A striking characteristic of Anglo-Saxon poetry is consonantal alliteration; that is, the repetition of the same consonant at the beginning of words in the same line:—­

  “Grendel gongan; Godes yrre baer.” 
  Grendel going; God’s anger bare.

The usual type of Anglo-Saxon poetry has two alliterations in the first half of the line and one in the second.  The lines vary considerably in the number of syllables.  The line from Beowulf quoted just above has nine syllables.  The following line from the same poem has eleven:—­

  “Flota f=amig-heals, fugle gel=icost.” 
  The floater foamy-necked, to a fowl most like.

This line, also from Beowulf has eight syllables:—­

  “N=ipende niht, and norethan wind.” 
  Noisome night, and northern wind.

Vowel alliteration is less common.  Where this is employed, the vowels are generally different, as is shown in the principal words of the following line:—­

  “On =ead, on =aeht, on eorcan st=an.” 
  On wealth, on goods, on precious stone.

End rime is uncommon, but we must beware of thinking that there is no rhythm, for that is a pronounced characteristic.

Anglo-Saxon verse was intended to be sung, and hence rhythm and accent or stress are important.  Stress and the length of the line are varied; but we usually find that the four most important words, two in each half of the line, are stressed on their most important syllable.  Alliteration usually shows where to place three stresses.  A fourth stress generally falls on a word presenting an emphatic idea near the end of the line.

[Illustration:  EXETER CATHEDRAL.]

The Manuscripts that have handed down Anglo-Saxon Literature.—­The earliest Anglo-Saxon poetry was transmitted by the memories of men.  Finally, with the slow growth of learning, a few acquired the art of writing, and transcribed on parchment a small portion of the current songs.  The introduction of Christianity ushered in prose translations and a few original compositions, which were taken down on parchment and kept in the monasteries.

The study of Anglo-Saxon literature is comparatively recent, for its treasures have not been long accessible.  Its most famous poem, Beowulf, was not printed until the dawn of the nineteenth century.  In 1822 Dr. Blume, a German professor of law, happened to find in a monastery at Vercelli, Italy, a large volume of Anglo-Saxon manuscript, containing a number of fine poems and twenty-two sermons.  This is now known as the Vercelli Book.  No one knows how it happened to reach Italy.  Another large parchment volume of poems and miscellany was deposited by Bishop Leofric at the cathedral of Exeter in Devonshire, about 1050 A.D.  This collection, one of the prized treasures of that cathedral, is now called the Exeter Book.

Many valuable manuscripts were destroyed at the dissolution of the monasteries in the time of Henry VIII., between 1535 and 1540.  John Bale, a contemporary writer, says that “those who purchased the monasteries reserved the books, some to scour their candlesticks, some to rub their boots, some they sold to the grocers and soap sellers, and some they sent over sea to the bookbinders, not in small numbers, but at times whole ships full, to the wonder of foreign nations.”