Beowulf Found Poem

“When war assaults

praise-worthy actions must honor

his comrades,

himself

wielded, and the well loved land-prince

Long did rule them.

With weapons of warfare, weeds for the battle,

Many a jewel with him must travel

And favors no fewer they furnished

Lone on the main,

a gold-fashioned standard

sad was their spirit,

Their mood very mournful.

Heroes under heaven, to what haven he hied.”

For the first project, I decided to do a found poem from Beowulf. I used to love doing this in other classes when I was younger, especially with random articles and newspaper clippings, so I figured I would try it out. In this found poem, I tried to include a theme that is prevalent throughout Beowulf. The theme I decided to choose was that of bravery, war, and heroism. With this found poem, I had my own little twist on these themes. 

I started the poem off by talking about war and weapons, with the last few lines being “lone on the main, a gold fashioned standard.” I chose these few words to isolate because soldiers are always out on the battlefield on their own, which is seen as a “gold fashioned standard” but the reality of it is actually the opposite. It is devastating and scary for them to be out there on their own. I ended it with the actual reality of it coming out, “sad was their spirit, their mood very mournful.” I chose to end the poem this way because it was like the reality of the effect of war on a person coming to the surface.

A thing I have found that is common in real life, and in Beowulf, is that the bravery and heroism side of war is always the most paid attention to, and not always the bad things that can come with it. There is death, devastation, ruins of towns and cities, and the effects it causes on a soldier mentally. Although being a part of war is very brave and heroic, it is not easy to be a part of. A normal person does not take seeing dead bodies and killing people lightly. I personally believe that is a part of war that is heavily overlooked, and that is why I decided to include both the positive and negative outlooks on it in this poem.