Building Background

The World of The SeafarerIcy winds whip across the sea’s surface, and the sea rages, churning up fierce waves, one upon the other. These were the conditions faced by the seafaring warriors who began settling in Britain in the fifth century. The ravages of seafaring, war, and disease produced in the Anglo-Saxons a fatalistic view of life. They believed that a person’s wyrd, or fate, was unavoidable: all roads led inescapably to death. This belief is eloquently expressed in The Seafarer and other Old English elegies, solemn poems that lament the transience, or fleeting quality, of life.

The History of The SeafarerThe Seafarer is one of a handful of elegies preserved in the Exeter Book, a rare collection of Old English poetry that was compiled and copied by monks during the 900s. The book is named after Exeter Cathedral, where it has been housed since about 1050. The author of The Seafarer is unknown. Some scholars, noting that the tone of the poem changes dramatically in line 64, believe that a monk added the last sections of the poem to create a work more religious in tone. Other scholars argue that The Seafarer is the work of one poet.

Old English PoetryIf you would like to learn more about Old English poetry, you might enjoy reading Old English Poetry, translated by J. Duncan Spaeth, which contains several famous Anglo-Saxon poems, including The Far-Traveled, The Wife’s Lament, and The Wanderer. For a collection of critical essays that analyze the theme and structure of several poems, including The Seafarer, look for Anglo-Saxon Poetry: Essays in Appreciation, edited by Lewis E. Nicholson and Dolores Warwick Friese.

Literary analysis: imagery

Poets communicate through imagery,words and phrases that re-create sensory experiences for the reader. Notice how the imagery in this passage from “The Seafarer” appeals to the senses of sight, touch, and hearing:

My feet were cast

In icy bands, bound with frost,

With frozen chains, and hardship groaned

Around my heart.

The images bring to mind ideas of coldness and confinement and suggest the speaker’s lonely, painful emotional state. As you read the following three poems, pay attention to the imagery, allowing it to evoke ideas and feelings in you.

Literary element: mood

Mood is the emotional quality of a work of literature. A number of elements may contribute to creating mood, such as a writer’s choice of language, subject matter, setting, and tone, as well as sound devices such as rhyme, rhythm, and meter. As you read, examine how the poet creates a somber, mournful mood.

The Seafarer

BackgroundThe poems in the Exeter Book reflect the hardship and uncertainty of life in Anglo-Saxon times. Men who made their living on the sea had to leave behind their families and sail long distances in primitive, poorly equipped boats. The women and children left behind endured months and even years without knowing whether their menfolk would return. In addition, frequent outbreaks of disease and war scattered communities and brought untimely death to many people.

This tale is true, and mine. It tells How the sea took me, swept me back And forth in sorrow and fear and pain, Showed me suffering in a hundred ships, In a thousand ports, and in me. It tells Of smashing surf when I sweated in the cold Of an anxious watch, perched in the bow As it dashed under cliffs. My feet were cast In icy bands, bound with frost, With frozen chains, and hardship groaned Around my heart. Hunger tore At my sea-weary soul. No man sheltered On the quiet fairness of earth can feel How wretched I was, drifting through winter On an ice-cold sea, whirled in sorrow, Alone in a world blown clear of love, Hung with icicles. The hailstorms flew. The only sound was the roaring sea, The freezing waves. The song of the swan Might serve for pleasure, the cry of the sea-fowl, The death-noise of birds instead of laughter, The mewing of gulls instead of mead. Storms beat on the rocky cliffs and were echoed By icy-feathered terns and the eagle’s screams; No kinsman could offer comfort there, To a soul left drowning in desolation[40]. And who could believe, knowing but The passion of cities, swelled proud with wine And no taste of misfortune, how often, how wearily, I put myself back on the paths of the sea. Night would blacken; it would snow from the north; Frost bound the earth and hail would fall, The coldest seeds[41]. And how my heart Would begin to beat, knowing once more The salt waves tossing and the towering sea! The time for journeys would come and my soul Called me eagerly out, sent me over The horizon, seeking foreigners’ homes. But there isn’t a man on earth so proud, So born to greatness, so bold with his youth, Grown so brave, or so graced by God, That he feels no fear as the sails unfurl, Wondering what Fate has willed and will do. No harps ring in his heart, no rewards, No passion for women, no worldly pleasures, Nothing, only the ocean’s heave; But longing wraps itself around him. Orchards blossom, the towns bloom, Fields grow lovely as the world springs fresh, And all these admonish that willing mind Leaping to journeys, always set In thoughts traveling on a quickening tide. So summer’s sentinel, the cuckoo, sings In his murmuring voice, and our hearts mourn As he urges. Who could understand, In ignorant ease, what we others suffer As the paths of exile stretch endlessly on?[42] And yet my heart wanders away, My soul roams with the sea, the whales’ Home, wandering to the widest corners Of the world, returning ravenous with desire, Flying solitary, screaming, exciting me To the open ocean, breaking oaths On the curve of a wave. Thus the joys of God[43] Are fervent with life, where life itself Fades quickly into the earth. The wealth Of the world neither reaches to Heaven nor remains. No man has ever faced the dawn Certain which of Fate’s three threats Would fall: illness, or age, or an enemy’s Sword, snatching the life from his soul. The praise the living pour on the dead Flowers from reputation: plant An earthly life of profit reaped Even from hatred and rancor, of bravery Flung in the devil’s face, and death Can only bring you earthly praise And a song to celebrate a place With the angels, life eternally blessed In the hosts of Heaven. The days are gone When the kingdoms of earth flourished in glory; Now there are no rulers, no emperors, No givers of gold, as once there were, When wonderful things were worked among them And they lived in lordly magnificence. Those powers have vanished, those pleasures are dead, The weakest survives and the world continues, Kept spinning by toil. All glory is tarnished, The world’s honor ages and shrinks, Bent like the men who mold it. Their faces Blanch as time advances, their beards Wither and they mourn the memory of friends, The sons of princes, sown in the dust. The soul stripped of its flesh knows nothing Of sweetness or sour, feels no pain, Bends neither its hand nor its brain. A brother Opens his palms and pours down gold On his kinsman’s grave, strewing his coffin With treasures intended for Heaven, but nothing Golden shakes the wrath of God For a soul overflowing with sin, and nothing Hidden on earth rises to Heaven[44]. We all fear God. He turns the earth, He set it swinging firmly in space, Gave life to the world and light to the sky. Death leaps at the fools who forget their God. He who lives humbly has angels from Heaven To carry him courage and strength and belief. A man must conquer pride, not kill it, Be firm with his fellows, chaste for himself, Treat all the world as the world deserves, With love or with hate but never with harm, Though an enemy seek to scorch him in hell, Or set the flames of a funeral pyre Under his lord. Fate is stronger And God mightier than any man’s mind. Our thoughts should turn to where our home is, Consider the ways of coming there, Then strive for sure permission for us To rise to that eternal joy, That life born in the love of God And the hope of Heaven. Praise the Holy[45] Grace of Him who honored us, Eternal, unchanging creator of earth. Amen.

