How about a shout-out for Anonymous!
A poet who is often overlooked.
Without a formal name,
But a poet all the same,
Please read on ’cuz there’s a chance you might get hooked!
Let me say up front that Anonymous is the first great English poet. Writing in what is called Old English or Anglo-Saxon, Anonymous created the epic poem “Beowulf “(3,182 lines) about the slaying of the monster, Grendel.
The verse is alliterative rather than rhyming and employs what are called “kennings,” poetic descriptions compressed into a compound word. (A good modern example would be calling a tall building a “sky scraper.”)
Here is a section of Beowulf put into modern English.
The time came – the craft was on the waves,
moored under the cliffs. Eager men
climbed on the prow – the currents eddied,
sea against sand – the soldiers bore
into the bosom of the ship their gear,
fine polished armor; the men pushed off
on their wished-for journey in that wooden vessel.
Over the billowing waves, urged by the wind,
the foamy-necked floater flew like a bird,
until in due time on the second day
the curved-prowed vessel had come so far
that the seafarers sighted land,
shining shore-cliffs, steep mountains,
wide headlands – then the waves were crossed,
the journey at an end.
Beowulf was written around the year 800 or before. By the 1200’s, Old English had become Middle English and was on its way to becoming the language of Shakespeare and Milton and Keats, not to mention the distinguished lyrics popular in my childhood. (Does anyone remember “Mairzy doats and dozy doats and liddle lamzy divey?”)
Anonymous has never ceased to be busy, and we can look now to the subjects that have most interested him (and later “her”) over the years.
* * *
Here’s to Anonymous (Anon is valid),
Ever a treat when he’s writing a ballad.
Yes, Anon is known as a robust story-teller and has written several hundred ballads. Here is one of his most famous, composed in an Anglo-Scottish border dialect. (Excerpt)
‘O where ha’ you been, Lord Randal, my son?
And where ha’ you been, my handsome young man?’
‘I ha’ been to the greenwood; mother, mak my bed soon,
For I’m wearied wi’ hunting, and fain wad lie down.
‘An wha met ye there, Lord Randal, my son?
An wha met you there, my handsome young man?’
‘O I met wi my true-love; mother, mak my bed soon,
For I’m wearied wi’ hunting, and fain wad lie down.’
‘And what did she give you, Lord Randal, my son?
And what did she give you, my handsome young man?’
‘Eels fried in a pan; mother, mak my bed soon,
For I’m wearied wi’ hunting, and fain wad lie down.’
‘O I fear you are poisoned, Lord Randal, my son!
I fear you are poisoned, my handsome young man!’
‘O yes, I am poisoned; mother, mak my bed soon,
For I’m sick at the heart, and I fain wad lie down.”
* * *
Politicians spreading scandal like to use a secret voice,
And Anonymous has always been their choice.
The English Civil War (1642-1651) was bitter and bloody. King Charles I lost his head, literally, and Anonymous might well have lost his if he hadn’t been, well, anonymous. The Parliamentary forces of Oliver Cromwell were derisively called Roundheads because they often wore their hair closely cropped. Here are stanzas from a poem Anonymous wrote on behalf of the King, mocking “The Character of a Roundhead.” John Pym was a leader of Parliament.
What creature’s this with his short hairs,
His little band and huge long ears,
That this new faith hath founded.
The Puritans were never such,
The Saints themselves had ne’re so much,
Oh, such a knave’s a Roundhead.
What’s he that doth high Treason say,
As often as his yea and nay,
And wish the King confounded,
And dare maintain that Master Pym
Is fitter for the Crown than him,
Oh, such a rogue’s a Roundhead.
What’s he that met a holy Sister,
And in a hay-cock gently kissed her,
Oh, then his zeal abounded.
Close underneath a shady willow,
Her Bible serv’d her for her pillow,
And there they got a Roundhead.
* * *
And closer to the present day:
I’ve heard some people say
That what Anonymous writes best
Are the folk songs from our heartland
And the prairies of our West.
“Shenandoah,” “Barbara Allen,” “On Top of Old Smoky,” even “She’ll Be Coming ‘Round the Mountain” are among the lyrics Anonymous has contributed to the American Folk Song Book .
Here’s one he first wrote as an Irish ballad and then transformed into a cowboy song, twang and all.
As I was a-walking one morning for pleasure,
I spied a cowpuncher a-ridin’ along;
His hat was throwed back and his spurs was a-jingling,
And as he approach’d he was singing this song:
Whoopee ti-yi-yo, git along, little dogies,
It’s your misfortune and none of my own;
Whoopee ti-yi-yo, git along, little dogies,
You know that Wyoming will be your new home.
* * *
It’s almost a fact and more than a rumor.
Anon is well-known for his blithe sense of humor.
Sometimes naughty.
Apples be ripe
And nuts be brown,
Petticoats up
And trousers down.
And my favorite:
Rosalina, a pretty young lass,
Had a truly magnificent ass.
Not rounded and pink
As some of you think,
It was gray, had long ears, and ate grass.
Closing Note: Anonymous has invariably been generous in providing cover for poets who for one reason or other were not ready to acknowledge their authorships. Edgar Allan Poe and Emily Dickinson were among these.
Anon and on.
* * *
For our video, we are pleased to welcome Fred Gwynne to our column. You’ll remember him as the Judge in “My Cousin Vinny.” Here he will give us the lovely lyric. “There is a Lady Sweet and Kind,” sometimes ascribed to other Elizabethan poets but really by Anonymous. Then Alice White and Mel Johnson, Jr. will tell us about “The Old Farmer and His Young Wife.” And Fred, joined by Jill Tanner, will return with “The Discriminating Pig.”
CLICK ON THIS LINK FOR VIDEO: ANONYMOUS
