what was so important about Old English and Middle English that we felt the need to label them and what are the main differences?
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From Beowulf:
Old English:
– “HWÆT: WE GAR-DENA IN GEARDAGUM.
– þeodcyninga þrym gefrunon.
– Hu ða æþelingas ellen fremedon!”
Modern English:
– “So. The Spear-Danes in days gone by
– And the kings who ruled them had courage and greatness.
– We have heard of those princes’ heroic campaigns.”
From the Prologue of Chaucer’s Canturberry Tales:
Middle English:
– “Whan that Aprill with his shoures soote
– The droghte of March hath perced to the roote,
– And bathed every veyne in swich licour”
Modern English:
– “When April with its sweet-smelling showers
– Has pierced the drought of March to the root,
– And bathed every vein (of the plants) in such liquid”
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