Please read #1, 2, and 3 in the post immediately below on “Malory Discussion Topics.” These instructions apply to you as well.
Feel free to post topics here for Bede and/or the Exeter Elegies. I will get us started with a topic of my own, as follows:
Look carefully at the words of Edwin’s advisor on page 9 about the flight of the sparrow through the hall. Consider what this suggests about mortality, and also consider the ways in which this metaphor might interact with our reading of the elegies, including The Ruin.
January 9, 2007 at 12:31 pm
I am unsure how to word this, it is more a question that can be discussed. In “The Wife’s Lament,” is it written from beyond the grave? Is it her last word after her husband murdered her? Line 20 says, “…plotting murder with a smiling face.” Line 21-22 talks about how only death could divide the two. Also, lines 26-27, “They forced me to live in a forest grove, under an oak tree in an earthen cave.” That sentence makes me think she was buried in the ground, and is speaking after her death. This leads me to think the wife was murdered and is writing from beyond the grave. Probably wrong, but thought it was worth a shot.
January 9, 2007 at 10:03 pm
In “The Wife’s Lament” I think my topic some what goes along with the one above but instead of her being dead I think she was saying that the one she loved and thought loved her wasnt what she thought he was and when he “started plotting murders with a smiling face” she realized that their promises of death splitting them up wasnt true and she left him when he started plotting murders. I also thought maybe the murders forced her to live in a cave under that oak tree in the forest!
January 9, 2007 at 11:41 pm
In “The Wanderer” it seems strange to me that whomever this “wanderer” is, is looking for anyone who knows his people to “comfort him”. Maybe I’ve misinterpreted, but the way I understood it was that he chose to leave his homeland because he felt there was no one he could reveal his thoughts to, so how could meeting people who know people from his homeland comfort him when his people themselves couldn’t comfort him?
January 10, 2007 at 11:28 am
In “The Seafarer” to me he seems to be sad everytime he goes out on the sea but then when he isnt on the sea he wants to go out. Why does he have these mixed emotions about the sea?
January 10, 2007 at 3:10 pm
In response to steven’s comment. I do not know if this helps you any, but I’ll give it a try. I did a tour in Iraq, and the whole time I longed to return home to the comforts that only home can give, but when I returned home I wanted to go back. It may sound weird, but when you are there it seems like the world is passing you by, but when you are home it is just standing still. I really can’t explain it, but thats what I think. I guess it’s the longing for adventure and danger that makes him long for the sea. Probably wrong.
January 11, 2007 at 8:49 pm
I think it is interesting to note the role of the sea in British literature. Most of the poems read so far have used images of the sea. Also, most of the men in the poems are seamen. It is very obvious that the sea has influenced the lives of the British since its earliest days.
January 11, 2007 at 11:33 pm
In “The Seafarer,” the speaker starts the poem by dwelling on how he hates the sea, but realizes it is for a higher purpose that he keeps returning to the sea. He realizes it is God’s purpose. Then the speaker preaches to everyone else about the grace of God and how their earthly possessions mean nothing after death and they should pay more attention to worshiping God.
January 17, 2007 at 1:45 am
In The Wife’s Lament I agree with the notion that the woman left after she realized that he wasn’t the man she thought he was. But about how she had to live in a forest grove, I don’t think she was dead, but I can see where someone might think that. If you read the footnotes it says how the meaning of those lines are debatable. But I can tell the theme of this poem is longing.
January 22, 2007 at 12:13 am
In response and addition to Katie’s comment on the 11th. The sea does dominate British writings through out its history. It makes sense that the sea would dominate since Engkand is an island and entirly surrounded by water. many people could therefore relate to the different works of literature. It is much the same way with Southen American literature and agricukture and/or the outdoors. The sea has also been viewed by many as a mysterious place I think, as well as a common begining and ending of life in many different types of literature.