The Seafarer Exile

In both poems, the characters have been exiled. “The Seafarer” was living life on the sea by choice because he felt as though it was meant for him to do so despite the consequences that came with being at sea full time “Drifting through winter on an ice-cold sea”. The wanderer was a lost soul following the death of his lord “When the dark earth covered my dear lord’s face”. At this point he is speaking on the aftermath of losing his lord which led to him being lost looking for someone else to fill that empty feeling. As shown by the two poems exile can be interpreted in two different ways. The Seafarer paints the image that you can be exiled mentally and spiritually from your place of home, while The Wanderer is exiled by the feeling of losing someone you’ve depended on for so long and not knowing what to do following their departure. In The Seafarer translated by Burton Raffel and The Wanderer translated by Charles Kennedy both poem exile is shown throughout both poems and reflects on what comes with it loneliness, lack of purpose, the feeling of
There are many references for the sea used throughout the poem, like how it’ll tame your mind and soul trap you mentally and cause you to feel like you are alone in the world. The sailor learns the risks of being at sea and yet he’s continuously pulled back “And yet my heart wanders away, my soul roams with the sea, the whales home, wandering to the widest corners of the world…”(Lines 58-64). Disregarding the risks of staying at sea the sailor finds peace in religion. The poem transitions from loneliness and feeling abandoned “No man sheltered on the quiet fairness of earth can feel how wretched I was” (Lines 12-16) to finding and understanding that god has set this path for him “Under his lord. Fate is stronger” (Line 115). This poem gives the reader a clear visual of exile, and for this the sea is what keeps him separated from the rest of