The Theme of Detachment in Old English Poetry. "The Wanderer", "The Seafarer" and "The Wife's Lament"
Alessandra Pennesi
Essay from the year 2018 in the subject Literature - Basics, , language: English, abstract: This paper discusses the theme of detachment in Old English poetry. It focuses on the poems "The Wanderer", "The Seafarer" and "The Wife’s Lament". Here, the narrators all come to tell of their own dramatic experiences of detachment from a beloved place or person. The theme of detachment is surely quite controversial as it triggers emotions often more intricate than mere nostalgia. We will then see how this emotion is represented through the three speaking voices of the poems and how the texts invite us to understand the experience of exile in close relation to the natural world and to the questions of captivity and liberation.
