Religion's Effect on The Wanderer
“He who is alone often lives to find favor” (Wanderer), but is he searching needlessly? In short, “The Wanderer” is an Old English poem of a man who is exiled due to the loss of his liege lord. The man then finds himself traveling the sea in search of a new land in which he could remain. His travel is accompanied by a lament from his heart. His heart has little hope, and even that is overpowered by the lament for the land he had just been exiled from. Yet hope still manages to find a place in this sad tale, for this oral poem was made into a manuscript by the Christian Monks around the year of 975 (Wanderer). “The Wanderer” is among many of the oral traditions of the Anglo-Saxon period that have been put into print. Through this transition of being spoken to now being read, “The Wanderer” has lost and gained different components of its original form.
If one were to remove the words of the author, the poem would be left with only a “sense of the harshness of circumstance and the sadness of the human lot” (Encarta), which is the average focus of poems spoken at the time. However, with the author interjecting phrases as simple as “So the wise man spoke in his heart” (Wanderer), it lifts the appeal of true harshness. The author takes this man’s most abstract and uneasy thoughts and gives a simple explanation for them, and this leads the reader to not judge the wanderer- based on his morbid thoughts- as much. The author does not go as far as to create sympathy for the wanderer, just far enough to create an understanding of him. No person wants to be judged based on personal thoughts, for things expressed only within the mind are not meant to be observed by others. It could create a wrong impression of a person, and that is what the author is making sure does not happen.
There is an “elegiac note [that] finds it most eloquent expression in ‘The Wanderer’” (“Wanderer”). However, because of the clergies inserting an author, this great sense of elegy is slightly altered due to the fact: it is not completely a reflective essay anymore, but mostly because the melancholy tone is lightened by the author’s explanation, which are two key components of elegy. Granted, it is believed to be one of the best examples of elegy, but it must have been more so before it was put into manuscript.
The informal language and intimacy of the poem are two techniques the poet uses to convey his message to his audience. He speaks openly and simply, as if he is talking to a close friend. The language is full of slang, two-word sentences, and rambling thoughts; all of which are aspects of conversations between two people who know each other well. The fact that none of the lines ryhme adds to the idea of an ordinary conversation, because most people do not speak in verse. The tone of the poem is rambling and gives the impression that the speaker is thinking and jumping from one thought to the next very quickly.
...he imagery of the more intensely-felt passages in the middle of the poem. Perhaps the poet is like someone at their journey's end, `all passion spent', recollecting in tranquillity some intimations of mortality?
First of alll, the poem is divided into nine stanzas, where each one has four lines. In addition to that, one can spot a few enjambements for instance (l.9-10). This stylistic device has the function to support the flow of the poem. Furthermore, it is crucial to take a look at the choice of words, when analysing the language.
In stanza three, “away” and “stay” and “grow” and “rose” make that stanza really stay put in the mind of the reader. Smart lad, to slip betimes away. From fields where glory does not stay. And early though the laurel grows It withers quicker than the rose. The rhyme in this poem brings the reader closer to the irony of the poem and the message of the poem.
Several of the poems lines revolved around never abandoning a verbal, physical, or mental battle that went against ones beliefs. The villanelle discussed an elderly person nearing death, who seemed to have lost the will to continue his or her battle. All people posses some form of beliefs, which might go against what others find appropriate. However, the poem presented indicated the significance of staying true to ones original thoughts. As the poem further explained the progressing deterioration of one’s life and the importance to persevere, it stated, “Old age should burn and rave at close of day/ rage, rage against the dying of the light.” This statement proved that people should not give in to death easily, but since it is inevitable, he or she should strive to always feel fulfilled. For one to feel content, that person must fight against ending their life without a fair battle. To further express his thoughts, Thomas stated, “Though wise men at their end know dark is right/ because their words had forked no lighting they/ do not go gentle into that good night.” This excerpt indicates that even the most intelligent people are incapable of fulfilling their wishes, leaving them troubled by incompletion. On the whole, to feel satisfied when it is too late to make a difference, one must make each opportunity count when
The speaker begins the poem an ethereal tone masking the violent nature of her subject matter. The poem is set in the Elysian Fields, a paradise where the souls of the heroic and virtuous were sent (cite). Through her use of the words “dreamed”, “sweet women”, “blossoms” and
In the end of the narrator’s consciousness, the tone of the poem shifted from a hopeless bleak
This essay is anchored on the goal of looking closer and scrutinizing the said poem. It is divided into subheadings for the discussion of the analysis of each of the poem’s stanzas.
