Before born

In Brief

Gifford: "Before born babe bliss had . . . sorrowing one with other — Imitates the style of Anglo-Saxon rhythmic alliterative prose, a style associated with Aelfric (c. 955-1022), the leading prose writer of his period. In his stylistic effects Aelfric was following a fashion of his time, one established in Latin prose in the tenth century and then carried over into Anglo-Saxon composition. The alliteration was also associated with Anglo-Saxon poetry, in which it was the dominant sound effect."