As we have seen, English has deep roots that go back many centuries. One of the key tools to utilize is the older words of our language. These older words draw on the nature and character of the language to make it more earthy and concrete. While Latin and Greek have impacted English, derivatives from those languages do not have the same force on our imaginations as words that come from Anglo-Saxon roots. These older English words make a bodily claim on English speakers.

One example can be seen with the two words: guts and viscera. Guts is short and punchy and comes from Old English. Viscera is a Latin cognate which means the stomach. While these two words refer to the same organ–the stomach–the first has a stronger, more concrete pull. This linguistic reality is important to watch for and make use of in poetry.

Edmund Spenser uses this reality to power his poetry. This also enables him to give his poem an air of myth which makes it sound older. The ability to make a work sound old is key because it gives a work important gravitas. Look at this quote from Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings:

“They had a vision as it were of a great expanse of years behind them, like a vast shadowy plain over which there strode shapes of Men, tall and grim with bright swords, and last came one with a star on his brow.” (1)

This sentence has a serious and older cadence which argues at the ear in a way to make it sound mythical.

The key is to know the difference between casual modern language and older ancient spellings and words. There is a place for each style of words but the key is to not mix them accidentally as we write poetry.

1. J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring, 185.