Emily Dickinson’s preoccupation with death: Is it an obsession or piety?

Emily Dickinson is a very popular figure in the history of American literature. The study of American literature will remain incomplete without reading any poem written by her. This poet has a great contribution and large influence on poetry. She is considered one of America’s most famous poets. There is confusion about the number of poems she has written, but according to various sources, we come to know that she has written almost two thousand poems on various issues. Out of these poems, almost five hundred poems have been published. She was a very mysterious person throughout her life. If we read her poems then we can see her personal agony, frustration and obsession for death as the main themes of her poems. It seems that she was obsessed with death. 

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It is difficult to mention if Emily Dickinson’s preoccupation with death was her obsession or piety. It should be better to think that she seemed to be obsessed with death. For this reason, the concept of death has got the most importance in her poems. It should not be wrong if we say that theme of death has become a significant subject in her poems. She also talked about what might happen after death. It will be almost impossible to find a single poem where she did not talk about death. It does not mean that she was afraid of death. Rather, she accepted it for what it is. Everything has its end.

To get a clear idea about her obsession for death, readers will have to know the way she had led her life. Her way of leading life was different than other poets of her time. She led a very monotonous, unusual and isolated life. In her whole life, she remained completely alone, and she did not have many friends. She was very close to her sister-in-law. She used to communicate with other friends through letters. She had written one thousand letters. Because of her isolated life, she became detached from society. She also had a negative idea towards society and God because of her alienation. In her whole life, she did not go out of her village more than once.

She chose a very simple life and used to wear white clothes, and she had a great reluctance to greet guests. Later in her life, she even did not come out of her room. She had a complaint against the society that society did not give her recognition as a poet. As she was isolated and alienated from everything, the thought of death came to her mind as an obsession. Her separation and engrossment with death led to the development of her romantic attitude towards it.

Emily Dickinson became famous for her preoccupation with death. For this reason, most of her poems contain stanzas focusing on death, specifically her own death and her own afterlife. Her attitude towards death was astonishing. It is clear that there was no fear or horror in her mind about death as one can see in the poem titled ‘Because I could not stop for death’. She wavers between reality and illusion while commenting on her ideas about the afterlife. The first stanza states,

“Because I could not stop for Death –

He kindly stopped for me –

The Carriage held but just Ourselves –

And Immortality.”

In this stanza, the poet tells the readers that she and Death are passengers in a carriage. The reason for making this personification is to show the continuous use of the idea of death in Dickinson’s life.

The death of her parents as well as her friend, Charles Wadsworth, with whom she was supposed to get married, came as a great shock to her. It gave her the pain of losing loved ones. She writes,

“My life closed twice before its close;

It yet remains to see

If immortality unveil

A third event to me”

In these lines, we can see the poet’s experience of facing death. She says that she has encountered death twice before it finally comes to her. She then hints that those who die will go to heaven while those who are alive will continue to live in Hell. In this poem, her attitude of awareness toward death is revealed.

Her poem, ‘I felt a Funeral, in my Brain’, is the best example that shows her obsession for death. She says,

“I felt a funeral in my brain,

And mourners, to and fro,
Kept treading, treading, till it seemed
That sense was breaking through.”

Here, in this poem, we can see her thought about death. The poet said that she could feel the death psychologically. This poem shows that there is no hope of immortality. It only shows a miserable thrust into an eternal abyss. Its gloomy tone is found in describing the terrible struggle because of the separation of the body from the soul. But the physical death also seems to offer a momentary insight into the nature of infinity.

Due to her loneliness, Emily Dickinson became obsessed with death. Death came as an obsession to Emily Dickinson. Here, ‘funeral’ is used as a metaphor.

Another poem that shows her obsession for death and afterlife is ‘Safe in their Alabaster Chambers’. Some lines have been quoted below from this poem,

“Safe in their alabaster chambers –

Untouched by morning -

and untouched by noon –

Sleep the meek members of the resurrection,

Rafter of satin and roof of stone.”

In these lines, the poet is talking about the lives of dead people who are sleeping in their coffins. They are untouched by morning and noon. They will remain asleep until resurrection. Here, ‘alabaster’ is meant as coffin and ‘chamber’ as grave.

Many scholars and philosophers have given their own opinions about Emily Dickinson’s preoccupation with death. Thomas H. Johnson was Emily Dickinson’s editor and biographer. According to him, for the poet, death is a mystery to be explored, but he says that Dickinson remained undecided as to a solution throughout her work. Virginia H. Oliver’s Apocalypse of Green is the frame within which Dickinson tests her religion, faith and belief through the medium of her poetry. What Katharina Ernst said was that death was perhaps the most thorough-going discussion in the poetry of Emily Dickinson.

Not only Emily Dickinson but also many poets like Sylvia Plath and Anne Sexton have an obsession for death. Their attitude towards death is revealed in their writings. At the beginning of this essay, a short biography of Emily Dickinson was given. She died after suffering for a long time. Sylvia Plath is another feminist writer. She got married to Ted Hughes and had a miserable married life. Because of her unhappy married life, she had a mental breakdown, which led her to an obsession for the theme of death in her poetry. When she was just thirty-one years old lady, she committed suicide. The same thing happened to Anne Sexton whose eighteen-year long career was abruptly ended because of her suicide. If readers read poems written by these poets, they will find one thing in common and that is the obsession for death. They dealt in their poems with seclusion, depression and obsession for death, and even suicide.

Each poet or writer has his or her own preoccupation or obsession for something. For example, William Wordsworth is well known for writing about nature and this created a new era in English literature. So, we can easily say that he was highly obsessed with nature. Ted Hughes wrote a lot about animals. He used animals as metaphors, and with the use of animals, he has shown the behavior of human beings. Similarly, Emily Dickinson was preoccupied with death.

