Dualism In The Seafarer

In the elegiac poem, “The Seafarer”, translated by Burton Raffel, dualism affects its poetic structure, its imagery, its controlling metaphor, and its theme. Dualism dictates the tone in the story. It begins with a desolate tone in the first stanza, “And forth in sorrow and fear and pain, / Showed me suffering in a hundred ships,” (lines 3-4). The narrator’s life is difficult and sometimes this difficulty causes him pain and suffering. “The Seafarer” transitions to a more excited and surprised tone in the second stanza. “And how my heart / Would begin to beat, knowing once more / The salt waves tossing and the towering sea!” (lines 33-35). The juxtaposition of the first stanza’s desolate tone and stanza two’s excited tone represents the duality …show more content…
For example, “The days are emperors. / No givers of gold, as once there were,” (lines 81-83). This shows how the main character thinks that his ancestors have destroyed what was good about the world. One can infer that they did not believe in God like the seafarer. In the seventh stanza, the narrator changes to a more didactic tone. “To carry him courage and strength and belief. / A man must conquer pride, not kill it, / Be firm with his fellows, chaste for himself, / Treat all the world as the world deserves.” (lines 108-111). The main character informs the people on land on what they should do in order to go to Heaven. In the sixth stanza, the seafarer was giving his opinions on what others had done, while in stanza seven he was telling them how to do the right thing. This opinion versus fact offered another …show more content…
“With frozen chains, and hardship groaned / Around my heart. Hunger tore / At my weary soul…” (lines 10-12). The sea causes him immense pain. “Orchards blossom, the towns bloom, / Fields grow lovely as the world springs fresh,” (lines 49-50). In contrast, the land seems a happy, innocent, and full of life place. The stark difference between the sea and the land are another example of duality. Even though land is a nicer, livelier place, the seafarer chooses to live at sea. Dualism is also represented in the controlling metaphor. The sea voyage is a metaphor for a spiritual journey. “Thus the joys of God / Are fervent with life itself.” (lines 64-65). The narrator explains how he feels about God. He believes that it is the most important thing in life. The main character warns the reader of the repercussions of treating others poorly. “Treat all the world as the world deserves, / With love or with hate but never with harm, / Though an enemy will seek to scorch him in hell,” (lines 111-113). God can either be one’s biggest ally or biggest