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Analysis Of The Poem, God, Earth Walker And The Wanderer

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From the first depiction of the subject of The Wanderer, “earth-stepper,” “earth-walker,” and “the Wanderer,” the translators Greg Delanty, E. Talbot Donaldson, and Alfred David differ in their translations (Delanty l. 6, Donaldson 112, David l. 6). These differences build throughout the rest of the poem, eventually leading the audience to arrive at different conclusions based on each translation. By translating the Christian ideas in the poem (God, Earth, human) with distinct word choice, Delanty, Donaldson, and David create translations of The Wanderer that demonstrate the pitfalls of choosing inaccurate language.
Delanty, Donaldson, and David cannot agree on the proper translation of the most central element of Christianity, God, …show more content…

By focusing on replicating the poetic structure of the original Old English in Modern English, Delanty betrays his background as a poet, compared to David and Donaldson, who are both professors. By choosing poetic form over a more accurate translation, Delanty describes a concept of an impersonal deity, a concept that did not exist in the time of the poem, and leads the audience to the conclusion that the poet confused religious views. Conversely, by drawing on Biblical tradition, David and Donaldson inject strong Christian sentiment into the poem that the original poet may not have intended and suggest to the audience that the Christian God held a prominent role in Anglo-Saxon religious life. In direct reference to God for the second time, Delanty’s choice of “Shaper” follows a different path than David’s and Donaldson’s “Mankind’s Creator” and “Maker of Mankind,” respectively (Delanty l. 85, David l. 85, Donaldson 113). Delanty continues to develop the deity of the poem in distinctly non-Christian terms. While the capitalization of the term clearly indicates Delanty considers this moniker representative of God, he does not make a connection to Christian teaching. This suggests Delanty believes the God, or higher power, of the poem does not align with the God of Christianity and the poem has fewer connections to Christianity than the translations of David or Donaldson would suggest. David and Donaldson use similar

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