So far, I have tried to prove that Emily Dickinson’s preoccupation with death was her obsession not piety. To prove her obsession for death, I have mentioned some of her poems and did a little bit of discussion. She has expressed her thoughts about death with the use of nature, religion and love. In the end, it can be said that her preoccupation with death was an obsession, and it can be found in her poems.

Difference between William Wordsworth and T.S. Eliot

Both Wordsworth and T.S. Eliot are major figures in English literature. Wordsworth was the pioneer of the Romantic age while T.S. Eliot was an earlier poet of the modernist tradition. Eliot has great contributions in the field of literary criticism. Eliot was a fan of classicism. Wordsworth, on the other, was a fan of romanticism. This difference of opinion between the two poets also created a difference between their works. Wordsworth died a long time ago, even before T.S Eliot started writing. There is a gap of about one hundred years between the two poets. So, there was no chance for Wordsworth to counter the criticism of T.S. Eliot. 

Regarding classicism, Eliot believed that Classicism is an integral part of literature, and one should take the best concepts of classical literature and create new literary products. Hence, he was in support of following major poets like Shakespeare and Milton. He thought that it was not possible for someone to create something new without following these poets. On the contrary, Wordsworth was against classicism.

According to Wordsworth, the literature did not talk about ordinary people or nature. Even literature does not have the language of ordinary men. Instead of supporting classicism, Wordsworth started a new movement called Romanticism. Romanticism not only focused on nature but also the use of imagination. Wordsworth gave a lot of emphasis on the use of imagination, but T. S. Eliot was against it. He said that having an imagination is not a bad thing but too much use of imagination degrades poetry. He wanted to follow the classical poets. One should read the works of the classical poets and follow their style. So, we see a difference of opinion between the two poets. With the use of logic, T.S Eliot showed why people should shun Wordsworth’s ideals. He tried to say, directly and indirectly, that one cannot produce good literature following the ideals of Wordsworth. If someone wants to become a poet, he or she should study the classical poets and understand their styles and then create his own poetry.

However, Wordsworth said that one does not need to know what the other poets did or did not. One should first go close to nature and then gain experience and create literature from the emotions that emerge in his heart due to that experience. Here, we do not see any connection with classical literature, but Eliot was all about Classicism. So, Wordsworth did not focus much on historical events or matters in his poetry. He did not use Roman or Greek mythology in his work. We do not even see any influence of famous poets like Shakespeare and Milton in his work. 

The Creative Faculty of Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Poets’ work is to write poems. They express their own feelings through poems and, at the same time, provide enjoyment to the people with their poems. Besides entertaining, poets also teach people ‘to think’, and on many occasions, they play the role of a teacher too. However, most of the poets do not talk a lot about poems or writing poems. William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge are an exception in this respect. Together they started the ‘Romantic Movement’ in English literature. So, it is expected that they would express their own thoughts and ideologies about poets and poems. Despite having similarities in their opinions about the Romantic Movement, there are many dissimilarities too. Though Wordsworth is credited as the central figure of the Romantic Movement, Coleridge’s contribution is no less. The main spirit of the Romantic Movement was to take the poem to nature and people.

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So naturally, the matter of nature would come first when we will discuss the ‘Creative Faculty of a Poet’. After reading Coleridge’s ‘Dejection: An Ode’ poem, readers may feel that the poet does not deny the importance of nature that much; rather wind and nature helped him to imagine. The poet expressed his imagination upon seeing windy air, wind and sky. So, it can be said that nature motivated and helped him to imagine. However, it is also true that the poet is in distress and so, the beauty of nature cannot inspire him totally to write a poem. Nature is beautiful, but as there is frustration and distress in his mind, the poet cannot enjoy that nature to the fullest.

This frustration and beauty have taken then life vigor out of the poet. When the poet was young, he had physical strength as well as mental happiness. However, now as he is living in distress, there is more frustration than happiness in him.

Coleridge reveals his own condition and says he cannot write a poem. It means he can no longer write a good new poem and cannot even complete the old ones. Because of this, there grew a poetic paralysis in him, and he is living with poetic paralysis. Nothing can be more saddening than this for a poet. If we look into the life of the poet, we could see that the poet’s mind, at that time, was stricken with frustration because he was not successful in his career. He had earned some fame as a poet, but he was not that famous at the time. Secondly, he was in a conflict with his close friend Wordsworth. Thirdly, he had never been successful in love and affection in his life. Above all, his time was not going well, and poverty was there as his constant companion as usual. Because of all these, there grew a kind of feeling of paralysis in him.

The basic theory of Wordsworth is that nature has an immense contribution to the flourishing of poetic feeling, and nature is very close to the poetic self. According to Coleridge, soul and individual creativity are much more important. Individual creativity and poetic intuition are even more important than nature. Poet’s poem could become more beautiful with individual creativity and enough practice. Coleridge’s opinion is exactly the opposite of Wordsworth’s from this point of view as well.

The creative faculty of a poet introduces him or her with a new horizon. A poet is a human being, just like another human being. But, with his creativity, he could present ordinary, but beautiful things to the people extraordinarily. Imaginary power is the main weapon for a poet. They can see something that others cannot.

With the help of imagination, a poet can rise above the thoughts of general people. He or she can go beyond human limitations and can make the poems invaluable to the people with his or her eternal touch. So, to Wordsworth, a poet is an important person to society and his or her creative faculty could only bring good to society.

