Beowulf:
Old English
HWÆT, WE GAR-DEna in geardagum,
þeodcyninga þrym gefrunon,
Modern English:
LO, praise of the prowess of people-kings
of spear-armed Danes, in days long sped,
Reference:
Beowulf is the oldest epic in English. Drawing from Danish history and folk tales, it was composed, probably in the early 8th century,. by a Northumbrian poet.
Beowulf is the olded poem, above are the first 2 lines from Old English and translated into Modern English.
What do I win?
i believe that's the oldest poem written in english, but not the oldest poem ever.
yeah, I was gonna mention this... but latin WAS around before English.. and then there was that pesky thing called Ancient Greek... et cetera et cetera...