Name ________________________________________Date___________________Period_______
“The Seafarer” Discussion Questions
1. What is an elegy?
2. Where in the poem do you find evidence that the poem is an elegy? Explain why the section you identified
is elegiac.
3. How does the speaker feel about life at sea? What evidence did you find to support your ideas?
4. Where in the poem do you see elements of isolation? Identify at least three areas. Why do they seem to
convey the idea of isolation?
5. Which do you think is more important: wealth or a good reputation? Explain.
6. According to the speaker, how does a life become blessed? Find specific place(s) in the poem where you
found the answer.
7. What is the main idea of lines 80-102? What is your evidence?
8. How would you paraphrase lines 117-122? Where is our “home”?
“The Wanderer”
9. Who is the wanderer and what happened to him?
10. Why was it so bad to be a “wanderer” in Anglo-Saxon times?
Name ________________________________________Date___________________Period_______
11. What is the plight of the wanderer "earth-walker"? How did he become what he is? What is he seeking?
12. Do you see some Christian elements blending with the warrior-like beliefs? Where? What?
13. What does the Wanderer’s philosophizing about horses and young warriors result in? What is the answer to
his despair?
“The Wife’s Lament”
14. Throughout the poem the translator has divided each line with a caesura, or a pause, to maintain the rhythm.
What else could the pauses represent? (consider her emotions)
15. Why is the wife in exile?
16. How does the wife’s isolation change her feelings toward her husband? Provide an example from the text.
17. What does the speaker’s description of her surroundings express about her emotional state? Provide at least
two examples from the poem.
18. What does the speaker wish for her husband?
19. What is a common theme of all three Anglo-Saxon poems?
20. What attitudes do each of the three poems reflect about Anglo-Saxon life/culture? (You should give me 3)