The Wandarer

1. Explain Narrative Point of view of the Wanderer?

Answer: The Wanderer is an Old English poem preserved only in an anthology known as the Exeter Book, a manuscript dating from the late 10th century.

   It is most commonly said that there are two speakers in the wander. The first speaker is a narrator who is reviving(পুনরায় জীবত করা) an ancient poem and not part of the original.  In this theory, the narrator is a later individual who has been converted from paganism(নিকৃষ্ট ধর্ম) to Christianity and who attempts to combine the non-Christian narrative of the tale(গল্প) with a Christian theology(ধর্মতত্ত্ব) of seeking mercy(line2) and refuge(আশ্রয়স্থান) (line 116) from the "Father in heaven," a definitive Christian reference. The wanderer(line-6) goes on what they call an exile to find a new king and kingdom that will accept him and which he can embrace because now he has no one who will accept his affection or give him 'consolation( সান্ত্বন).

2. Literary device of the poem “ The Wanderer.

Answer:  Literary devices include similes, metaphors and personification (the attribution of human nature or character to animals, inanimate objects, or abstract notions), etc.

Similes: The poem  the Wanderer at Line 24 " mad and desolate as winter" there is a simile. The earth-stepper describes himself as "mad and desolate as winter" in a simile that shows the way his mood is matched by the wintry weather through which he travels.

Metaphor: In Line Line-54  Memories of the wanderer's friends " Swim away" from him there is  Metaphor. 

Personification: Fasten[ his heart] with fetters. Winter weather " attacking".

3. What is the Christian and pegan element of the wanderer?

Answer: The Wanderer is an Old English poem preserved only in an anthology known as the Exeter Book, a manuscript dating from the late 10th century.

   In "The Wanderer" The poet has lost his people; he is utterly alone in the world. There is none alive to whom he dares express his " innermost thought;" he contemplates the fallen state of the world-

  "Indeed I cannot think/why my spirit/ does not darken/ when I ponder the world/ life of men/ Throughout the world/ How they suddenly left the hall,/ the proud thames".

  In the Wanderer, the ultimate evil of the pegan world to be without kinsmen, utterly forgotten- is conflated with a kind of cosmic or spiritual destruction. : " all the foundation of this world turns to waste!" The Christian god is a fearsome agent of destruction, on the one hand, and, in the conclusion of the poem, the only source of mercy and consolation for the poet.

4. Why it's called an elegy?

Answer: An elegy is a sad poem, usually written to praise and express sorrow for someone who is dead.

  The Wanderer is an Old English poem preserved only in an anthology known as the Exeter Book, a manuscript dating from the late 10th century.

    In "The Wanderer" The poet has lost his people; he is utterly alone in the world. There is none alive to whom he dares express his " innermost thought;" he contemplates the fallen state of the world-

  "Indeed I cannot think/why my spirit/ does not darken/ when I ponder the world/ life of men/ Throughout the world/ How they suddenly left the hall,/ the proud thames".

  In the Wanderer, the ultimate evil of the pegan world to be without kinsmen, utterly forgotten- is conflated with a kind of cosmic or spiritual destruction. : " all the foundation of this world turns to waste!"

    That is why we can call the wanderer as  an elegy.