To understand the ‘Dejection: An Ode’ poem, one must have very good knowledge about the background of Coleridge’s life. He could not become that successful in life and had to struggle against poverty until his death. Today, we know Coleridge as one of the immortal poets of English literature. However, he was not treated as an important person by many people during his lifetime. So, he could never enjoy the touch of success in his career, and likewise, fame or popularity was never bestowed in his fate. Still, after going through the ‘Dejection: An Ode’ poem, we can realize that Coleridge is one of the most important and biggest personalities in English literature.

Victorian poetry are the poems of experience

Victorian era has a great significance in the history of England. It is named after Queen Victoria who ruled the English throne for almost 64 years (1837-1901). During her reign, there was a peaceful atmosphere for a long time, which resulted in political and economic prosperity in Great Britain. At that time, science developed a lot and literature advanced to a great extent. Though it was a time for novel, it saw the rise of some famous poets like Alfred, Lord Tennyson and Robert Browning. It should be mentioned here that Robert Browning was one of the most notable poets of the Victorian age. 

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Robert Browning is a very famous poet of the Victorian age. He got a huge reputation for his mastery of dramatic verse, especially dramatic monologue. It made him one of the notable poets of the Victorian age. At the beginning of his career, he became recognized as the husband of Elizabeth Barrett Browning, one of the most prominent female poets of the Victorian era. However, Robert Browning had to struggle a lot to establish himself. In his poems, we can see that he has taken characters from real-life experiences. In that sense, we can say that Victorian poetry, especially Browning’s poetry, is the poems of experience. As an example, we can mention the names of “Fra Lippo Lippi” and “Andrea del Sarto”.

“Fra Lippo Lippi” is one of the best poems written by the Victorian poet Robert Browning. It is obviously one of the widely-read poems written in that period. It is written in dramatic monologue.

“Fra Lippo Lippi” was first published in a collection of poems titled Men and Women in 1855. It is thought that Browning was inspired to write this poem after visiting Florence. The main character of this poem has been taken from the 15th century real-life painter Filippo Lippi who was a real Florentine monk. He was one of the renowned artists of his time. The poet came to know about him when he had spent some time in Italy. Browning got the description of Fra Lippo Lippi’s life from Giorgio Vasari’s book Lives of Seventy of the Most Eminent Painters, Sculptors and Architects.

If we look at the history then we can see that Fra Lippo Lippi was the son of a butcher. In 1412, he was born in Florence. When he was two years old, he became an orphan. After that, his aunt adopted him. However, when he was at the age of eight, he was sent to a community of monks. In 1452, when he was forty years old, he became a chaplain of a convent in Florence, and in 1457, he was appointed Rector of St. Quirico at Legais. He gained prosperity at this time but died poor in 1469. It is heard that he spent his money on numerous love affairs.

In this poem, we can see almost the same thing of this renowned artist. However, the poet has brought some changes in the poem and appealed to the intellect of the mind of the audience. Here, he is shown as a painter-monk. The main theme of this poem is to show the influence of the church on art. With this poem, the poet also criticizes church law and the canon. It also questions celibacy.

As it is written in a dramatic monologue, the speaker is of course Fra Lippo Lippi and the silent listeners are watchmen who have caught him prowling at night. As he has been patronized by Cosimo de Medici, he has little to fear from the guards. He proceeds on to share his difficult monastic life history with them.

He said that he remained confined to the magnificent house of Medici for three weeks, but he had escaped from there on that night on hearing some girls’ passing by. After spending a good time, he was returning home, but the watchmen caught him. He said that whatever he did was disgraceful for them, but he became a monk against his own will. He said,

“thought I;

 By no means! Brief, they made a monk of me;

 I did renounce the world, its pride and greed,

 Palace, farm, villa, shop, and banking-house,

 Trash, such as these poor devils of Medici

 Have given their hearts to—all at eight years old.

 Well, sir, I found in time, you may be sure,

 ‘Twas not for nothing — the good bellyful,

 The warm serge and the rope that goes all round,

 And day-long blessed idleness beside!”

When he was a small child, he became an orphan. At the age of eight, his aunt took him to a monastery to prevent him from being starved to death. As a result, a good sense of observation developed in him from an early age. It later helped him to become an accomplished painter.

He failed to prove his skill in mastering the Latin language, which is a quality required of a monk. His talent and skill as a painter earned him a place and security of living in the monastery. His realistic pictures were praised by the monks but failed to get approval from the prior and other superior monks. They said Fra Lippo Lippi not to think about legs and arms but to focus on portraying the soul. He showed his disagreement with this view. He says, 

“A fine way to paint soul, by painting body

 So ill, the eye can’t stop there, must go further

 And can’t fare worse!”

According to him, physical beauty could easily combine with spirituality. He feels that all things, having been created by God, should be appreciated. He also said that one should discover the soul within oneself in the process of expressing gratitude to God.

He is totally against the view of using art for prophecy. Art should be based on direct experience because, in this way, an artist can portray the good world that God has created for us.

The poem that comes after that is “Andrea del Sarto” published in the volume of poems by Robert Browning, Men and Women. This poem talks about the Renaissance painter Andrea del Sarto. Like Fra Lippo Lippi, Andrea del Sarto also lived and worked in Florence. Because of his technical perfection, he was highly acclaimed by his contemporary painters like Leonardo, Michelangelo, and Raphael.

It is thought that whatever Fra Lippo Lippi started he carried it to the highest level. The whole poem talks about the craftsmanship of Andrea del Sarto and his frustration and marital relationship with Lucrezia. He was famous as a faultless painter. He could draw a picture in a perfect way. He says, 

“I am bold to say

 I can do with my pencil what I know,

 What I see, what at bottom of my heart I wish for.”

