The Seafarer Comparative Essay

“Alone in a world blown clear of love…” is a line in “The Seafarer”. This poem embodies the pain and sorrow that goes along with isolation; a theme that is also in the song “The Sound of Silence”. Both works of art demonstrate the idea that the world is full of lonely people because the human race as a whole is focused on material things and not each other. The pieces share similar themes and characteristics, but have different ways of expressing them. The author of “The Seafarer” and the songwriter of “The Sound of Silence” use similar imagery in their work. They both use a cold dreary environment to make sorrow evident. In “The Sound of Silence” the writer describes the setting as “cold and damp”, and “The Seafarer” author uses the words “ice-cold sea” to describe his site of suffering. The mood of the two pieces is also very similar. They both have a very somber, sad mood. The reader or listener can easily understand the type of emotion that is meant to be portrayed. Lastly the tone of the writers convey is the same.

The first difference is the type of loneliness the narrators feel. The author of “The Seafarer” is quite literally alone. He is all by himself out at sea and he misses human interaction. “The Sound of Silence” is about a man that is surrounded by people, but he feels as though no one listens to him. He feels loneliness as an outcast. Another difference is the solution to fix what the world values. The author of “The Seafarer” thinks that everyone should focus more on God to fix the way people treat each other. “The sound of Silence” writer tries to show kindness to change the world, but he feels as though his efforts are of no use. Lastly, a difference between the song and the poem is the simple fact that one has music and the other does not. It is much easier to identify the mood and message the song is portraying just by listening to its tempo, melody, and choice of