"The Rhyming Poem", also written as "The Riming Poem", is a poem of 87 lines found in the

Exeter Book The Exeter Book, also known as the Codex Exoniensis or Exeter Cathedral Library MS 3501, is a large codex of Old English poetry, believed to have been produced in the late tenth century AD. It is one of the four major manuscripts of Old Englis ...

, a tenth-century collection of

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

poetry. It is remarkable for being no later than the 10th century, in

, and written in rhyming couplets.

Rhyme A rhyme is a repetition of similar sounds (usually the exact same phonemes) in the final Stress (linguistics), stressed syllables and any following syllables of two or more words. Most often, this kind of rhyming (''perfect rhyming'') is consciou ...

is otherwise virtually unknown among Anglo-Saxon literature, which used

alliterative verse In meter (poetry), prosody, alliterative verse is a form of poetry, verse that uses alliteration as the principal device to indicate the underlying Metre (poetry), metrical structure, as opposed to other devices such as rhyme. The most commonly s ...

instead. The poem is found on folios 94r-95v, in the third booklet of the Exeter Book, which may, or may not, be an indication of composition. Many scholarly attempts have been made to decipher the collation of the Exeter Book and to determine if works were placed in the manuscript by date or theme. Unlike the ''Monstrarum Librum'' of the ''

Beowulf ''Beowulf'' (; ) is an Old English poetry, Old English poem, an Epic poetry, epic in the tradition of Germanic heroic legend consisting of 3,182 Alliterative verse, alliterative lines. It is one of the most important and List of translat ...

'' manuscript, the Exeter Book appears to be a self-consciously archival collection. The poem concerns the troubles and transience of life. It contrasts the life of a ruler, from the time of his birth to his prosperous rule and life at court (lines 1-42), with his life after his fall, the subsequent rise of hostilities (lines 43-69) and his death (lines 70-79), ending with a reflection on the eternal glories of Heaven and the necessity of penance (lines 80-87). The poet may have taken the

Book of Job The Book of Job (), or simply Job, is a book found in the Ketuvim ("Writings") section of the Hebrew Bible and the first of the Poetic Books in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. The language of the Book of Job, combining post-Babylonia ...

, chapters 29 and 30, as its inspiration.

Bibliography

*''The Rhyming Poem'' **Macrae-Gibson, O.D. (ed. and tr.). ''The Old English Riming Poem''. Cambridge, 1983. With introduction. **Lehmann, Ruth P.M. (ed. and tr.). "The Old English Riming Poem: Interpretation, Text and Translation." ''

Journal of English and Germanic Philology The ''Journal of English and Germanic Philology'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal of medieval studies that was established in 1897 and is now published by University of Illinois Press. Its focus is on the cultures of English, Germani ...

'' 69 (1970): 437-49. **Krapp, G. and E.V.K. Dobbie (eds.). ''The Exeter Book''. Anglo-Saxon Poetic Records vol 3. New York, 1936. 166-9. ** Foys, Martin and Kyle Smith (eds. with digital facsimile
''Old English Poetry in Facsimile Project''
Madison, 2019. *Abram, Christopher. "The Errors in ''The Rhyming Poem''." ''

The Review of English Studies ''The Review of English Studies'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal covering English literature and language from the earliest period to the present and published by Oxford University Press. ''RES'' is a "leading scholarly journal of English lit ...

'' 58 (2007). 1-9. * Klinck, Anne. "The Riming Poem: Design and Interpretation." '' Neuphilologische Mitteilungen'' 89 (1988): 266-79. *Olsen, Alexandra H. "Subtractive Rectification in the Old English ''Riming Poem''." ''In Geardagum'' 24 (2003): 57-66. *Olsen, Alexandra H. "The Heroic World: Icelandic Sagas and the Old English ''Riming Poem''." ''Pacific Coast Philology'' 14 (1979): 51-8. *Wentersdorf, Karl. "The Old English ''Ryming Poem'': A Ruler’s Lament." ''

Studies in Philology Study or studies may refer to: General * Education **Higher education * Clinical trial * Experiment * Field of study * Observational study * Scientific study * Research * Study skills, abilities and approaches applied to learning Other * Study ...

'' 82 (1985): 265-94.

External links

* "The Riming Poem" is edited, annotated and linked to digital images of its manuscript pages in the ''Old English Poetry in Facsimile Project'': https://oepoetryfacsimile.org {{DEFAULTSORT:Rhyming Poem Old English