Intertextuality: Beowulf and Wilbur’s Poem
Instructions: Read Wilbur’s poem and respond to the following questions.
1. Discuss the meaning of the following phrases from stanza 1:
a. “The land was overmuch like scenery”b. “the grass too garrulous green”c. “The Roman road lay paved too shiningly”*What do these phrases say about this country?
2. What does it mean when it says in stanza 2 that “the people were strange, were strangely
warm”? Cite examples from stanza 2 that prove that the Danes are “strangely warm”.
3. At the end of stanza 2, the speaker says, “And they said the same things again and again.”
What Anglo-Saxon tradition is this describing?
4. What does the author achieve by calling Grendel a “child”?
5.
In stanza 3, the author says, “The hero, to his battle reconciled,/ Promised to meet that
monster all alone.” What is the speaker suggesting about Beowulf’s motivation?
6. In stanza 4, Grendel is described as “a child departing with a broken groan” and Beowulf is
found “in a rest so deep/His head lay harder sealed than any stone.” What does this line say
about the difficulty of the battle?
7.
The first line of the poem is repeated in line 25. Use the remainder of stanza 5 to explain
why the line no longer has the same meaning. What is the new mood in this country?
8. According to the last two lines of stanza 5, has the attitude of the people towards Beowulf
changed? Explain your answer. What is Beowulf’s attitude as he leaves?
9. How does Wilbur’s description of the gift-giving differ from the epic’s description of giftgiving?
10. What does the speaker imply about the people’s relationship with Beowulf when he says that
the men were “Singing of him what they could understand”?
Writing Prompt: Consider Richard Wilbur’s poem “Beowulf” as a response to the epic poem Beowulf.
In what respects do Wilbur’s view of the hero echo the epic poet’s views of the hero, and in what
respects do they differ? Include such rhetorical techniques as figurative devices, imagery, and tone.
Write your response in a paragraph below.
Beowulf
By: Richard Wilbur
The land was overmuch like scenery,
The flowers attentive, the grass too garrulous
green;
In the lake like a dropped kerchief could be
seen
The lark's reflection after the lark was gone;
The Roman road lay paved too shiningly
For a road so many men had traveled on.
Also the people were strange, were strangely
warm.
The king recalled the father of his guest,
The queen brought mead in a studded cup, the
rest
Were kind, but in all was a vagueness and a
strain,
Because they lived in a land of daily harm
And they said the same things again and again.
It was a childish country; and a child,
Grown monstrous, so besieged them in the
night
That all their daytimes were a dream of fright
That it would come and own them to the bone.
The hero, to his battle reconciled,
Promised to meet that monster all alone.
So then the people wandered to their sleep
And left him standing in the echoed hall.
They heard the rafters rattle fit to fall,
The child departing with a broken groan,
And found their champion in a rest so deep
His head lay harder sealed than any stone.
The land was overmuch like scenery,
The lake gave up the lark, but now its song
Fell to no ear, the flowers too were wrong.
The day was fresh and pale and swiftly old,
The night put out no smiles upon the sea;
And the people were strange, the people
strangely cold.
They gave him horse and harness, helmet and
mail,
A jeweled shield, an ancient battle-sword,
Such gifts as are the hero's hard reward
And bid him do again what he has done.
These things he stowed beneath his parting
sail,
And wept that he could share them with no
son.
He died in his own country a kinless king,
A name heavy with deeds, and mourned as one
Will mourn for the frozen year when it is done.
They buried him next the sea on a thrust of
land;
Twelve men rode round his barrow all in a ring,
Singing of him what they could understand.