Caedmon

Caedmon, an Anglo-Saxon poet of the seventh century, of whose life we know little beyond what is told us by the Venerable Bede. According to this account it was not till of mature age that the spirit of poesy came upon him, and that he was exhorted in a vision to "sing the beginning of created things." He was then taken to the monastery of Whitby, and he devoted his life to composing poetry upon the history contained in the Bible. Of his paraphrase one MS. copy of the tenth century is in the Bodleian, and some of it may be really his work. But, many doubt even his existence, and think that his name may have been given to a collection of poems by different authors, and that his name even does not denote one particular man.