The Seafarer Suffering

Right away in line 2 with the verb "endured," the poem lets us know that the speaker's "true song" is no walk in the park, since this is a word that connotes suffering. And line 3 confirms our suspicions: this song is about trouble and a struggle.

The more literal translation of "worries" as "abodes of care" suggests that the speaker inhabits not just a ship, but also a psychological space of sadness. He carries his suffering around inside himself, almost as if his body is the ship itself. This sorrow overwhelms him so much that he feels like it's an actual place in which he dwells – an "abode."

The speaker is convinced that lucky land-dwellers cannot possibly understand what he has gone through. This passage sets up a contrast between life on land and seafaring, associating the former with good fortune. But what is it about these city-folk that makes them unable to get our guy's suffering?

Life in the city is just about as far as possible from the life of a "terrible journey." For one thing, the city-dweller possesses material comforts like wine. For another, there are people around – not just seabirds.

There's that word again: "endure." It's no longer a completely bad thing here, though, since it provides our subject with special knowledge that a lucky warrior cannot possibly have. It seems that suffering may have a purpose after all.

One of the consequences of the Fall of Man, according to the Hebrew Bible, was that the earth no longer yielded its fruit freely. As punishment for his disobedience, man had to work hard for his daily bread. This is what our speaker is referring to here when he says that the "weaker ones" must enjoy the world "through their sweat." This reference to the Fall reminds us of another of its consequences: that women will bear children in pain and suffering.

You know what's worse than the physical pain you go through as you age? The fact that you have to watch your friends die. No matter how much gold you heap on a person's grave, he's gone forever, beyond your reach.