Dream of the Rood

The Dream of the Rood is a poem from the Vercelli Book. The poem is said to have originated as early as the early Eighth Century. The Dream of the Rood is about a dream that illustrates the crucifixion of Christ from the point of view of the Cross that Christ is crucified on. The poem starts off by going into great detail about a very elaborate tree. This tree is described as “bedecked with gold; gems had covered worthily the creators tree.” (15) The story then shifts and personifies the tree as he depicts how he was cut down and turned into a cross that Christ gets crucified to. During this portion of the poem the tree depicts how he “dared not bow down or break, against the lord’s word.” (34) This shows exactly how much honor and importance Christ represents to the tree. The last portion of this poem illustrates the aftermath of Christ’s crucification and how much sorrow the cross feels. In the poem, Christ is described many times as a “beloved hero” (94) The amount of detail that goes into the ornateness of the tree and the crucifixion of Christ is outstanding. It makes you forget that you are reading this poem from the point of view of inanimate objects.