“THE SEAFARER”

Geschke/British Literature "The Seafarer"

“THE SEAFARER”

Geschke/British Literature "The Seafarer"

Introduction

• Anonymous poem of uncertain date• Lyrical

– Expresses a speaker’s personal thoughts or feelings

• Elegiac– Poem of mourning, usually over the

death of an individual

Geschke/British Literature "The Seafarer"

Point of View

• First Person– The Seafarer

•An old sailor

Geschke/British Literature "The Seafarer"

Characterization

• Courageous• Fearful• Thoughtful• Reflective• Religious• Proud

Geschke/British Literature "The Seafarer"

Imagery

• The Sea– Initially, the sea is portrayed as

something that causes pain and suffering

– “smashing surf” (6)

Geschke/British Literature "The Seafarer"

Imagery

• “…swept me backAnd forth in sorrow and fear and

painShowed me suffering in a hundred

ships In a thousand ports, and in me”

(2-5)

Geschke/British Literature "The Seafarer"

Imagery

• The negative aspects of the sea result in loneliness

Geschke/British Literature "The Seafarer"

Imagery

• “…drifting through winterOn an ice-cold sea, whirled in

sorrow,Alone in a world blown clear of

love,Hung with icicles.”

(14-17)

Geschke/British Literature "The Seafarer"

Imagery

• “The song of the swanMight serve for pleasure, the cry of

the sea-fowl,The death-noise of birds instead of

laughter,The mewing of gulls instead of

mead.”(19-22)

– Replacements of human companionship

Geschke/British Literature "The Seafarer"

Imagery

• “No kinsman could offer comfort there,

To a soul left drowning in desolation.”

(25-26)– Religious allusion– Conflict between the rigors of religious

life (sea) and the delights of worldly life (shore)

Geschke/British Literature "The Seafarer"

Imagery

• Although a negative description has been presented, the speaker longs for the sea in the second stanza.

• “I put myself back on the paths of the sea.”(30)

Geschke/British Literature "The Seafarer"

Imagery

• “And how my heartWould begin to beat, knowing

once moreThe salt waves tossing the

towering sea!”

(33-35)

Geschke/British Literature "The Seafarer"

Imagery

• “The time for journeys would come and my soul

Called me eagerly out, sent me overThe horizon, seeking foreigner’s

homes.”(36-

38)– The sea calls his soul

•Another religious reference?

Geschke/British Literature "The Seafarer"

Stanza III

• The influence of Fate• “He feels no fear as the sails unfurl,

Wondering what Fate has willed and will do.”

(42-43)

Geschke/British Literature "The Seafarer"

Stanza V

• “Thus the joys of GodAre fervent with life, where life itself

Fades quickly into the earth. Thewealth

Of the world neither reaches to Heaven nor remains.”

(64-67)– Temporary nature of the earthly life– Permanence of a religious life

Geschke/British Literature "The Seafarer"

Stanza VI: Earthly Pleasures vs. Heaven

• “The world’s honor ages and shrinksBent like the men who mold it. Their

facesBlanch as time advances, their

beards Wither and they mourn the memory of friends.

The sons of princes, sown in the dust. The soul stripped of its flesh knows nothing

Of sweetness or sour, feels no pain, Bends neither its hand nor its brain.” (89-96)

Geschke/British Literature "The Seafarer"

Stanza VI: Earthly Pleasures vs. Heaven

• “…but nothingGolden shakes the wrath of God

For a soul overflowing with sin, and nothing

Hidden on earth rises to Heaven.”(99-102)– Earthly possessions are meaningless in

the afterlife

Geschke/British Literature "The Seafarer"

Final Stanza: Theme

• “Fate is stronger And God mightier than any man’s mind. Our thoughts should turn to where our home is,

Consider the ways of coming there,Then strive for sure permission for us

To rise to that eternal joy,That life born in the love of God

And the hope of Heaven. Praise the Holy Grace of Him who honored us, Eternal, unchanging creator of earth. Amen.”

(115-124)

Geschke/British Literature "The Seafarer"

Final Stanza: Theme

• Metaphor– Ocean=Heaven

•Way is difficult, but worth while– Shore/Land=Earthly Desires &

Temptations•Easy, relaxing, but ultimately unfulfilling

Geschke/British Literature "The Seafarer"

Final Stanza: Theme

• Diction– “home”

•Land/shore?•Heaven?

Geschke/British Literature "The Seafarer"

Final Stanza: Theme

• Diction– “Amen”

•Poem ends with the traditional end of a prayer

•Justifies poem as metaphor