ANGLO-SAXON POETRY

1. ANGLO-SAXON POETRY “The seafarer”, “the wife’s lament”, “the wanderer”

2. The exeter book • A manuscript of Anglo-Saxon poems dating from around the middle of the tenth century. • Contains more than thirty poems and ninety riddles. • Bishop Leofric gave the manuscript to the cathedral at Exeter. • Some of the book’s leaves have been damaged by fire. • There are signs that the books cover had been used as a chopping board, and some pages are marked with beer stains. • Today, its “songs”-written down by monks in about 975-are our chief source of Anglo-Saxon poetry.

3. Elegy • The dominant mood in Anglo-Saxon poetry is elegiac (or mournful). • Common themes include exile, a long journey, and the loss of something or someone. • Elegy: A poem that mourns a person’s death or laments something lost. The speakers in “The Seafarer” and “The Wanderer” yearn for a peace they used to know, while the speaker in “The Wife’s Lament” mourns her separation from her exiled husband.

4. ASSIGNMENT • SMALL GROUP • Read your selected poem together. • Discuss the poem in your group • Create a poster in your group that addresses the poem: • Summary of the poem • Tone of the poem (be sure to include words and phrases) • Theme of the poem: Include an explanation of the theme/s and words/images that incorporate this theme. • Draw an image that illustrates the mo