‘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.
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.
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