What decision in life can we make on our that, wont affect the life of others, or harm them. How come when we try to protect our most loved ones, there the ones getting hurt the most for our actions that we tend no to acknowledge. Well back before Christ was born there lived a group of people called the Anglo Saxons who where mighty warriors that always set out to sea on voyages or adventures. Many of them died or got lost at sea, never being able to return to their homes to see their loved ones. In this essay we will discuss three messages from three different texts, the “Wanderer” translated by Burton Raffel, “Wanderer” Translated by Charles W. Kennedy, and “Wife’s Lament” Translated by Ann Stanford, each poem tells a different message form different situation and points of views.
Choosing the first person form in the first and fourth stanza, the poet reflects his personal experiences with the city of London. He adheres to a strict form of four stanzas with each four lines and an ABAB rhyme. The tone of the poem changes from a contemplative lyric quality in the first to a dramatic sharp finale in the last stanza. The tone in the first stanza is set by regular accents, iambic meter and long vowel sounds in the words "wander", "chartered", "flow" and "woe", producing a grave and somber mood.
Passus VIII of William Langland's Piers Plowman presents a search--which becomes a journey within the journey of the entire text. Here the narrator, Will, describes an inner pilgrimage--one that takes its shape in a religious context, but plays itself out through everyday life and the notion of self. The medieval traditional notion of pilgrimage involves the physical journey to a religious shrine as a means of obtaining, through journey and arrival, a revelation of religious and sacred integrity. The connotations of pilgrimage, however, stretch far beyond the actual physical act--a pilgrimage is "the physical symbol of [an] eternal goal" (Davidson and Dunn-Wood 13). The expanse of pilgrimage in medieval terms also envelops the understanding that "within or alongside this spiritual journey...was an intellectual journey as well, a quest against error and folly for truth and wisdom, which ultimately amounted to the knowledge of God" (Bowman 5). But pilgrimage goes even beyond that, in that it requires an absolute journey into the self with the goal of discovering that which gives the individual a context in which to exist.
The Seafarer, The Wanderer, and The Wife’s Lament all contains faith verses fate. The three poems are very similar and very different. The three poems ranging from a lonely man, to a lost soldier, to a wife’s bedrail. The medieval poems show hurt, confusion, and loneliness.
Throughout the poem two phrases are repeated many times, emphasizing their importance, and giving them more power. As they are repeated the reader is shown the indifference of the narrator when he says, "First they came for the ..." "and I did not speak out Because I was not a..." (Niemöller, 1-6). These phrases and their interchangeable endings show how the narrator does not care who is facing troubles as long as it is not them. This indifference is detrimental because it shows a lack of empathy and cares for others in the narrator. Niemöller's repetition of these two phrases during his poem highlights the narrator's consistent disregard for people different than them. A shift in the pattern of thinking of the narrator is seen when he says, "Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak for me." (Niemöller, 7). After repeatedly ignoring the injustices against others the narrator realizes their mistake when they find themself in the same situation as the people they had previously ignored. This change in how the narrator thinks shows how their lack of action to help others face their injustices was done so partly in ignorance. The narrator had not yet realized that everyone faces struggles at a point during their lives, and that the only way to get through them is by supporting and having the support of
The Wanderer: A struggle with Faith In the Anglo-Saxon poem, The Wanderer, the narrator describes a man who is having a religious struggle between his old pagan traditions and the new Christian Philosophy. Anglo-Saxons believed in fate, fame, and treasure; and that one could not easily change his life. The Christian Religion believed of an afterlife in Heaven or Hell, and where one would go depended on their actions during their human life. Since Christians did believe in an afterlife, they did not believe in pagan philosophy; instead they believed God was in control of everything, and things in their life happened for a reason. Following this concept, defeat and misfortune were easier to accept, because if one suffered a horrible life on Earth, he would be rewarded for his misery in the afterlife.
“Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” is a poem composed by Thomas Gray over a period of ten years. Beginning shortly after the death of his close friend Richard West in 1742, “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” was first published in 1751. This poem’s use of dubbal entendre may lead the intended audience away from the overall theme of death, mourning, loss, despair and sadness; however, this poem clearly uses several literary devices to convey the author’s feelings toward the death of his friend Richard West, his beloved mother, aunt and those fallen soldiers of the Civil War. This essay will discuss how Gray uses that symbolism and dubbal entendre throughout the poem to convey the inevitability of death, mourning, conflict within self, finding virtue in one’s life, dealing with one’s misfortunes and giving recognition to those who would otherwise seem insignificant.