Despite having such perfection, his paintings were lifeless. He had the absence of ambition and that divine fire of inspiration, which made the works of his more famous contemporaries lively. This is thought to be the main problem of del Sarto's work. These two lines given below are the best example of how an art should look like. It also shows the lacking of del Sarto in his art. The poet says,

“Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp,

 Or what’s a Heaven for?”

It should be mentioned here that del Sarto is the speaker and his wife is the only listener of this poem. He spoke to his wife that he was appointed by the King of France, Francis, but he left France for Italy under the constant influence of his wife Lucrezia.

We can find del Sarto as a hypocrite. We can see him taking money from Francis with a promise of purchasing Italian artworks for the court. However, he did not return to France and spent all of the money on a house for himself and his wife in Italy. This poem finds Andrea in the house with the stolen money.

We can see him expressing grief for his worldly concerns that have kept him from fulfilling his promise as an artist. Technically his paintings were perfect, but they lacked the soul. He also said that though he succeeded technically where his contemporaries could not, their work eventually triumphs for its emotional and spiritual power.

In del Sarto’s character, we can see him too much possessive. He wants to control his wife. Even we can see that he condemns his wife for his failure as an artist. He was not active and vocally attacked his wife for not inspiring him. He wants to dominate his wife.

In conclusion, I would like to say that without experience, literature could not be much lively and visual. Readers lose their interest if they cannot find anything realistic or taken from the experience. Robert Browning has mixed his experience with imagination successfully.

Byron as a Romantic Neo-classicist poet

George Gordon Lord Byron was one of the major poets of the Romantic era. The Romantic period is considered to be the best period of English literature. At this age, Byron is considered a poet as equally talented as Keats, Shelley and Wordsworth. However, Byron was against romanticism though he was a romantic poet. In his poems, we see features of the romantic period and Neo-classical period as well. 

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Don Juan is one of the famous works of Byron. Byron himself considered it as an “Epic Satire”. This poem is considered anti-romantic for there are very few instances of romantic ideals. One of the major romantic features of this poem is the effective use of Byron’s imagination. The poem contains a beautiful description of nature and ordinary people. These are some of the few notable features of Romanticism in Don Juan. Canto I of Don Juan contains some features of Romanticism. Byron also talked about the necessity of individual freedom and the freedom of women.

It is true that Canto I contains many instances of the Neo-classical age and anti-romantic sentiments. At the end of Canto I, Byron severely criticized his contemporary poets. He criticized Wordsworth and Coleridge. Both Wordsworth and Coleridge were the most important poets of the romantic era and were considered pioneers of the Romantic movement. Wordsworth’s “Preface to Lyrical Ballads” is considered to be the starting point of the Romantic movement. Coleridge also had major contributions in making the Romantic movement popular in English literature. However, Byron believed that both Wordsworth and Coleridge were not so successful as poets. He was a follower of Dryden, Milton and Pope. Dryden, Milton and Pope belonged to the Neo-Classical age. They wrote about people. The first thing that we would notice about Don Juan is that it mainly focuses on urban life. All the characters of this poem were city dwellers, and their problems were very similar to the problems of people living in cities at that time. The problems were related to love and morality. In the Romantic age, Wordsworth and Coleridge focused on morality in their poems, but Byron represented reality and often used wits. Don Juan is a satirical poem and neither Wordsworth nor Coleridge could write such satirical poems. On the contrary, Pope and Dryden were famous for their satires and wits. In this regard, there are many similarities between Byron and Pope and Dryden.

There are some descriptions of nature in Don Juan, but the poem mainly focuses on humans. Here, nature is inorganic. It has no life or power. On the other hand, in the poems of Wordsworth and Coleridge, nature is very much alive. Byron also used imagination in a different manner compared to Wordsworth and Coleridge. In the poems of Wordsworth and Coleridge, imagination played a critical role. However, in Canto I of Don Juan, Byron used his imagination, but he tried to portray the real world as much as possible.

Though Byron is considered anti-classical, through Don Juan, he attempted to go beyond Neo-Classical and Romantic ideals. He composed such a poem that is very unique in English literature. Don Juan made him one of the most important poets of English literature. It is considered a masterpiece where we see that Byron tried to create a new kind of poetry that had not been written before. Even after Don Juan, we have not seen any poetry that can be considered equal to Don Juan.

Two major female characters received major attention in Canto I of Don Juan. One of them is Donna Inez, Don Juan’s mother. The other female character is Donna Julia, Don Juan’s lover. Through these two female characters, Byron started a new era in English literature. Before this, females or ordinary people did not receive much importance in poems. Women were either presented as queens or lady love. However, the individualism of Donna Julia and Donna Inez was never seen before in English literature.

Hypocrisy in Don Juan

There is no doubt that Don Juan is the best literary work of Lord Byron. Though it appears like a romantic poem, the readers would be able to understand that Byron is making fun of society and its hypocrisy. The background of Don Juan was set in Spain. The hero of the poem ‘Don Juan’ belongs to an elite class. However, the society depicted in the poem was very common to that of England. Through wit and humor, Byron exposed the hypocrisy of the English high society. 

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First, we have to know what is hypocrisy. Hypocrisy means when people believe something but do not act according to his belief. For example, if a person always says that one must speak the truth, but he himself lies all the time. Such hypocrisy is not only seen in individual life but in society as well. In a society, there are many rules and regulations and they are glorified saying that these rules are formed for the greater good of the people who live in that society. However, people do not follow these rules all the time. Often, they act against these rules and regulations. Thus, hypocrisy is a shameful act. When it becomes harder to follow any rules for people then hypocrisy becomes a tendency. In the case of Don Juan, we can see that the same thing has happened. In the society of Don Juan, different rules are ascribed, but people do not follow these rules. They say that these rules and regulations are good for them but in reality, they act totally opposite.

