THE WIFE’S LAMENT

Introduction of the poem:

"The Wife's Lament" is one of the most recognised Anglo-Saxon elegies. It

is a monologue found in the "Exeter Book". The book was preserved with in the
Cathedral of Exeter for nearly 600 years. However, it is still one of few works that
we have in near perfect condition, save eight folios in the beginning of it, that were
replaced sometime early in his life. It contains nearly one-sixth of all the Anglo-
Saxon poetry we have today. The Wife's Lament was likely transmitted orally for
generations before the writing of the "Exeter Book". Scholars still find several
other semantic and syntactic obscurities , and many elements of the story are left
ambiguous. It is doubtful, through,that the text has been corrupted in any way.
However it is much more characteristic and stylish of small works no to have
proper nouns than it is of larger works.

There are few events that take place in "The Wife's Lament" that are
not entirely clear. Some think that the wife may have gone looking for the exiled
husband, but that she became lost and after that sometime. A slightly simpler
explanation would be that she is still reterring to her original husband when she
mentions the immoral man. Because through out of the story there is little logical
sequence of thought several interpretations are plausible.

Author of the poem wife's Lament

"The Wife's Lament" also known as "The Wife's Complaint" is an Old

English infact Anglo-Saxon poem from the "Exeter Book". The book contains other
poems like - "The Wanderer" , "The seafarer" , "The Wife's Lament" ,"The
Husband's Message" and "The Ruin". The poem's author remains totally unknown
still. It is seemed that the poet was a woman or may be a man wrote the poem in a
woman's voice from a female perspective. The poem was translated by Michael R.
Burch.

What is the Theme of the poem wife's Lament:

"The Wife's Lament" is one of the most recognised Anglo-Saxon elegies.
It is a monologue found in the "Exeter Book". The book was preserved with in the
Cathedral of Exeter for nearly 600 years. However, it is still one of few works that
we have in near perfect condition, save eight folios in the beginning of it, that were
replaced sometime early in his life. It contains nearly one-sixth of all the Anglo-
Saxon poetry we have today. The Wife's Lament was likely transmitted orally for
generations before the writing of the "Exeter Book". Scholars still find several
other semantic and syntactic obscurities , and many elements of the story are left
ambiguous. It is doubtful, through,that the text has been corrupted in any way.
However it is much more characteristic and stylish of small works no to have
proper nouns than it is of larger works.

There are few events that take place in "The Wife's Lament" that are
not entirely clear. Some think that the wife may have gone looking for the exiled
husband, but that she became lost and after that sometime. A slightly simpler
explanation would be that she is still reterring to her original husband when she
mentions the immoral man. Because through out of the story there is little logical
sequence of thought several interpretations are plausible.

What is the Summary of the poem wife's Lament:

"The Wife's Lament" or "The Wife's Complaint" , probably the first love
poem in the history of English Literature. It's a dramatic monologue of 53 lines in
"Exeter Book". It is also an elegy and written in first person narrative. The speaker
is a woman who has lost her husband's favour and has been forced to live in a cave
in a forest. After that she decided to undertake a quest to find him, setting out as a
lonely and "Friendless Wanderer". Her lord's kinsmen didn't want to couple to be
reunited and he made plans to keep them on opposite sides of the world. The
separation left the wife heartbroken and longing for the husband.

She said that, her lord requested her to live with him in a new
country. Also she quickly discovered that her husband has been plotting behind her
back. Beneath proclamation of love , behind his smile. He was actually planning to
commit mortal crimes. She remembers the good times of their marriage, when they
had sworn to each other that only death could part them. Sadly, she realized that
she could never feel fondness for that man again. Their friendship vanished as if it
had never existed in the first place. The wife continued to face hardship as a result
of her wayward lord and his ongoing journey. To stay sage, she went to live in a
dense forest grove in a cave under a oak tree and that where she is wriing her
lament. She finishes her lament by invoking her husband again. She doesn't know if
he had conquered his fate, or if he is exiled in another land, sitting beneath a stone
before the stormy sea in weary mind. The wife knows that her husband is also filled
with anguish and constantly reminded of the happy home he has lost. She muses
that grief is always permanent for those who are separated from a loved one.

