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The Wanderer 18838 Views


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Description:

You'll never guess what this Old English poem is about. Wait, what? You think it's about some dude who wanders around a lot? Hey, nice guess! Have you read it before?

Language:
English Language

Transcript

00:01

The Wanderer, a la Shmoop. The Old English poem, The Wanderer, is basically

00:09

one old warrior-dude going on and on and on about his past.

00:14

We're not exaggerating. It's pretty much the entire time.

00:20

But what's the main point of all this reminiscing?

00:23

It's got to be a reflection on something, right? But what?

00:29

One thing the speaker spends a lot of time reflecting on is exile.

00:33

He reminisces about how sweet his life used to be when his lord and relatives were alive.

00:39

They were warriors, and they partied like rock stars.

00:42

Things were great... until everybody he knew was killed in battle.

00:46

Now, the speaker is homeless and alone.

00:50

It's not a lot of fun, but his exile does give him plenty of time to reflect on the

00:53

meaning of life.

00:55

About a zillion famous poets have written in exile... Ovid, Dante, et cetera...

01:02

In the poetry world, it's kind of the "in" thing to do.

01:06

So, even though it's a bummer, it has helped a lot of people think their... deep thoughts.

01:13

Another thing the speaker reflects on is God.

01:16

For most of the poem, he expresses traditional Germanic beliefs about how a wise man should

01:20

act.

01:22

He talks about stuff like the inevitability of death and mankind's inability to change

01:26

his fate.

01:27

Yeah, he's doesn't have a particularly sunny disposition.

01:31

At the end of the poem, though, he changes his tune a bit and starts expressing some

01:35

Christian ideas.

01:36

The speaker says that the only possible refuge from all the misery he's seen is in God's

01:42

grace.

01:43

There's no doubt the speaker spends a lot of time reflecting on suffering. With all

01:47

the terrible things that have happened to him, it's probably hard not to.

01:51

We have to hand it to him, though. Despite the bad times he's gone through, the speaker

01:54

works hard to find meaning in his suffering.

01:56

In fact, his suffering becomes bigger than just his personal experience.

02:01

It becomes part of the collective struggle of all mankind.

02:05

Because, really, aren't we all just trying to make sense of this great big... whatever-it-is?

02:10

So what's the reason for the trip down memory lane?

02:14

A reflection on exile?

02:16

On God?

02:17

Or on suffering? Shmoop amongst yourselves.

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