Byron mainly tried to show the hypocrisy related to morality. In Don Juan’s society, we can see that everyone values morality highly, but they are not moral. It means that they talk much about moral values like truthfulness, honesty and fidelity, but when it comes to tell the truth or remain faithful, they do the opposite. Don Juan’s mother, Donna Inez, tried a lot to teach Don Juan about morality, but she herself did not believe in morality. Byron tried to show that morality means not only utter some good words but also following them in your own life.

Byron also shows hypocrisy in love and marriage. First of all, Don Juan’s parents never loved each other. As a result, they never led a happy married life. Don Juan was not much happy in his personal life as well. After his father’s death, he was under the strict rules of his mother. So, the consequence was not good. There is no doubt that family is very important. Byron tried to say that too much strictness in a family never brings any good for us.

There was strictness in education. Donna Inez knows different languages, but she cannot speak her mother tongue, Spanish. In front of people, she tried to show that Hebrew and English are common languages. It means that she did not give importance to her mother tongue and did not have any respect for it. On the other hand, we can see that she was too much strict with Don Juan, and from his syllabus, she removed all those subjects, which related to love and affair. As a result, Don Juan was more attracted by these facts. Donna Julia’s company became more attractive for him.

Lord Byron talked about hypocrisy again and again in Don Juan because he wanted to convey the message that if there is too much strictness in a society then it would become a barrier to personal development. There was too much strictness in love, affair and education in the society of Don Juan and as a result, people became hypocritic. Byron not only revealed hypocrisy but also tried to find out the reason for hypocrisy. Maybe we can agree with him or maybe not, but it is true that if there is too much strictness in a society then maybe people would say something, but in reality, they would do the opposite. If they cannot do it openly then they would do many things secretly. In Don Juan, we can see the same picture in everyone. Maybe they speak openly about good things, but secretly they are not doing any good works.

Through Don Juan, Byron criticized his contemporary poets. He mainly criticized Wordsworth and Coleridge. He did not say that they are hypocrites, but he did not say anything good about the followers of Wordsworth’s ideals. In his personal life, Byron faced a lot of problems with society. Many people of his contemporaries did not like him, and he was compelled to leave his own country. In Don Juan, he showed the hypocrisy of his society and tried to take revenge through this poem.

‘Widsith’ as an entertainer or far traveler

‘Widsith’ is an Old English poem with great historical value compared to literary value. It is one of the major Old English poems. Without it, any discussion on the history of English literature will remain incomplete. In this poem, the poet mainly talked about his experience, some of which were real while the others were imaginary. He also mentioned some historical events, but it cannot be said with certainty that he was present at the time of those events for they happened through several centuries. Moreover, it is not possible for a man to travel all the places in a lifetime mentioned in the poem. Yet, this poem has great historical value. For this reason, it is very important to discuss this poem. 

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Here it needs to be mentioned that the entire manuscript of the poem could not be found. Only some parts had been recovered. Still, it is a very important poem. In this poem, the poet portrayed himself as a traveler who is traveling all the time. He traveled many places. Throughout the poem, he, directly and indirectly, said that due to his extensive traveling, he learned many things and gained a lot of knowledge. He also learned many new poems in the course of his travel. Traveling was a part of the poet’s life and he loved to travel.

The poem talks about several important historical events. For instance, the Hans defeated the Ermenrichs in battle in the 50^th century. In this manner, the poet described various events one after another. In fact, these events are part of history. Hence, this poem has great historical value.

Along with historical events, the poet also talked about people of different countries and in some cases, described their society. At present, we talk about “Social History” that focuses on the description of the lives of ordinary people aside from those of the kings and queens. ‘Widsith’ serves as one of the oldest examples of such social history. It is true that in ancient history, kings and queens had great significance, and ‘Widsith’ also talks about Kings and their battles- which king defeated who? Which king was murdered? However, the poet did not ignore ordinary people. Descriptions of the people of different nations came up in the poem.

Most probably, the poet who composed this poem created it while traveling on the road and entertained people by reciting it. Such instances were not rare in ancient times. Many people begged on the streets and recited poems or sang songs to entertain the passersby. Reading the poem, it would become evident to the reader that it was a well-composed poem and the sole purpose of the poet was to provide entertainment through this poem to the people. All of us love to hear stories. The historical events mentioned in the poem had been presented in the manner of telling a story to the people. The poet presented many serious historical events in a pleasant manner. Hence, the poet of ‘Widsith’ is not just a poet but also a historian and an entertainer as well.

The historical significance of ‘Widsith’ would never decrease. In this poem, the poet presented himself as a far traveler, Victorian, entertainer and most importantly a poet with great talent. It is unfortunate that only parts of the poem had been recovered. I think that if the entire poem could have been recovered it would help us to gain further insight into ancient history.

The Seafarer: Seafarer’s view of life and the difference between land life and sea life

‘The Seafarer’ is an Old English poem. It is an elegy. In this poem, the speaker is an old seafarer, who shares his experience. The speaker shares his point of view about life and shares the bitter experience of his life. During his sea voyage, he suffered a lot for winter. In winter, the water became ice. It was very tough for him to drive his boat. He was alone and no one was there. He was just surrounded by ice. In cold weather, his body became numb with cold. His physical condition was very critical. He was also very hungry. It shows his physical suffering. Besides this, he was alone, which was a great agony for him. It was very painful for him that he was far away from his family. For many days, the seafarer was going through physical and mental pain. 

