The Wife's Lament

These two poems are written by poets with completely different social statuses. This differing factor leads to two completely different perspectives on the

“The Wife’s Lament,” translated by Ann Standford, uses numerous literary devices to convey the pain and emotion of an exiled wife. The author of the poem uses a metaphor to compare the cave the wife has moved into to an empty hall, “under an oak tree in this den in the earth. / Ancient this earth hall.” (Stanford 28-9). Comparing the cave to an empty hall shows the loneliness and isolation the abandoned wife is feeling. Another device used by the author in “The Wife’s Lament” is juxtaposition. In lines 42-43, the author writes, “May that young man

This poem by Charlotte Mew tells a story in which a farmer marries a very young girl who could not be less ready to marry. The maid in this poem is abused throughout the poem by her so called husband who does not treat her even as a human. Her marriage arranged at a young age the girl is forced into adult duties and actions much too early. This cause many issues to her mental health and her trust towards other humans. The farmer, as the narrator, uses several similes throughout the poem comparing the maid to a rabbit. This shows how he views her and why he treats her like he does in the poem. The six uneven stanzas allows Mew to express her intentions not limited to another's style. This allows for amazing line placement throughout the poem, and the only form she follows throughout the poem is iambic tetrameter. There is no rhyme scheme allowing Mew to have freedom like the girl so much desires. In “The Farmer’s Bride”, Charlotte Mew uses irregular rhyme and form with iambic tetrameter, as well as thorough imagery and comparison to show the broken marriage in this poem.

“We would have known nothing of the nature and reach of her sorrow if she had come back. But she left us and broke the family and the sorrow was released and we saw its wings and saw it fly a thousand ways into the hills, and sometime I think sorrow is a predatory thing because birds scream at dawn with a marvelous terror and there is, as I said before, a deathly bitterness in the smell of ponds and ditches (198).”

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 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.

“It only take one person to change your life.” It could be a spouse, a long lost family member, or maybe even a baby. Change is never a bad thing. You will always have to face change, whether it’s changing schools, having to adjust to a new sibling, or even having to adjust to a new job.

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.

Isolation from society can evoke a deep loneliness and self-reflection. The poem "The Wife's Lament" from the Exeter Book expresses the desolation of exile. The dominant theme is the contrast of a happy past and a bleak present of isolation. The anonymous author of "The Wife's Lament" uses setting, tone, and conflict to develop the theme of great loss. He/she augments a situation in which meditation on life's past joys is the only redemption in a life sentenced to confinement. “The Wife’s Lament” is an excellent example of nostalgia, resentment of the present, and hopelessness about the future.

The Wife’s Lament Meaning ‘The Wife’s Lament” is considered a riddle poem because there are multiple interpretations on what happens; readers must make inferences from the text given. Of the many interpretations, here is one that stands out. “The Wife’s Lament” may be about a wife expressing sorrow at her husband’s leave for a distant land. The wife’s husband may have betrayed her and left her to live in a cave.

In "A Sorrowful Woman" the wife is depressed with her life, so much so, "The sight of them made her so sad and sick she did not want to see them ever again"(p.1). This wife and mother has come to detest her life, the sight of her family,

A funeral, in most cases, is a sad affair, but here it is said to be full of lights and music, which brightens the mood again. Finally, “Or when the Moon was overhead, came two young lovers lately wed.” The moon here is one of the first times in the poem that night is mentioned, which might indicate the start of darkness in the story. Furthermore, the “two young lovers” draw attention to her own loneliness, and is the first indication that she feels saddened by being isolated. The poem then has a setting that moves from cheery mood to a dismal

Carol Ann Duffy writes about the feelings of rejection, isolation and desolation that a woman who has been jilted at the alter by her husband might feel. I think that feelings such as this in both of the poems have been based on either literature or historical events, for example “Havisham” was most likely based on Miss Havisham, a

It's fair to say that both of these poems portray very similar situations. Each tells a story of a man, exiled from his homeland, struggling to accept their fate and put their old lives behind them. It shows their struggle while traveling alone, and gives you a deeper look into their emotional states. In the end, they both preach their faith in the lord, reflecting the anglo-saxon society, who had christian values. On the other hand, while the wife in “The Wife’s Lament” isn't setting out to sea herself, she is left behind by those she loved. “I a woman tell since I grew up never more than now. The dark of my exile.” It's clear that she still feels the same effects and misery of exile as the Wanderer and the narrator in “The Seafarer”. In relation to these poems, I believe it makes sense to compare the sea to human existence. In the poem’s the moods of the speakers are never certain and constantly changing. They all tell their stories of being exiled, yet continue to dwell on the life that they once had. They all experience up and downs, the same way we do everyday. They eventually come to realize that the good times won't last forever, and that they must accept the fate that man has given to them. The speakers are showing that it's okay to question the world and the amount of power that god holds, but that we should accept the fact that out fate has already been chosen for us.

In the poem The Wife’s Lament, she mentions “since I came of age” which implies that she knew from a very young age her fate in life. But what she didn’t know was that the fear of being alone would come into her life as she marries her husband with a few friends she didn’t feel abandoned, but as time went by they then became to betray her. “I had a few dear ones, devoted friends” she realized that she didn’t have true friends. Leaving he to pull all her attention to her husband, she then feared that others where out to get them separated as best to their ability that they could. “hatched a plot, conspiring secretly to separate us” the wife knew her positon in life and her role as a wife but the worry of her husband being taken away from her