The Christian and Pagan Sources of Inspiration Comparative Study between Caedmon's Hymn of the Old English Poetry and Abqar Valley of Pre-Islamic Poetry

Abstract

    The idea of inspiration or divine revelation is echoed mostly in the cultures of nations. In the Greek mythology, there are springs or fountains called Pieren, the place where poets went to and must drink from to receive the poetical inspiration. The magical water of this place supplies poets with eloquence and makes them able to create images, metaphors, similes and other rhetorical devices. Similarly, in Roman and many European literatures, there are Muses, the goddess of poetry, these muses are responsible to urge poets and stimulate them to hover in the world of poetry. In fact, every poet has his own muse that he visits when finds himself unable to write anymore. In pre-Islam Arab literature, it can be found a similar idea of Pieren or muses theme, Arab believe strongly that the poet is someone has supernatural power because he is the tongue of the tribe who registers its deeds and fights with his poetry against the poets of other tribes. Actually, the Arabian tribes were in struggle against each other for domination the grassy prairies that their camels pasture in. Arabs of pre-Islamic era believe that there is a mysterious valley near Abqar Mountain in Yemen, every poet roams through this valley having the inspiration that helps him in his poetry. This study tries to find out the comparative aspect between the Caedomn's Hymn the first poem that is written by anonymous man called Caedmon in the old English period and Muallaqat written by the renowned poet, Imru Al-Qais in Arab Pre-Islamic period. In fact, Caedmon's Hymn and Arab poem are written in the close period.