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He said the men who lived in the land could not understand his sorrow. The seafarer said he had struggled a lot to survive in cold weather. For cold weather, the water of the sea had turned into ice. He was surrounded by the hoar-frost. It was very difficult for him. From the description of the seafarer, it is easy to understand how much he had suffered. While he was passing his days on the sea, he thought of people who lived on the land. He believed that the people who live on the land lead a good life. They can spend quality time in their burghs. They are not exiled from their own land. They can enjoy the sip of wine with their friends, enjoy food with family members, and they have no weariness in their mind. The old man thinks that land life is not full of hardship like sea life. The seafarer was very much worried about his condition. He was facing obstacles on his way. He was worried that darkness would set in and snow would fall.

The old man said there were no people around him. Even he had no companion during his voyage. Even there was no sound except the sound of slam waves in the icy sea. Only swan’s blare was his seldom amusement. Instead of laughing of men, there was the sound of curlew and the cries of gannets. Instead of the sound of the mead hall, there was the music of gull and scream of an eagle. The seafarer felt very sad that there was no friend, brother, or family member to whom he could speak and share the despair of his mind. It shows his mental suffering and loneliness.

In this poem, the speaker talks about his struggle while traveling on the sea. His suffering and hardship are highlighted in this poem. The seafarer not only shares his experiences but also gives his opinion about life. The seafarer believes that it is better to sacrifice his life for his Lord than lead a normal life on land. He thinks it is his duty to serve his Lord. There is no respect to lead a normal life. He is attracted by the sea. Though he has suffered a lot, still he wants to go on a sea voyage. He is familiar with the danger of sea life, still, he wishes to go to the sea. When the cuckoo sings, for him it seems very mournful. When he hears its sounds, he thinks it is better to go on a sea voyage. The poem ‘The Seafarer’ is the reflection of the life of the Anglo-Saxons, their culture and their experiences. For them, Fame was very important. The people who were brave, courageous and mentally strong, used to go to the sea. The people who served for the Lord and remained loyal had been rewarded by their Lords.

The seafarer believes that everything is temporary. Earthly things are not lasting forever. One day everything will be finished. The seafarer says that he has a group of friends who belong to the high class. All are dead now. He says that three things – age, diseases, and war- take the life of people. Even men, glory, joy, happiness are not forever. With the death of King and Lord, glory has gone. The old man also says gold is a precious thing, but after death, it does not remain valuable for a dead person. He says a dead person can be buried with gold. We can strew gold on his grave. We can provide all kinds of treasures in his grave, but these cannot help him if the dead person is a sinner. He would be punished for his crime. Gold can help us when we live on this earth, but after death, it cannot help us. It cannot reduce the anger of God. A soul of a sinner must be punished.

The seafarer believes that a person can receive God's mercy and forgiveness through hunger and thirst. The old man is actually seeking God’s mercy. He understood and realized that without suffering, he cannot receive the mercy of God. For this reason, he has chosen winter and separated him from his own land. He has led an isolated life and kept himself away from family. He believes for this suffering he would be able to receive mercy and forgiveness from God. He has decided that until death, he would endure every hardship of his life. He does not want to come back home. He has realized that death is near and before death, he wants to purify his soul.

Pagan believed in Fate. In Pagan religion, there was no concept of an afterlife in heaven or hell. For this reason, followers of the Pagan religion gave importance to Fame and Fate. Perhaps, at first, the seafarer was a pagan and in old age, he realized that fate does not allow him to stay forever. For this reason, he has converted to Christian and decided to keep faith in God.

Towards the end of the sixth century, Christian missionaries came from Rome. They converted people to Christianity. At that time, many Anglo-Saxons had been converted to Christianity. This is a contemporary image of Anglo-Saxon society that is presented in this poem.

At the end of the poem, there is a prayer in the poem. The Seafarer prays to God. He also praises God’s power. In this poem, the old seafarer not only shares his experiences but also gives us a message. He says that man is blessed who lives in truth. The person who lives with true grace shall come to him from heaven. He should be truthful to all people. He should treat equally to everyman. People whether they are friends or foe are equally judged by him. He also mentions Jesus Christ in his prayer. Jesus Christ is a Holy person. He sacrificed his life for human beings. He is the savior of human beings. 

The Wanderer: Themes of loneliness, suffering, glory and lost and an elegy

‘The Wanderer’ is a great example of old English poem. We do not know the name of the poet and have no information about the people who preserved the poem for so many years. Both their names remained anonymous, but ‘The Wanderer’ is a beautiful poem and has great significance in English literature. It is a sad poem. So, we can call it an elegy. Aside from its historical significance, the psychological analysis of the poem is very good. We can also see the influence of religion in the poem. In the poem, the poet talks about God. Overall, it is a beautiful poem and any student of English literature should study this poem. 

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The poem starts with a sad note and the narrator of the poem says that loneliness is not a good thing in life but one receives God’s blessing. The first stanza of the poem mentions “Ice Cold Sea”. This indicates that the next stanza of the poem will contain things of sadness. “Ice cold sea….exile” these images do not symbolize happiness. 

This is followed by a description of the sufferings and frustration of the wanderer. He said that he had watched his friends and relatives die. As a result, he had become lonely and now all he had was his loneliness and could not share the story of his suffering with anyone. First of all, he had left his homeland and secondly, all his friends and relatives had died. Hence, he decided not to share his sufferings with others and keep them secret.

The Wanderer thinks that it would be better to remain quiet and not to talk with anyone. This will ensure his safety. Through this poem, he remembers his past. Once, he had everything. He always thinks about his suffering and does not find any pleasure in this life. He becomes very sad thinking that if he had found some of his friends or relatives from old times or could have revived his old fortune, but what is lost is lost and this feeling of loss causes more pain. Pain is his only companion.

