Name ___________________________
The Exeter Book/Old English poetry
“The Seafarer”
1. Identify elements of both the pagan and Christian tradition in the poem. How do you account
for this?
2. At which line # does the poem take a decidedly religious turn?
3. Choose one of the following sides of the debate to answer:
Some scholars believe that the second part of the poem is a later addition. How do you know?
Why was the second part added? How does it change the meaning of the first section?
OR
Other scholars contend that the poem contains one speaker only. If so, how do you explain the
shift in the poem?
“The Wanderer”
4. When did the wanderer begin his journey?
Where is the wanderer?
Why is he there?
5. What words or phrases reveal the wanderer’s attitude toward his journey?
“The Wife’s Lament”
6. Explain the reason the wife is lamenting?
7. Is the wife’s experience alien to modern times that readers cannot identify with it or is there a
modern equivalent?
8. Identify a kenning in each of the following poems. Tell what it refers to in each case.
Kenning
The Seafarer
The Wanderer
The Wife’s Lament
Refers to …
9. Explain how each poem’s speaker experiences isolation.
The Seafarer
The Wanderer
The Wife’s Lament
10. Each of the poems can be considered an elegy. What is an elegy? What is the speaker
mourning in each instance?
The Seafarer
The Wanderer
The Wife’s Lament
11. Which of the three speakers conveys the greatest sense of isolation? Explain. Support your
answer with references to the poems (include line numbers).
12. The imagery in all three poems is predominantly bleak, but not exclusively so. Identify an
example from each poem that offsets the bleakness with more cheerful imagery.
More Cheerful Imagery (Include Line #)
The Seafarer
The Wanderer
The Wife’s Lament