The Ruin

 The Ruin is another medieval lyric from an anonymous poet in the nineteenth century. It was part of a collection of lyrics known as the Exeter Book, and was partly damaged by a fire. The lyric is to focus on the Roman ruins that dotted the Anglo-Saxon countryside. The beginning of the lyric starts by examining the ruins, how they have been “shattered by fate”(Anonymous)  and are described as having a hue of “crying giants rotted away”(Anonymous). The lyric talks of how the ruin have been paved in red, meaning blood, and have outlasted various kingdoms, but now all that is left is whatever the earth has decided to hold on to. The lyric does well on its part of visualizing what is left, and what Rome was. It describes what once were bath houses, and places for soldiers. You can visualize the power Rome once had, the way the lyric talks about gold, and treasures. The connotation being that Rome was always expanding, always wanting more. There is a bit of sadness to the poem, when you see the contrast of what one thinks of when visualizing Rome, a very powerful prosperous city, but now all that is left is ruin, only remnants of what once was. The lyric ends with saying the city is still fitting of a round pool heated with stones. This makes the reader feel that although the city was great, were it is now is fitting, a warm remembrance of the city is all the world needs.

Bibliography

Anonymous. “The Ruin” The Norton Anthology of World Literature. Volume A. 3^rd Ed. Martin Puchner. New York: Norton 1334-1344. Print