Exeter Book

Almost everything has two parts to it. Whether it be good and evil; land and sea; or heaven and earth; dualism is present everywhere. However, in dualism, the two parts are not just randomly selected.The two parts contrast each other and are almost complete opposites. The author of the elegy, “The Seafarer”, lived during the Anglo-Saxon’s reign over Britain. In a similar fashion to other pieces of literature from this period, it was most likely passed around through word of mouth and was then eventually

Exile at the Moors Certain things in life can drive a person absolutely mad. Maybe it’s the sound of someone popping their gum. Or maybe it’s the feeling of having a damp sock after accidently stepping in a puddle. Or for some people, it’s the feeling of being alone. The situation of being away from others drives them to insanity. However, exile is not a black and white idea. There are some people in the world that thrive on alone time. Being separated from others allows them to finally access who

The Wanderer and The Wife's Lament Journal In this week, the document that I read is The Wanderer and The Wife's Lament. While reading this document, I was surprised by the husband’s action that he abandoned his wife in his heartache. The reason that the woman and her husband married was to make peace instead of love; however, they still loved each other after marrying and swore that nothing could separate them excepted the death (Anonymous 114). For me, the husband abandoned his wife because of

We hear only tales of its slow stricken madness. Most often it’s a fisherman, who falsely lulled by the ocean’s gentle rhythm, forgets the ravenous spirits lurking below. He wakes up on a sandy shore and sees he’s alone--his small ship decimated by the shimmering waters he knew for decades. The island of my seclusion is perhaps the the most comical antithesis any author could hope to produce. I have what my peers dub a “ride or die,” someone who understands me so profoundly that a contemplative

Essentially a monologue set within a frame, this poem creates two personae. The anonymous author gives a brief introduction and conclusion. The Wanderer, an aging warrior, who roams the world seeking shelter and aid. The Wanderer’s monologue divides into two distinct parts, the first being a lament for his exile and the loss of kin, friends, home, and the generosity of his king. In nature, he finds absolutely no comfort, for he has set sail on the winter stricken sea. Poignantly, the speaker dreams

or “SOAP”. Anna’s father, James Ashley, is an esteemed romance novelist whose books have been transformed into films. He decided to send his daughter to such an elite and elective school as a way to show off his fortune, and Anna is at first miserable with this decision. As the quote has stated, “its essential sadness can never be surmounted”, which explains her state of mind in the beginning of the book. She is alone in Paris, and she expresses how if this were as a vacation and not an obligation

Christopher Vasquez 2/9/17 Period 2 The Urge to Travel Have you ever wondered why some people today do the most absurd, crazy things, even though it can cost them their life? That question is expressed in the Anglo-Saxon poem, The Seafarer. Although the original writer of the poem is unknown, it was translated from it’s original language to English by Burton Raffel. The author explains the hardships of a sea traveler in the Anglo-saxon times, who had to travel for months, even years, without

The Wander is a poem which covers upon the concept of grief. The speaker of the poem is forced in to a self-reflective state as he is exiled from his friends and family, and society. The result of such an isolation is self exploration unwarranted by the socially constructed norms of gender during the Middle Ages. The particular social structure which the speaker is grieving is the rigidly defined gender norms and the codes of masculinity. The result of the exile is a confrontation with an emotional

Looking  at these two poems- considered to be sister poems- I have found distinct similarities and differences.  In The Seafarer, an old man is reflecting upon his life as a sailor.  He described his personal burdens of being on sea but he does find beauty in it.  But as in The Wanderer, a warrior is upon the ocean searching for comfort as he mourns the loss of his loved ones and society.  It is well understood that they have the feeling of loneliness in common as well as the importance in sharing

Elegies are serious poems of a ruminative nature. First written in the Middle Ages, they offer a view into the medieval psyche, which was largely influenced by Christianity. Some of the Christian attitudes found in the famous elegies “The Wanderer” and “The Seafarer” include the finiteness of earthly goods, the broken nature of the world and humankind, and the goodness of knowing God. Both of these elegies feature eponymous narrators discussing the temporariness of the world. In “The Wanderer,”