The Seafarer And The Wife's Lament
Mental Consolation Comes From Loneliness
Being left alone is not always a bad thing. In fact, it might be a cherished experience. Evidence to prove this point can be found in The Exeter Book, the largest collection of Old English poetry in existence. In “The Seafarer”, “The Wanderer” and “The Wife’s Lament”, Anglo-Saxon poets indicate loneliness motivates people to seek remedies for current sufferings. “The Seafarer” discusses the loneliness brought by traveling on the sea during winter ; “The Wanderer” demonstrates the solitude of being a friendless exile; and “The Wife’s Lament” displays the solitary of a woman being abandoned by her husband.
“The Seafarer” is told in first person narrative with the circumstance of traveling alone on the cold, boundless ocean. Surrounded by “The freezing …show more content…
Searching for “a place, a people, a lord to replace” his “lost ones” (25), the traveler is a pariah on the rimless ocean. However, he fails and is still “Alone, an exile in every land”(30). Therefore, to express his depression, he moans “ How cruel a journey/ I have traveled” (28-29). Bearing the unbearable sadness as a result of solitude, he starts considering “this dark twisted life”(87) he lives and ultimately realizes that “It’s good to guard your faith, nor let your grief come forth / Until is cannot call for help, nor help but heed”(110-111). He is so pessimistic because of the isolation he endures, that he decides to do nothing and let the pain stay. As an outcast in this world, the traveler has no means to change his fate. With “the heavenly rock where rests our every hope.”(113), God becomes his only spiritual sustenance who can mollify his melancholy. The traveler believes that God will use time to cure his sorrow and one day he will be accustomed to the suffering and no longer be aware of its
Being left alone is not always a bad thing. In fact, it might be a cherished experience. Evidence to prove this point can be found in The Exeter Book, the largest collection of Old English poetry in existence. In “The Seafarer”, “The Wanderer” and “The Wife’s Lament”, Anglo-Saxon poets indicate loneliness motivates people to seek remedies for current sufferings. “The Seafarer” discusses the loneliness brought by traveling on the sea during winter ; “The Wanderer” demonstrates the solitude of being a friendless exile; and “The Wife’s Lament” displays the solitary of a woman being abandoned by her husband.
“The Seafarer” is told in first person narrative with the circumstance of traveling alone on the cold, boundless ocean. Surrounded by “The freezing …show more content…
Searching for “a place, a people, a lord to replace” his “lost ones” (25), the traveler is a pariah on the rimless ocean. However, he fails and is still “Alone, an exile in every land”(30). Therefore, to express his depression, he moans “ How cruel a journey/ I have traveled” (28-29). Bearing the unbearable sadness as a result of solitude, he starts considering “this dark twisted life”(87) he lives and ultimately realizes that “It’s good to guard your faith, nor let your grief come forth / Until is cannot call for help, nor help but heed”(110-111). He is so pessimistic because of the isolation he endures, that he decides to do nothing and let the pain stay. As an outcast in this world, the traveler has no means to change his fate. With “the heavenly rock where rests our every hope.”(113), God becomes his only spiritual sustenance who can mollify his melancholy. The traveler believes that God will use time to cure his sorrow and one day he will be accustomed to the suffering and no longer be aware of its