Professor Borges - A Course on English Literature by Jorge Luis Borges
Authors: Jorge Luis Borges
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remembered in England. He talks about Eormenric and his wolf’s heart: Eormenric “who ruled that vast Goth nation,” “
ahte wide folc
,” that “vast nation.” “
Gotena rices
” is “the king of the Goths.” Then he adds: “
þæt wæs grim cyning
,” “that one was a cruel king,” and then he says, “All that passed, so too shall this.”
We have discussed the Anglo-Saxon elegies, and we will now turn to the poems that are actually Christian. We will talk about one of the most curious of the so-called Anglo-Saxon elegies. This poem recounts a vision that was possibly real, possibly a literary invention. It is usually titled“The Dream of the Rood,” though others translate it, using latinate words, “The Vision of the Cross.” And the poem starts out by saying, “Yes, now I will tell the most precious of dreams,” or visions, for in the Middle Ages they didn’t distinguish very clearly between visions and dreams. [T. S.]Eliot says that we no longer believe in dreams very much, assigning to them a physiological or psychoanalytic origin. Whereas in the Middle Ages, people believed in the divine origin of dreams, and this made them dream better dreams.
The poet begins by saying, “
Hwæt! Ic swefna cyst secgan wylle
.” “Yes, I wish to tell the most precious of dreams, one that came to me at midnight, when men capable of speech, capable of the word, take their rest.” In other words, when the world is silent. And the poet says that he thinks he sees a tree, the most resplendent of trees. He says that the tree emerged from the earth and grew toward the heavens. Then he describes that tree almost cinematically. He says he saw it changing, sometimes dripping with blood, sometimes covered with jewels and rich garments. And he says that this tall tree rising from the earth to the heavens is worshipped by men on Earth, by the fortunate, and by the angels in heaven. And he says, “
leohte bewunden, beama beorhtost
,” “It grew into the air, this most resplendent of trees.” And that he, upon seeing this tree worshipped by men and angels, felt ashamed, felt how tainted he was by his sins. And then, unexpectedly, the tree begins to speak, as it will speak centuries later in the famous inscription in hell, on the gate into hell. Those dark-colored wordsDante sees over the gate: “
Per me si va ne la città dolente, / per me si va ne l’etterno dolore, / per me si va tra la perduta gente
,” and then “
queste parole di colore oscuro
,” and that’s when we find out that the words are written on the gates of hell. 9 This was one of Dante’s marvelous qualities. He didn’t start by saying, “I saw a gate, and over the gate were these words.” He begins with the words written over the gates of hell, which would have been carved with capital letters.
But now, something even stranger occurs. The tree, which we now realize is the cross, speaks. And it speaks like a living being, like a man who wants to remember something that took place a long time before, something he is about to forget, so he is summoning up his memories. And the tree says, “This took place many years ago, I still remember, that I was hewn on the edge of the forest. My powerful enemies felled me.” Then he recounts how those enemies carried him and planted him on a hill, and how they made him the gallows for the guilty, the fugitives.
Then Christ appears. And the tree asks for forgiveness, to be forgiven for not having fallen on the enemies of Christ. And this poem, full of deep and true mystic sentiment, hearkens back to ancient Germanic sentiment. Then, when Christ speaks, he is called “that young hero who was All-Powerful God,” “
þa geong hæleð, þæt wæs god ælmihtig
.” Then they nail Christ to the cross with dark nails, “
mid deorcan næglum
.” And the cross trembles when it feels Christ’s embrace. It is as if the cross were Christ’s woman, his wife; the cross shares the pain of the crucified God.
ahte wide folc
,” that “vast nation.” “
Gotena rices
” is “the king of the Goths.” Then he adds: “
þæt wæs grim cyning
,” “that one was a cruel king,” and then he says, “All that passed, so too shall this.”
We have discussed the Anglo-Saxon elegies, and we will now turn to the poems that are actually Christian. We will talk about one of the most curious of the so-called Anglo-Saxon elegies. This poem recounts a vision that was possibly real, possibly a literary invention. It is usually titled“The Dream of the Rood,” though others translate it, using latinate words, “The Vision of the Cross.” And the poem starts out by saying, “Yes, now I will tell the most precious of dreams,” or visions, for in the Middle Ages they didn’t distinguish very clearly between visions and dreams. [T. S.]Eliot says that we no longer believe in dreams very much, assigning to them a physiological or psychoanalytic origin. Whereas in the Middle Ages, people believed in the divine origin of dreams, and this made them dream better dreams.
The poet begins by saying, “
Hwæt! Ic swefna cyst secgan wylle
.” “Yes, I wish to tell the most precious of dreams, one that came to me at midnight, when men capable of speech, capable of the word, take their rest.” In other words, when the world is silent. And the poet says that he thinks he sees a tree, the most resplendent of trees. He says that the tree emerged from the earth and grew toward the heavens. Then he describes that tree almost cinematically. He says he saw it changing, sometimes dripping with blood, sometimes covered with jewels and rich garments. And he says that this tall tree rising from the earth to the heavens is worshipped by men on Earth, by the fortunate, and by the angels in heaven. And he says, “
leohte bewunden, beama beorhtost
,” “It grew into the air, this most resplendent of trees.” And that he, upon seeing this tree worshipped by men and angels, felt ashamed, felt how tainted he was by his sins. And then, unexpectedly, the tree begins to speak, as it will speak centuries later in the famous inscription in hell, on the gate into hell. Those dark-colored wordsDante sees over the gate: “
Per me si va ne la città dolente, / per me si va ne l’etterno dolore, / per me si va tra la perduta gente
,” and then “
queste parole di colore oscuro
,” and that’s when we find out that the words are written on the gates of hell. 9 This was one of Dante’s marvelous qualities. He didn’t start by saying, “I saw a gate, and over the gate were these words.” He begins with the words written over the gates of hell, which would have been carved with capital letters.
But now, something even stranger occurs. The tree, which we now realize is the cross, speaks. And it speaks like a living being, like a man who wants to remember something that took place a long time before, something he is about to forget, so he is summoning up his memories. And the tree says, “This took place many years ago, I still remember, that I was hewn on the edge of the forest. My powerful enemies felled me.” Then he recounts how those enemies carried him and planted him on a hill, and how they made him the gallows for the guilty, the fugitives.
Then Christ appears. And the tree asks for forgiveness, to be forgiven for not having fallen on the enemies of Christ. And this poem, full of deep and true mystic sentiment, hearkens back to ancient Germanic sentiment. Then, when Christ speaks, he is called “that young hero who was All-Powerful God,” “
þa geong hæleð, þæt wæs god ælmihtig
.” Then they nail Christ to the cross with dark nails, “
mid deorcan næglum
.” And the cross trembles when it feels Christ’s embrace. It is as if the cross were Christ’s woman, his wife; the cross shares the pain of the crucified God.
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