Jonathan A. Glenn's The Seafarer

2398 Words5 Pages

The Anglo-Saxon society was a combination of the Jutes, the Anglos, and the Saxons. It was through this combination that the values of this one culture evolved. Anglo-Saxons lived their lives according to values such as masculine orientation, transience of life, and love for glory. Contradictory to the belief that the Anglo-Saxons’ values are outdated, one will find when taking a closer look that most of the values are, in fact, still present in today’s society. Most of the literature from that time period, lasting from 449-1066, is by unknown authors. The oral tradition practiced by the Anglo-Saxons made it possible for the pieces to be passed down and still be in existence today. When many of the pieces were finally written down the took on a poetic style. Through the examination of these poems, both universal and cultural themes become present. In “The Seafarer'; and “The Wanderer,'; both being poems from the Anglo-Saxon time period, the anonymous authors portray the universal theme of the harshness of life through imagery patterns of the sea and winter, and in the conclusion of both poems it becomes evident to the subjects of the poems that the only way they will find contentment in life is if they accept the fact that the things that happen to them are all a part of God’s plan.In both poems the unknown authors use the imagery of the sea to represent the trials of life. In both, the reader must understand that the theme presented, the harshness of life, has had a specific impact on the character in the poem. They have had a personal experience that has lead them to the conclusion that this theme is relevant in everyone’s life. The opening of “The Seafarer'; proves this to be true as the very first line states “This tale is true and mine.'; This brings to the reader’s awareness that the “tale'; of the poem is an experience of the poem’s character. Immediately after that, the writer uses the imagery of the sea to illustrate the theme of the harshness of life. “It tells/ How the sea took me swept me back/ And forth in sorrows and fear and pain.'; In reading this poem it becomes obvious that life is represented by the sea. In this line the person is saying that that he has been swept away by the trials of life.

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