Compare And Contrast The Seafarer And Wife's Lament

Anglo-Saxon literature often expressed concepts of survival, battle, exile, male dominance in society, and loyalty to the lord. These aspects are strongly represented in both “The Wanderer” and “The Wife’s Lament”. Both elegies deliver themes of self-exile and the mourning of lost companions. Ideas of longing and alienation are present in these two Anglo-Saxon poems through use of figurative language, structure, point of view, comparison, and various other literary techniques.

The Seafarer, The Wanderer, and The Wife’s Lament all contains faith verses fate. The three poems are very similar and very different. The three poems ranging from a lonely man, to a lost soldier, to a wife’s bedrail. The medieval poems show hurt, confusion, and loneliness.

When isolated from society, loneliness becomes a part of you. In the poems, The Wife’s Lament translated by Ann Stanford and The Seafarer translated by Burton Raffel, are two similar and different poems. The characters in these poems handle their exiles in different ways. The way the two characters reflect from their exile is based off Anglo-Saxon values and beliefs. These poems compare and contrast the exile between men and women.

The comitatus “stressed the loyalty of a thane to his chieftain and treated exile and outlawry as the most tragic lots that could befall one. This secular sense of loss is keen in The Wanderer.”6 Not only is the loss of a lord evident in “The Wanderer,” but in “The Seafarer” and “The Wife’s Lament” as well.

During the Anglo-Saxon time period, individuals wrote poems about achievements, deaths, emotions, and adventures taken by certain individuals. There were many popular poems during this era including, “Beowulf” translated by Burton Raffer and “The Wanderer” translated by Charles W. Kennedy. Although both these poems were written during this era, “Beowulf” was an epic poem and “The Wanderer” was an elegiac poem. However, both of these pieces shared certain characteristics related to the culture and values of the Anglo-Saxon culture. Many attributes that make up this culture are related to both Pagan and Christian beliefs. This includes many ideals relating to fate and God. The culture and values of Anglo-Saxons through “Beowulf” and “The Wanderer”, suggest that along one’s quest emerges an individuals outlook on ways of life.

While there has been much ambiguity surrounding the exact setting in the elegy, the author uses imagery of the speaker's environment to further emphasize the dismal realities of exile. The harsh land in which the wife is required to live mirrors the passionate longing and loneliness that she displays. "This earth-hall is old, and I ache with longing; the dales are dark, the hills too high, harsh hedges overhung with briars, a home without joy" (Exeter Book 29-32).

Over the years, there have been many interpretations of who the speaker of The Wife’s Lament could be. These range from very interesting ideas to ones that seem a little rough around the edges. It is obvious that no sure answer can be found due to the fact that whoever wrote this poem is dead and that the answer will always be in speculation even if it is correct. Hopefully, at the end of this quest I will be slightly more enlightened as to who the true speaker may really be.

Another Old English poem, The Seafarer, has a deep connection with the sea. Though the latter poem is considerably shorter than Beowulf, nevertheless the sentiments expressed therein about the sea reflect some of the same found in Beowulf. The poet begins by reflecting on the miseries which he has endured when travelling by sea in winter–miseries of which the landsman in his comfortable castle knows nothing:

In the medieval period, the Old English elegies use unnamed speakers that offer similar descriptions of devastated landscapes and immense personal hardships. However, where the unknown authors’ of the Old English elegies often present smilier descriptions and themes across their respective works, they do not present similar opinions on larger concerns like religion and the role of community. This is a concept that is interwoven into the framework of the Old English elegies “The Wanderer” and “The Seafarer”. By comparing and contrasting these two works, this paper will argue that the unnamed narrators’ vivid descriptions of landscapes, circumstances surrounding their exile, and climactic perspectives on the earthly community function solely

In the poems “The Wanderer” and “The Dream of the Rood,” anonymous authors give way to the idea that an Almighty God will solve every problem a person has by doing two things: 1) drawing upon the memories of a warrior who has lost everything near and dear to him due to war, and 2) entering the dream of a man who has been exiled and isolated. Each piece takes its reader through the trials and tribulations that one may not relate to in this era, yet the reader is still there alongside the character wanting them to find peace with their world and themselves. Initially, it is believed that the characters will overcome their hardships and achieve the happiness they seek. However, as the reader delves deeper into the character’s story, there is an overwhelming sense of incompleteness. What actually happens at the end of each piece is not written in stone - telling us the story is not whole - nor has a conclusion been reached. The intrapersonal thoughts being shared with the reader reveal the obstacles that keep an overall wholeness from occurring.

In the three poems “The Wife’s Lament”, “The Wanderer”, and “The Seafarer” from The Exeter Book, it’s clear that travel and exile are recurring and important themes. Is there a possibility that these themes and elements have a significance that goes above and beyond their literal meaning? Though they may experience it differently, all three of the speakers from these poems in The Exeter Book deal with the great pain of exile, or being driven out, resulting in the need or desire for travel. This takes place due to the fact exile was one of the most tragic fates that an anglo-saxon man or woman could endure at the time. It makes sense that these themes would play a huge part in these poems because during this time period, exile was the

The Seafarer by Burton Raffel was written during the Anglo-Saxon period where the Anglo-Saxon warriors lived to defend their King, like in the story Sir Gawain and The Green Knight. One of the warriors speaks about his challenges and begins saying that his story is not at all joyful. It is a story full of pain and suffering. The story paints a picture of what it means to be “dislocated”, “set out”, all by oneself and how badly it feels. “My feet were cast in icy bands, bound with frost,with frozen chains, and hardship groaned around my heart. Hunger tore at my sea-weary soul. No man sheltered on the quiet fairness of earth can feel how wretched I was”.(Raffel 1) The powerful imagery in this stanza sets the tone that the narrator is trying to

“The Seafarer” and "The Wanderer” are both poems that describe the hardships of the average Anglo-Saxon warrior. These stories show that life during the times of the Anglo-Saxons is not pleasant. In fact, it appears to be tough, fearful, and depressing. In “The Seafarer”, a man describes his horrid life on the sea, and in "The Wanderer”, a man tells his tale of being put into exile and losing all his fellow warriors and lord. Both men feel physical and emotional pain while going through their adventure. The seafarer claims that the sea itself is torturing him by saying “...the sea took [him], swept [him] back and forth in sorrow and fear and pain.” (2-3) The seafarer also explains that coldness is much more than just a feeling but a

"The Wanderer" is both a lament for all the things the speaker – and people more generally – have lost, and also a reflection on what wise men learn from their life experiences. With this dynamic duo, "The Wanderer" combines parts of two traditional genres of Old English poetry: the elegy, or lament, and the wisdom poem. These two genres aren't unrelated, since Anglo-Saxon poets believed that

A man chosen as a seafarer endures alone in a blue abyss and survives through the harsh winds and hostile territory alone, with none to confide his suffering to other than himself, and virtually no reasons to continue the sufferation known as life, yet, despite the odds, he lives on, and tells his suffering in a poem known as “The Seafarer”. In “The Seafarer”, the author of the poem releases his long held suffering about his prolonged journey in the sea. While the poem explains his sufferings, the poem also reveals why he endured anguish, and lived on, even though the afterlife tempted him. Besides expressing his reasons to live, more importantly, the poem narrates the huge impacts of Christianity on him.