Write a short note on The Dream of
the Rood.
The Dream of the Rood
is undoubtedly the finest of old English religious poems. It is a story of
crucification told by the cross itself. In his dream the poet sees the
miraculous tree by turns, shining in jewels and bathed in blood. It related to
him the story of its life from the day when it was struck down on the verge of
the forest to that on which the young hero was lifted on to it. The dreamer in
this poem sees at midnight a glorious cross rise to fill the sky, worshiped by
all creation. It is covered with gold and Jewels but at other times covered
with blood. It is honoured by man as beacon light and a cure for all ills of
life. This poem has religious overtone. It's allegorical meaning influenced the
later medieval school of allegorical poetry. The poem also presents the warrior
culture of the past. In warrior culrure it was the duty of a man to stand by
his lord and die in his defence. But the lord in the dream is an Anglo-Saxon
hero who wants to join battle with death. In a devotional conclusion, the cross
explains that it is now honoured as a sign of salvation and commands the
dreamer to tell man the Christian news of the second coming when those who live
under the sign of cross will be saved. Therefore, we can say the poem shows old
English riddle tradition, the story of crucification. In other words, it fills
the living culture with theology and redirecting the heroic code of loyality
and sacrifice from an earthly to heavenly lord.
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