
| PARAPHRASED IN MODERN
ENGLISH |