Poetic Diction in the Old English Meters of Boethius

Description

This is a study of the words an Old English poet added as he changed prose into verse - words that were not to be found in the prose text before him. His additions were not few. In later times, the nature of English poetry would change, but in Old English, poetry required specialized syntax and diction as well as meter and alliteration. Even with the temptation of ready-made prose at hand, the versifier of the 'Meters of Boethius' made copious use of the special vocabulary of poetry. To be sure, he adopted more of the prose vocabulary, and less of the poetic, than most other Old English poets. Nevertheless, between one-third and one-quarter of the vocabulary of the 'Meters' has no counterpart anywhere in the 50,000 words of the Old English prose Boethius. The versifier would introduce a poetic word on the average every two and a half lines. It is easy enough to list this poetic vocabulary with the help of published glossaries and concordances. This study goes further, to examine how the poet used the words, how he seems to have chosen particular words for particular positions and functions. Preface v List of Tables x 1. Preliminary 1 2. The Unique Poetic Words 12 3. The Exclusively Poetic Words 22 4. The Limited Poetic Words 53 5. Nearly Poetic Words 113 6. Partly Poetic Words 126 7. Conclusions 144 Bibliography 157 Index of Words Cited 159