Wanderer thinks about his past. When he was young, his master adored him and allowed him to sit beside him at the dinner table and enjoy a good meal but all this is just a memory now.

The Wanderer spent a great time with his master and often he dreams about his old days. Upon getting up from sleep and he realizes that he has grown old and there is no pleasure in his life. In this manner, he spends his days. Every day upon getting up from his sleep, his suffering returns to him. In his dreams, he returns to his past but that is temporary. He looks for known faces in the crowds, but he cannot find anyone, and in this manner, he spends his days.

Even in all his sufferings, the wanderer, in his old age, realizes one thing and that is a wise man should be patient. He should not hurry or weak. It means a wise man should control his emotions. Otherwise, his life will be ruined. He must remember that he should not get excited or frustrated instantly. He should keep these things in mind and if he could control his life in this manner then his life will become successful.

The wanderer keeps telling people that he has gained a lot of experience in life and a person becomes wise when he grows old. If somebody tries to achieve something quickly in life then he will lose everything. In the end, the wanderer becomes sad and searches for the horses that used to graze. None of his old friends are with him. He is just carrying around some old memories and one day he would die as well. At the end of the poem, the poet seeks God’s forgiveness and the wanderer thinks that God will give him peace.

The historical significance of this poem deserves to be mentioned. The poem was composed at a time when England’s political condition was very different. The Jutes, Saxons and Angles started to settle in England and life was very uncertain. People from different backgrounds used to live together and there was no law. There was no security in people’s lives. War and conflict were very common, which caused lots of people. No one could say that if he would live tomorrow. Most of the youth thought of joining the army as there were no good jobs due to frequent war. The warriors never knew that how long they would live. ‘The Wanderer’ beautifully captures this political condition although it tells the story of the sufferings of an old man. This old man lost everything in life and narrated the story of his life through this poem.

From his life, we can understand that he was a wise man, and he gained his knowledge through great suffering. He was not so intelligent in his youth. He and his friends always remained busy fighting battles. He lost all his friends in battle and was forced to leave his homeland. Now, this old man is waiting for his death, but before he dies, he wants to give some advice to the people.

If we notice carefully, we would see that loneliness is the main theme of this poem. There are people around him but he does not know them and has no relationship with them. He cannot share anything with them or express his feelings. He only keeps living in his past and at one point starts to feel lonely. This loneliness begets frustration. The wanderer knows that nothing new will happen to him. Sometimes, he longs to return to his past, but he realizes that it is not possible.

Alienation is another theme. The old man is not only alone, but he does not have any friends as well. Not having any friends even makes him more frustrated. After coming to this foreign country, he can only notice the harshness of nature and there is no touch of joy in his life. As a result, his frustration and misery even get increased. I could realize the pain of lonely life after reading the poem. Nobody likes to have a lonely life and we all want to stay aloof from loneliness.

If we look at our modern life, we can see that we are gradually becoming mechanical and the distance between human beings is increasing. Now, many people, instead of associating with others in society, like to make social associations virtually through Facebook. However, the reason behind the loneliness of this old man is different. He lived in a cruel society where there was no law and order. So, people used to get killed easily, and he had seen all his relatives and friends dying.

There are a lot of things to learn from this poem. The biggest lesson that we should learn is that we should control our emotions. That time, there was no law and order. So, people used to fight against each other as they wished. As a result, many people had to die because of a few people’s greediness and high ambition for power. Maybe we notice this kind of incident today as well. If we look at our country, we could see political mayhem going on all the time and many people get killed, while many people get injured and lose everything. So, we should avoid all sorts of unrest and restrain ourselves from all kinds of fighting and scrimmage. Bangladeshi people should take a lesson from this matter. So, we, the students of English literature, should spread the lessons of this poem among our relatives and friends.

If we look at our society, we could see that we have been divided in almost every aspect of society. We can see family members and relatives fighting for a property. All these things add to our frustration. There are not so many killings or battles in our society as we can see in the poem ‘The Wanderer’, but still, our frustration is just soaring up gradually.

The most attractive thing about this poem is that though it was written more than one thousand years back, it has some modern elements. The wanderer, though, talks about God, more emphasis is put on his frustration and psychological analysis. Most of the poems of that time either talks about religious ideas or Kings and Queens. This poem also talks about the battles, heroics of the heroes, but the pride of the heroics is not emphasized or glorified here. Rather, the havoc that battles could create is presented in the poem with sheer excellence.

Theme of suffering is also a very important theme. The old man is not the only person suffering from this misery at that time. Many people used to suffer this way and that suffering was not only physical but also mental. The old man is suffering psychologically every day and there is no happiness in his life.

Theme of glory and lost is another beautiful theme. Once this old man was young and used to enjoy a lot. He used to eat good food and used to enjoy the life to the fullest. But now, he has lost everything, and he could revisit those past glory days only while dreaming. Once he had a glory that he had already lost. This poem could be a good example of an elegy. The wanderer has lost everything and everybody, and now he is crying for them. He misses his family, relatives and friends a lot, and for them, he feels pain in his heart. Above all, he is mourning for his life.

Though we study ‘The Wanderer’ as an example of old English poetry, we can say that its themes are fairly modern.

The significance of the rood in ‘The Dream of the Rood’

‘The Dream of the Rood’ is one of the significant poems of the Anglo-Saxon period. Among the old English poems, ‘The Dream of the Rood’ is very significant for various reasons. It is a religious poem. Though it is a religious poem, we can find social and historical elements of the Anglo-Saxon period. The poem is composed based on a dream. 

