The Husband's Message Symbolism, Imagery & Wordplay

Both the speaker of "The Husband's Message" and the lord who sent him have undergone rough sea-journeys – the lord as he fled from feud violence, and the speaker after the lord sent him as a mess...

"The Husband's Message" is all about communication and how it happens. Obviously the poem is the transmission of a message. But it's also concerned with the lovers' vows. A vow or an oath doesn't j...

Part of the messenger's strategy for convincing the lady to return to the lord is to assure her of his great prosperity. To this end, he uses lots of detailed descriptions of the lord's possessions...