These three Anglo Saxon works represent different views of Old English literature. All of these poems are an expression of sorrow over a loss or death. Some of the similarities and differences of these three works are found in the subject, mood, imagery, and theme.
In subject matter, there are many similarities and differences. Each one of these poems is told from a different perspective, and provides a different view of the Anglo-Saxon life. These three works tell about a lonely man at sea, a lost soldier who has nothing and no one, and a wife who betrayed her husband and is now exiled. These poems show loss, pain, and isolation.
“The Seafarer” “The Wanderer” and “The Wife’s Lament” all have a gloomy mood. In each, the speaker mourns …show more content…
In “The Seafarer” The poem pulls out all the key things to help us feel, hear, and see the same things the seafarer does: extremely cold and violent, howling storms. For example, the speaker describes hearing nothing but the "roaring sea" and the "ice-cold wave" (17-18). This is an example of sound imagery, the sea was so he could hear the cold. Like “The Seafarer”, “The Wanderer” is also having to deal with very cold weather at sea. The narrator in “The Wanderer” describes the winter landscape they wake up to after dreaming of being back in the mead-hall (46-49). This description shows the distinction between the happy, warm mead-hall and the cold, dark place in which the speaker now finds himself. Unlike the narrators in “The Seafarer” and “The Wanderer”, who are at sea; the narrator in “The Wife’s Lament” is on land . The speaker is exiled and commanded to live in a cave beneath a tree; the cave is described as being very gloomy and dark. “The valley are dark the hills high the yard overgrown bitter with briars a joyless dwelling” (30-33). Each of these poems uses vivid imagery to let the reader imagine exactly what it was these people were going …show more content…
The speaker in “The Seafarer” is all alone traveling in the cold ocean. Although he is extremely restless on the inside he still has an urge to get back in his ship and travel again and again (The Seafarer 33-38). In “The Wanderer”, the speaker is also traveling alone in the cold sea. He is forced away from his homeland and is all by himself. The speaker has lost all his kinsmen and lord to war and is now traveling to find a new lord, the only person who can give him everything that he needs to survive (The Wanderer 22-26). Similarly, “The Wife’s Lament” has a theme of exile. The speaker in this poem has been exiled from her homeland and husband and is now all alone in a dark cave constantly reminiscing her old life (The Wife’s Lament 11-15). All three of these narrators are learning how to cope with being on their
In subject matter, there are many similarities and differences. Each one of these poems is told from a different perspective, and provides a different view of the Anglo-Saxon life. These three works tell about a lonely man at sea, a lost soldier who has nothing and no one, and a wife who betrayed her husband and is now exiled. These poems show loss, pain, and isolation.
“The Seafarer” “The Wanderer” and “The Wife’s Lament” all have a gloomy mood. In each, the speaker mourns …show more content…
In “The Seafarer” The poem pulls out all the key things to help us feel, hear, and see the same things the seafarer does: extremely cold and violent, howling storms. For example, the speaker describes hearing nothing but the "roaring sea" and the "ice-cold wave" (17-18). This is an example of sound imagery, the sea was so he could hear the cold. Like “The Seafarer”, “The Wanderer” is also having to deal with very cold weather at sea. The narrator in “The Wanderer” describes the winter landscape they wake up to after dreaming of being back in the mead-hall (46-49). This description shows the distinction between the happy, warm mead-hall and the cold, dark place in which the speaker now finds himself. Unlike the narrators in “The Seafarer” and “The Wanderer”, who are at sea; the narrator in “The Wife’s Lament” is on land . The speaker is exiled and commanded to live in a cave beneath a tree; the cave is described as being very gloomy and dark. “The valley are dark the hills high the yard overgrown bitter with briars a joyless dwelling” (30-33). Each of these poems uses vivid imagery to let the reader imagine exactly what it was these people were going …show more content…
The speaker in “The Seafarer” is all alone traveling in the cold ocean. Although he is extremely restless on the inside he still has an urge to get back in his ship and travel again and again (The Seafarer 33-38). In “The Wanderer”, the speaker is also traveling alone in the cold sea. He is forced away from his homeland and is all by himself. The speaker has lost all his kinsmen and lord to war and is now traveling to find a new lord, the only person who can give him everything that he needs to survive (The Wanderer 22-26). Similarly, “The Wife’s Lament” has a theme of exile. The speaker in this poem has been exiled from her homeland and husband and is now all alone in a dark cave constantly reminiscing her old life (The Wife’s Lament 11-15). All three of these narrators are learning how to cope with being on their