þæs ofereode, þisses swa mæg

[flemmings]

Well yes, of course I'm feeling apocalyptic about tomorrow and what follows after. I also feel like a wimp for feeling apocalyptic. This is why reading Tang poets is so instructive. One is not dealing with famine and the An Lushan rebellion. Nor, for that matter, am I dealing with bombs falling on my city, foreign armies marching in, plague, locusts, and all the other disasters the human race has managed to survive.

We have heard too of Eormanric's wolfish ways,
of how he cruelly ruled the realm of the Goths.
That was a grim king! Many a warrior sat,
full of cares and maladies of the mind,
wishing constantly that his kingdom might be overthrown.
   That passed away; this also may.

We geascodan Eormanrices
wylfenne geþoht; ahte wide folc
Gotena rices. þæt wæs grim cyning.
Sæt secg monig sorgum gebunden
wean on wenan, wyscte geneahhe
þæt þæs cynerices ofercumen wære.
   þæs ofereode, þisses swa mæg

(The internet has lost that lovely filk on Deor-
Deor, me say day-ey-ey-or,
Thaes ofereode, thisses swa maeg,
Day- me say de- me say de- me say day-ey-ey-or,
Thaes ofereode, thisses swa maeg.)

Comments

[chomiji]

Time was, I could have read and translated that pretty effectively. I will note that the Anglo Saxon lines and their modern English translations are not matched up in terms of line breaks:

We have heard too of Eormanric's wolfish     ways
We geascodan       Eormanrices    wylfenne geþoht

[flemmings.livejournal.com]

Presumably to make the English flow more smoothly. But now you mention it, I feel like digging out my Seven Anglo-Saxon Poems text to see how the line breaks work there.