Hello and welcome David,
As already stated, John Porter's translation of Beowulf is pretty much word for word, which can be useful, but it doesn't sound very poetical. And Beowulf, after all, is an epic heroic poem. Seamus Heaney's translation is highly regarded and, as you would expect from a poet, he manages to deliver a translation that invokes a real sense of the original's rhythm. Unfortunately, it sacrifices some of the meaning in doing so.
Generally, because you will be reading translations, you will tend to find that the scholar will either focus on the language - metre, alliteration, rhythm, etc. - and sacrifice some of the meaning, or he will focus on the meaning (usually prose versions of the text) at the expense of the poetry.
The only other dual-language text on Beowulf, to my knowledge, is by Howell D. Chickering, Jr. In this version, the OE text is on the left-hand page, and its translation is on the opposite page. He also includes a guide to reading aloud. It is worth reading his Preface and Introduction for advice on reading and understanding the text. This book might help you, if used alongside John Porter's translation.
In addition, Magnus Magnusson praises Michael Alexander's translation for capturing the 'poetic power and eloquence of the original' (Penguin Classics, 2001). Also, a really good prose translation can be found in the Everyman book, called Anglo-Saxon Poetry, trans. and ed. by S. A. J. Bradley (Orion Publishing Group, 1982). My favourite, however, is Professor Tolkien's translation (I admit to being biased), which conveys an old-fashioned grandeur that is well suited to Beowulf. His understanding of OE is renowned, so it is well worth reading. If you want more insight into Beowulf, you could also take a look at his essays on this text, which can be found in The Monsters and the Critics and Other Essays, written by the man himself.
(All the above can be bought on Amazon)
Now, as for other OE texts, Stephen Pollington includes a number of OE texts (in OE) in his book, First Steps in Old English, which can be purchased together with the CD (better to get both) from Anglo-Saxon Books. You can read them whilst listening to them on the CD. Listening to OE is a great way of familiarising yourself with the language. Don't panic, if it sounds like gobbledygook at first. The more that you listen to it, the less 'foreign' it sounds. You will gradually start to recognise words, and listening to OE will help you get a 'feel' for the patterns of speech. There are also lots of videos on YouTube. Matt Love has done some really good ones. Best of luck!
