Old english literature

3. Old English Poetry: The Seafarer. The Wanderer

Old English poetry often reflects the griefs and changes of life. Few men in those days had settled homes; whole tribes migrated from place to place. Men didn’t seek developing a great farm or building up a business but a distant realm where their courage might win them fame. Fate seemed to rule man’s life; only the supremely good man could hope to overcome hard circumstances. Thus the oldest English poetry is often mournful, filled with memories of a happier past. That this sense of threatening fate and the hardships of life did not dampen the courage of these sturdy people is proved by their poetry as well as by their deeds.

In the poem "The Seafarer" the speaker is apparently an old sailor who describes the dangers of his life, but draws a sharp contrast between a peaceful, and prosperous life on land and the stern joy that thrills one who has surrended himself to the mystery of the sea:
"He ever has longing who is lured by the sea".
The poem describes this longing for the wide stretches of the waters, but there is none more thrilling than this old English song of the sea by a poet whose name is not known.
The deep melancholy of the song "The Wanderer" is reflected in the description of the singer’s travels in many lands; he trails the track of the exile; no treasure he has but heart-chilling frost. In such a mood he falls asleep and seems to see, in his dream, his long dead lord. When he awakens, nothing is before him save the waves, with the sea-birds bathing and beating their wings, frost and snow falling:

Where are the horses? Where are the heroes?

Alas the bright wine-cup alas the burnie-warriors!
Alas the princes’ pride! How passes the time
Under the shadow of night as it never had been!
Over the trusty troop now towers full high
A wall adorned with wondrous dragons
The strength of the spear has destroyed the earls,
War greedy weapons, Wyrd inexorable;
And the storms strike down on the stony cliffs,
The snows descend and seize all the earth
In the dread of winter.