Pharaoh (Old English poem) facts for kids
The poem "Pharaoh" is a short, eight-line poem written in Old English. It's found in a very old book called the Exeter Book, which was put together in the late 900s. This poem uses a special kind of poetry called alliterative verse, where words often start with the same sound.
What Kind of Poem is "Pharaoh"?
This poem is found in the Exeter Book, which also has many famous Anglo-Saxon riddles. However, "Pharaoh" isn't a riddle itself. Instead, it's a "dialogic question." This means it's a question-and-answer poem, asking about something difficult to know.
Other Old English poems like this include Solomon and Saturn. The poem "Pharaoh" is similar to an old text called Ioca monachorum. In that text, someone asks how many Egyptians chased the Israelites. The answer depends on knowing there were 600 chariots and three men in each. Experts think the poem "Pharaoh" might have hinted at this idea of three men per chariot.
The Poem's Words
The poem "Pharaoh" is quite old and some parts are missing. Here is the original Old English text:
- "Saga me hwæt þær weorudes wære ealles
- on Farones fyrde, þa hy folc godes
- þurh feondscipe fylgan ongunn...."
- "Nat ic hit be wihte, butan ic wene þus,
- þæt þær screoda wære gescyred rime
- siex hun... ...a searohæbbendra;
- þæt eal fornam yþ...
- wraþe wyrde in woruldrice."
Here is what the poem means in modern English, as translated by Patrick J. Murphy:
"Tell me how many troops in Pharaoh's army there were in all, when they in enmity began to pursue God's people.' 'I do not know anything about it, except that I think there was the number of six hundred armed chariots, which the tumult of the waves swept away; it fiercely destroyed it in the kingdom of the earth."
The poem asks about the size of the Pharaoh's army. This army chased the Israelites in the biblical story of the Exodus. The answer suggests there were 600 chariots. It also mentions that the waves destroyed the army. This refers to the story of the Red Sea crossing.