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‘The Dream of the Rood’ is written by an anonymous writer. We still do not know that when this poem was written. Perhaps, it was composed in the 7th or 8th century. Scholars have found two names, but there are differences in their opinions. We can find that the speaker in this poem is an old man. He has a firm belief in his religion. He loves his God and this passion and emotion are expressed in this poem.

At the beginning of the poem, the speaker talks about a dream. The speaker says that it is the best dream of his life. In his dream, he has seen a rood or cross made of wood. At the beginning of the poem, we can find a description of the rood. The rood is very beautiful and it is decorated with gold and jewels. In the ancient Roman Empire, the criminals were killed on the cross. The speaker thinks that this rood is made for a good person. Though it seems very nice, the speaker feels the agony of the rood. In his dream, he has seen that suddenly the rood has started to talk with him. We know that in the real world, it is not possible. It is a miracle. There is also mysticism. It is an interesting dream and also a mystic dream. From the beginning to the end, we can find that a mystic element has been used in this poem. However, it is not clear for us that whether the poet believed in mysticism or not.

When the poem was composed, at that time, England was ruled by the Anglo-Saxon. During that period, Christianity just arrived in England. So, we can find Christian elements in this poem. This dream is actually about the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ, which is very important for Christians. It is significant for Christians because Jesus Christ always tried to guide people. He sacrificed his life for his followers and others, but at the end of the day, he was crucified.

If we read the Bible then we can find that Jesus Christ had to suffer a lot. Even before death, he did not get any peace. Jesus Christ was pierced with nails, mocked and tortured. Though he suffered a lot, he talked about humanity. He also forgave his oppressors. In this poem, we can also find that the poet talks about Anglo-Saxon heroism. In the Anglo-Saxon period, there was no political stability in England. There was a lack of good rulers and often England was attacked by the outsiders. Even there were several groups in England and they had no mutual relationship. For this reason, there needed good soldiers and good soldiers had respect in the society.  Heroism was very important for them. Before the arrival of Christianity, people followed the pagan religion in the Anglo-Saxon period. Besides religion, the idea of Anglo-Saxon heroism is also introduced in ‘The Dream of The Rood’ poem.

We can see that the poet tried to portray Jesus Christ as a strong fighter who faced the world with courage. Jesus Christ forgave the people who crucified him and showed his greatness, but instead of showing his kind and gentle nature, the poet was more interested in showing him as a fierce warrior. Jesus Christ was not a warrior but a prophet, but he faced his enemies with great courage. He faced them in front of all the people, which made him a great warrior as well. In the Anglo-Saxon period, the quality of heroism was considered very high. Normally, by courage, we mean physical strength but here the poet introduced a different kind of courage that does not involve the strength of body but the strength of heart. The poet gave more importance to mental strength than physical strength.

The poet showed that Jesus Christ was not a coward and he was not afraid of anything. He was the son of God, and by the grace of God, he was very powerful. Hence, he faced his enemies in a public place and fought them. This shows his mental strength and defeated his enemies. This is the message the poet repeatedly gave his readers.

The Rood or Cross is very important. It has great significance. Since Jesus Christ was crucified, a cross was the symbol of Christianity. This cross was used to convert people to Christianity in England, and we heard of the story of many big crosses in museums across England. However, the poet mentioned another aspect of the cross that helps people to think. He tried to say that the cross feels sorry for Jesus Christ. The way Jesus Christ suffered at the hand of the people, the cross also suffered. The cross suffered because Jesus Christ was the best of all human beings and it has the blood of Christ. It was his misfortune that Jesus Christ was nailed to him and killed. The Cross has great significance and is a symbol of Christianity.

The poet beautifully described scenes of battle. The last few moments of Jesus Christ had no fighting. The Jewish people decided that they would not let Christ live anymore and they would murder him together. It was a tragic event, but the poet presented it in a manner of war. He portrayed Jesus Christ as a fierce warrior who was not afraid of anyone and his enemies were bad people. This eternal battle between good and evil was one of the main themes of the poem.

Any war involves bloodshed and the group that sheds more blood becomes the winner. It means the party that loses more soldiers gets defeated in the war. However, the poet spoke the opposite in the poem. Here, it was Jesus Christ whose blood was shed. His enemies did not suffer. In this logic, it was his enemies that won, but the poet clearly said that Jesus Christ won the battle despite shedding his blood. It was a new thought and a new way of expression. In fact, ‘The Dream of the Rood’ was an Old English Poem, but its psychological treatment was equal to that of the modern age and it amuses the reader.

We know that according to the Bible, God sent Jesus Christ to bring back human beings from sin and badness. Some people did not like this at that time, and they considered Jesus Christ as their enemy. Because of it, they got into more sin, but Jesus brought them to the good path. He never gave up the idea to support people. He fought against the sin but never rejected the sinners. He tried to defeat it and bring the sinners to the path of God. 

The poet wants this thing. He wants to leave the bad path and come to the path of God. He has used this dream and this poem as an inspiration. By this poem, he is trying to give this message to everyone that they must follow the good path. We should follow Jesus Christ. If we can do it then we will get salvation in this life and the life after death.

It will be wrong to consider ‘The Dream of the Rood’ as a religious poem only. It has some historical elements that help us to understand the history of Anglo-Saxon England. Those days, there was no stability in the country and because of this, warriors and soldiers had a lot of importance among people. Also, Christianity started to become popular in England. The pagan religion that was dominant before the arrival of Christianity was still influential among some people. Thus, the Jesus Christ that we can see in this poem was not actually a Christian prophet but had some pagan elements too.

Poems like these have valuable elements when it comes to the social history of England. We can get an idea about the social attitude about life and religion from ‘The Dream of the Rood’. The poet has become old and hardly any of his relatives or family members are still alive. It perhaps shows that because of fighting and instability most people die early.