Critical Analysis of wife's Lament:

Like in the case of most Anglo-Saxon poems , there are multiple

interpretations of "The Wife's Lament". Some scholars believe that the character of
wife is a peace-weaver who was living with a hostile tribe, so she had to sever ties
with her family and travel to a new land, where she feels isolated. Is is evident that
she misses her husband badly, but it is unclear if he reciprocates her feelings . The
husband may love her but his tribe could have forced him to take a action against
her. Because of the intimate tone of the poem , some scholars claim that both
husband and wife still love each other and their despair is mutual. The linguistic
structure supports this claim, since the Wife's use of Old English dual pronouns
make the lament feel private and sincere.

"The Wife's Lament" is generally treated as an elegy in the manner of the

German frauenlied, or woman's song. The poem has been relatively well preserved
and requires few if any emendation to enable an initial reading. Though the
description of the text as a woman's song , lamenting for a lost or absent lover. The
poem is also considered by some to be a riddle poem. A riddle poem contains a
lesson told in cultural context which would be understandable to the readers , and
very famous genre of poetry of that time. Thematic consistencies between the "The
Wife's Lament" it's close relative in the genre of the woman's song, as well as close
neighbour in the "Exeter Book" , "Woolf and Eadwacer" , make unconventional
treatments somewhat counterintuitive. Similarities between the languages and
circumstances of the male protagonist of "The Wanderer", for example and the
protagonist of "The Wife's Lament" have led other critics to argue, even more
radically that the protagonist of the poem. Anglo-Saxon copyist has wrongly
imposed feminine gender on the protagonist where this was not the original
authorical intent. It is also thought by some that "The Wife's Lament" and "The
Husband's Message" may be part of a larger work in the history of English
Literature.

Literary Devices
Although this poem is a translation, readers can still find several interesting literary devices at
work within the lines. These include but are not limited to, examples of enjambment, caesura,
and imagery. The latter is one of the most important literary devices that a poet, no matter
when they lived, can employ. With successful images, a reader is able to more accurately
image the experiences of the speaker. This is particularly useful for this poem as the speaker
is filled with sorrow throughout. Without feeling that sorrow, a reader will leave the poem
unaffected. For example, lines twenty-seven through twenty-nine: “They forced me to live in
a forest grove, / under an oak tree in an earthen cave. / This earth-hall is old, and I ache with
longing.”
There are also good examples of enjambment in this piece. Enjambment occurs when
the poet cuts off a line before its natural stopping point. A sentence or phrase is left
unresolved, and the reader has to move down to the next line to find out what happens next.
For example, the transition between lines two and three, as well as lines seven and eight.
These are only two of many examples in ‘The Wife’s Lament.’
As a piece of Anglo-Saxon poetry, there are unusually formal features that a reader
will come across. Often, these writers, whoever they were, chose to insert strong pauses in
the middle of lines. These provide readers with great examples of caesurae. For instance, line
twenty-three which reads: “nothing else – all that is changed now; it is now,” and line thirty-
three, which reads: “often fiercely seized me. There are friends on earth.”

Detailed Analysis
Lines 1-5
I make this song of myself, deeply sorrowing,
my own life’s journey. I am able to tell

all the hardships I’ve suffered since I grew up,

but new or old, never worse than now –

ever I suffer the torment of my exile.

In the first lines of ‘The Wife’s Lament,’ the speaker begins by addressing the reader and
telling them that she wrote this song of herself. It’s filled with sorrow over her life and
everything she’s suffered since she “grew up.” It’s clear that this speaker, whoever they are,
struggled throughout their adult life. They’ve come to a point where they’re ready to share
everything that happened to them in these fifty-three lines.
She’s been exiled, she reveals, in the fifth line. It’s not clear what she means by this, and she
doesn’t get back to it till the end of the poem.
Lines 6-14
First my lord left his people

for the tumbling waves; I worried at dawn

where on earth my leader of men might be.
When I set out myself in my sorrow,

a friendless exile, to find his retainers,

that man’s kinsmen began to think

in secret that they would separate us,

so we would live far apart in the world,
most miserably, and longing seized me.

In the next lines, she describes the first terrible thing that happened to her. Her “lord” left his
people “for the tumbling waves.” The lord might be her husband or could be a leader of her
people, or possibly both. She worried throughout the following days about this man and
where “on earth [her] leader of men might be.” It’s clear she felt betrayed by his departure
and worry about what would become of her and her people without him.
She decides the only thing she can do is search for him herself. She’s going to leave home as
he did. But it’s not quite that easy. The next sorrow that befalls her is her husband’s kinsmen
trying to keep them apart. They’ve decided that the two should remain as separate as
possible. It’s not obvious why they made this decision, suggesting perhaps that the speaker
herself doesn’t understand.

