Anglo-Saxon Literature: the Seafarer

ENGLISH IV

Anglo-Saxon Literature: “The Seafarer”

Pre-reading-

The 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.

1. Read the Background on page 19. What does exile mean? How is the understanding of home different for an Anglo-Saxon warrior than for someone today?

2. Look at the title of the poem? What is a seafarer?

3. When people find themselves cut off from contact with others, the sense of isolation can be all consuming. It is not surprising that loneliness is a frequent topic in poetry written during the Anglo-Saxon era—an era during which disease, war, and other perils often wrenched people away from their loved ones. In many Anglo-Saxon poems, images of freezing seas and jagged cliffs mirror this sense of isolation and the challenge of living in a harsh, unpredictable world.

QUICKWRITE: Imagine that you are making a five-minute silent film about isolation and loneliness. What would you show onscreen? Where would you set the film? Who would the main character be, and what would he or she be doing? What visual images would you use?

During reading-

4. Read lines 1-26 and then complete the chart below:

5. Etymology A word’s etymology, or origin, can help you understand its connotations—the images or feelings connected with a word. Wretched, which comes from the Old English wrecca (“outcast or exile”), means “miserable.” Why is wretched a better word than miserable in lines 12–17?

6. On page 19. Identify the following elements (include the line number and words from the text):

-Two examples of alliteration.

-Two examples of assonance.

7. Read page 19 again. What sufferings has the speaker in the poem endured at sea?

8. Read page 20. Then read again lines 20-38. What draws the speaker back to the ocean time and again?

9. Look at lines 55-57. What kind of exile is the speaker experiencing?

10. Read page 21. The speaker’s subject changes somewhat on this page. What are the three threats of Fate that a person must unknowingly face? (lines 68-71)

11. What does the speaker mourn in lines 81-90?

12. In lines 109-115, the speaker lists requirements of a man who wishes to please God. What are those requirements?

13. In lines 117-122 the speaker talks of home again. Which home is he now speaking of?

After reading-

14. Do you agree that “fate is stronger. . . than any man’s mind”? Why or why not?

15. Can people find a way of life in which they are fully happy, or like the seafarer, will they always have longings for another place or situation? Explain.

19.Explain how a person can dislike something as much as the sailor dislikes life at sea and yet keep going back to it.

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.