7 A watch is a period of time during a day on a ship in which a crew member is on duty, usually to navigate the ship. The crew member on watch stands in the bow, or the front section of the ship. 24Terns are seabirds that resemble small gulls and have forked tails.   53 A sentinel is one who keeps guard.     65 Here, fervent means “glowing” or “burning.”         114 A funeral pyre is a heap of flammable material on which a dead body is burned.

After Reading

Comprehension: Recall and Interpret

1. What hardships of life at sea does the speaker describe at the beginning of the poem (lines 1–26)? What pleasures of life on land does the speaker mention?

2. How does the speaker feel when he sees the “sails unfurl” and leaves the shore?

3. The speaker ends the poem by providing advice to the reader (lines 106–124). What is the advice the speaker gives? What part might fate play in the speaker’s attitudes about the dangers of life at sea?

4. In your opinion, does the speaker long for a comfortable life on land or does he go willingly to sea? Support your answer with examples from the poem.

5. What does the speaker say is different about life in his time as compared with life in the past? What does the speaker’s attitude toward the past say about his feelings toward life during the time in which he lives?

6. In line 117, the speaker mentions thoughts that “turn to where our home is.” To what home do you think the speaker is referring?

Literary Analysis: Evaluate and Connect

7. Analyze ThemeSummarize the message, or theme, of The Seafarer. How is the speaker “at sea” both literally and figuratively? Do you find the sea to be an effective symbol? Explain your answer.

8. Synthesize IdeasWhat ideas about Anglo-Saxon life and religious attitudes do you get from the poem?

9. Analyze ImageryWhich images in the poems most effectively convey a moodof isolation?What senses do these images appeal to? The Seafarer has been praised for its striking descriptions of life at sea. In a small group, find images that appeal to each of the five senses—sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch. Create a five-column chart like the one shown below, and list each image in the appropriate column. Then decide which of the senses the poet appeals to most often. What part does this sense play in developing the mood of the poem?

10. Literary Analysis In three or four paragraphs, analyze the effect of the first-person point of view on readers’ response to the speaker. In your analysis, consider why the poet might have chosen to write in the first person and how the poem would change if it were written from another point of view.

Literary Criticism

11. Critical InterpretationsThere has been much debate over the number of speakers in “The Seafarer.” Some critics believe that a second person begins to speak at line 64, and others believe that there is only one speaker throughout the poem. Which interpretation do you prefer, and why?

12. Creative WritingImagine that you are the sailor in the poem and are preparing to go back to sea after a long, lazy summer onshore. Write a letter to a friend explaining why you feel compelled to sail once more.

13. Internet ConnectionA number of universities have Web pages devoted to the study of Old English verse. To hear Old English poetry read aloud, and to read other Old English elegies, search the World Wide Web, using the key words “Old English verse. Save your work for your portfolio.

Date: 2016-03-03; view: 2152