Notes (1-8-09)
Anglo Saxon Lyric Poems (pages 14-27)
--A lyric poem expresses the thoughts and feelings of a single
speaker
--Caesuras—rhythmic breaks in the middle of lines, where the
speaker/story-teller could pause for breath
--Kenning—two-word poetic re-namings of people, places, and
things, such as the kenning “Whale’s home” for the sea
--Assonance—the repetition of vowel sounds in unrhymed,
stressed syllables (“batter the ramparts”)
--Alliteration—the repetition of consonant initial consonant sounds
in accented syllables (the slimy snake slithered slowly south)
“The Seafarer”—
--Internal conflict; the sea is in his soul and draws him back to it,
time after time, even though this self-chosen exile causes him to
suffer. He is never at peace when he is on land; he always longs to
go back to the sea.
--this poem contains lots of imagery and symbolism related to the
sea as well as to humanity’s struggle to survive in a harsh world.
 contains a mixture of pagan and Christian thought such as an
uneasy blend of belief in fate as well as belief in a guiding
Christian God.
 Themes in this poem—The power of Fate; the quest for
immortality that comes from the reputation one leaves
behind; the poem also mourns the loss of an idealized age of
honor and prowess. Also, the power of our inner desires, here
the need to be at sea, is a prominent theme in this poem.
“The Wanderer”
--External conflict/external exile—the Wanderer is exiled because
his feudal lord has died and now his place in society is gone. He no
longer has the love, comfort, and community that were provided by
his feudal lord, so he “wanders” in search of a new place and
home. He fears he may never find a new home and he mourns all
that he has lost.
--Themes in this poem—
--The harshness of fate
--Loss home and place
--Fear of what is to come/the future
--Exile
--Duty
--Loss of community and purpose
--Self-pity
--Loss of hope
--Alienation
Other literary devices—Imagery, symbolism, conflict,
characterization, alliteration, assonance
Many of the images and symbols in this poem are dark and
dismal, reflecting the mood and state of the speaker.
“The Wife’s Lament”
--External exile/conflict—
--First, the Wife must move with her husband away from all that
she knows, her family and friends, her home; once in the new land,
the husband blames her for all his misfortune and castes her out of
her home to go live under a tree.
Themes in this poem—
--Women’s roles in Anglo-Saxon society
--Choice and lack of choice
--Loss and depression
--The harshness of life and fate
--Exile
--Loss of love and companionship
--bitterness and anger over the unfair nature of life
--Alienation
Other literary devices present in the poem:
Dark and dismal imagery and symbolism; descriptive
adjectives; conflict, characterization, cultural context clues;