Lines 15-26
My lord commanded me to live with him here;

I had few loved ones or loyal friends

in this country, which causes me grief.

Then I found that my most fitting man

was unfortunate, filled with grief,

concealing his mind, plotting murder

with a smiling face. So often we swore

that only death could ever divide us,
nothing else – all that is changed now; it is now
as if it had never been,

our friendship. Far and near, I must

endure the hatred of my dearest one.

She describes her sorrow more fully in the next lines, expressing her depression over the fact
that she’s been forced to live somewhere she doesn’t want to. She has no friends or family
there. Readers have to infer exactly what the speaker means. Depending on the translation
there are several possible interpretations. Her grief developed to the levels that it’s at because
of her residence in this hostile-seeming place.
The following lines make the entire narrative even more confusing. She describes a man,
perhaps her husband, or perhaps another male figure, who is evil in some fundamental way.
He was “plotting murder / with a smiling face.” Obviously, this is something that would bring
one a great deal of grief. The next lines feature a betrayal. Either the husband died or left the
speaker. Everything is changed now from when they first got married. From now on, she has
to suffer from the hatred of the one she loved, something she never wanted to deal with. The
twenty-fifth line of the poem contains a great example of a caesural pause.

Lines 27-41
They forced me to live in a forest grove,
under an oak tree in an earthen cave.

This earth-hall is old, and I ache with longing;

the dales are dark, the hills too high,

harsh hedges overhung with briars,

a home without joy. Here my lord’s leaving

often fiercely seized me. There are friends on earth,

lovers living who lie in their bed,

while I walk alone in the light of dawn

under the oak-tree and through this earth-cave,

where I must sit the summer-long day;

there I can weep for all my exiles,

my many troubles; and so I may never

escape from the cares of my sorrowful mind,

nor all the longings that have seized my life.

The next lines make the poem even darker and more confusing than it already is. The speaker
describes “They,” likely her husband’s kinsmen, who made her live in a “forest grove, / under
an oak tree in an earthen cave.” These lines are meant literally. She was forced to go live in a
hole or cave in the ground. Readers should also take note of the change of style in these lines.
The first lines were mostly descriptive, but these are filled with images that help the reader
imagine the speaker’s situation. There are also some great examples of alliteration, a skillful
choice on the part of the translator.
She compares herself to “lovers living who lie in their bed,” they have something that she
longs for. Depending on which theory one subscribes to, the husband’s betrayal, departure, or
death has led her to a new life she never wanted. She has to sit in her cave and weep for days,
for her loss, and for her exiles. Her many troubles are overwhelming. She knows that she’s
never going to escape from her “longings” that have “seized” her life.

Lines 42-53
May the young man be sad-minded
with hard heart-thoughts, yet let him have
a smiling face along with his heartache,

a crowd of constant sorrows. Let to himself

all his worldly joys belong! let him be outlawed

in a far distant land, so that my friend sits

under stone cliffs chilled by storms,

weary-minded, surrounded by water

in a sad dreary hall! My beloved will suffer

the cares of a sorrowful mind; he will remember

too often a happier home. Woe to the one

who must suffer longing for a loved one.

The final lines of the poem are often translated in different ways and debated among the
experts. The speaker addresses a metaphorical young man who must “smile” in a “crowd of
constant sorrows.” This could be interpreted as an aphorism, a curse on her husband, or
simply meant as speculation in regards to what her husband is experiencing in whatever new
place he went to. The following lines suggest that the speaker wants to worst for her husband,
to reside in a gloomy land surrounded by “water / in a sad, dreary hall.”
Perhaps she hopes or worries that he’ll look back on the past and realize what he’s lost. He
will “suffer / the cares of a sorrowful mind.” Just as he suffers, or will suffer, so too does she.
Perhaps the speaker is hoping to will her husband into a similar state to her own so that he too
might experience the same grief.

Similar Poetry
Readers who enjoyed ‘The Wife’s Lament’ should also seek out other Anglo-Saxon poems.
For example, Ezra Pound’s translation of ‘The Seafarer,’ one of the best-known Old English
poems. Some other pieces from this period are ‘The Wanderer’ and ‘Beowulf.’ The latter is
the most famous poem of the period. It tells the story of a hero, Beowulf, and his battles
against Grendel and Grendel’s mother. ‘The Wanderer’ is another 10th-century poem that is
also found in the Exeter Book and focuses on solitude, as ‘The Sea-Farer’ does as well.