The Seafarer

The two poems, “The Seafarer” and “The Wanderer” have many similarities. Both poems are about a tremendous journey to find their place in heaven. “The Seafarer” and “The Wanderer” have their hardships and they have loneliness and sorrow throughout their journeys. The poems both use words like “icy” and “wintry,” which shown how hard the journey was. The Wanderer is forced to wander on the journey to heaven while The Seafarer choose to go on a journey. The Wanderer was forced to go on the journey because the whole kingdom and everyone he knows died. The Wanderer seeks for mercy from god in return god gives forgiveness. The Wanderer was push exile because he was on land and seeing how his other fellow friends that died. While, The Seafarer…

Three Themes of, “Seafarer,” “Wanderer,” and “Wife’s Lament” (An Understanding of the Themes in the poems, “Seafarer,” Wanderer,” and “Wife’s Lament.”) Anglo-Saxon people surrounded themselves with honor and bravery, and never with disgrace and fear. Fear is something that is seen in many different ways, such as the fear of an object, the dread that comes from within the body, and the fear that comes from being alone. In the poem of, “The Seafarer,” the man describes the fear of being alone,…

The numbers do not really show the order they will be presented in. They are there just to keep track of how many questions I have. Today I am here with native Sydneysider, Ed Kennedy, to ask a few questions about his journey as the messenger. Ed, now that you know you delivered joy to these people who were lost in their life, what impact does it place on you and others who feel they serve no purpose in life? This journey was definitely a giant whirlwind of emotions and feelings, and it…

1. In the poem “The Seafarer”, the Seafarer ends the poem with the word “Amen” which suggests that this poem is prayer. The Seafarer ultimately prays for a life in which he would end up in heaven. The Seafarer had gone through many obstacles that have affected his life physically and mentally. For example, the Seafarer engrosses in an obstacle in which he journeys across a winter landscape and entitles himself to psychological land of anguish and torment. However, as the poem continues, the…

The threat of exile was a major source of anxiety in Anglo-Saxon society. Exile is a long stay away from home is if often enforced, but is ocasionally self imposed. The lyrics of “The Seafarer,” “The Wanderer,” and “The Wife’s Lament” all share the common theme of exile in the Anglo- Saxon society. The threat of exile can be an eerie topic, for when exile will occur is completely unfamiliar. The lyrics of “The Seafarer,” “The Wanderer,” and “The Wife’s Lament” infer that the fundamental cause…

Anglo-Saxons, fate can be defined as the force that determines the outcome of a person's life. The poem, The Seafarer, was written during the Anglo-Saxon era when fate meant everything to the people. The verses of The Seafarer can be directly related to passages from the Bible. The unknown author of The Seafarer vividly displays how religious the Anglo-Saxons were through his/her writing. For example, the following quote from The Seafarer directly speaks about religion, as well as fate. The…

The Exeter Book, an ancient Anglo-Saxon manuscript, remained intact through years of disregard and disdain. This composition contained several unauthored poems written in Old English that were completed in about A.D. 950 (Allen et. al, eds. 102). Three of these translated Anglo-Saxon poems incorporate remarkably comparable material. These poems demonstrate the difficulty of life at sea from multiple points of view. In "The Seafarer," "The Wanderer," and "The Wife's Lament," Anglo-Saxon poets…

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…

Many Anglo-Saxon works of literature have begun as stories passed through generations orally. While passing the work along, people tend to slightly deviate from the original, resulting in the literature’s modification several times. Pagan in origin, the stories take a Christian influence once textualized by Christian monks. The monks insert Christian values and beliefs which impact the themes of the work. “The Seafarer” is one of these pieces. The author highlights his travels at sea and how…

In conclusion, the different literary works show all different types of struggles teaching one lesson to overcome it. Beginning with social struggle: Beowulf, "The wife's Lament”, "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning" and Sir Gawain and the Green Night. Each one faces a social struggle to play their role in society. Everyone role in society is crucial, if not taken seriously it impacts the whole community. Gawain and Beowulf as great warrior, teach one to follow their duty as to defend the…