Caedmon, from the fifth century, is considered the first poet of the (Old) English language. His poems survive in one nine-line fragment, the result of a dream in which he was told to “sing the beginning of creation.” The authenticity of what has been transcribed down through centuries of monks and orders is questionable, but I do believe, as with the stories of Jesus, that something genuine is embedded therein. To tackle the translation problem, I handled it "homeophonically," trying to find the nearest sound rather than strictly semantic equivalence, since what apparently separated Caedmon from other seekers (according to Bede) was the quality of his sound. In that vein I am also struck by the homeophonic resemblance of the name Caedmon to Adam Kadmon, the perfect (spiritually realized) man from Kaballah lore who becomes a creator himself.
The earliest known (mid-8th century) transcription is below the translation. See Poems and Poetics for more insights on this topic.
New sky one heir sun heaven’s gracious guardian
mightiest measure one mind may make
work of our father as he wanders highways
seeds dripping from astral days
the airiest drops for the children
heaven’s till roof holy shapen
this middle world mankind’s guardian
seeds dripping aether diadem
firmness folding free for digging men
nu scylun hergan hefaenricaes uard
metudæs maecti end his modgidanc
uerc uuldurfadur swe he uundra gihwaes
eci dryctin or astelidæ
he aerist scop aelda barnum
heben til hrofe haleg scepen.
tha middungeard moncynnæs uard
eci dryctin æfter tiadæ
firum foldu frea allmectig
