Earliest Anglo-Saxon Literature.--As with the Greeks and Romans, so with the Teutons, poetry afforded the first literary outlet for the feelings. The first productions were handed down by memory. Poetry is easily memorized and naturally lends itself to singing and musical accompaniment. Under such circumstances, even prose would speedily fall into metrical form. Poetry is, furthermore, the most suitable vehicle of expression for the emotions. The ancients, unlike modern writers, seldom undertook to make literature unless they felt so deeply that silence was impossible. The Form of Anglo-Saxon Poetry.--Each line is divided Into two parts by a major pause. Because each of these parts was often printed as a complete line in old texts, _Beowulf_ has sometimes been called a poem of 6368 lines, although it has but 3184. 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 norðan 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.