"The Wanderer"

Poem Review # 47645

English > Analysis
Literature > Poetry

"The Wanderer"

A review of E. T. Donaldson's translation of the Old English poem, "The Wanderer|.

1,026 words () | 2 sources | APA | 2003 United States

Paper Summary:

This paper examines how E. T. Donaldson's prosaic translation of "The Wanderer" divides the poem through the use of quotation marks. It discusses how it is an interesting task to critically discuss lines 8-18 of "The Wanderer" when considering this division because of their peculiar isolation, both in terms of placement and how these lines interrupt the narration of the story. It also analyzes how the Wanderer's choice to follow a Christian code can be considered conversion didacticism and how the story stands as a model for warrior cultures' transition to Christianity.

From the Paper:

"The blurring of cultural boundaries, Christian and warrior, maims the ritual purity of both. This is seen in the language of this poem when these two characteristics, stoicism and expressiveness, coexist in two different types of imagery. In the first type, the author personifies the wanderer's body parts through the use of synecdoche a figure of speech where part of something (or in this case, bodily organs) represent something else. These synecdochic images his "heart" (100), "mind" (100), "breast" (100), and "angry spirit" (100), represent the emotionally expressive side of the wanderer. The synecdochic image "heart" is the most widely used personification in "The Wanderer." The "heart" is first used to represent the place wherefrom one can "clearly express the thought" (100)."