|
|
The Motives of Separation and Solitude in Old English Lyrical Poetry
Klasnová, Lenka ; Znojemská, Helena (advisor) ; Čermák, Jan (referee)
This thesis is concerned with four Old English lyrical poems of the so-called elegiac group, i.e. The Wife's Lament, Wulf and Eadwacer, The Wanderer and The Seafarer and their shared themes of separation and solitude. After a brief account of the few facts known about the poems, the appropriateness of the elegiac genre imposed upon them by scholarly tradition is addressed in the introduction. The first chapter gives a brief overview of the history of critical opinion on each of the poems. Since their simple unambiguous translation is impossible, given the cryptic nature of the narratives and numerous grammatically, syntactically, semantically or otherwise problematic points, the chapter also attempts the notoriously difficult task of their interpretation. While some solutions to the problematic aspects may be preferred in the course of the interpretation, a variety of potential possibilities is discussed in most cases. The resulting interpretations strive to present each poem as a unified and logical narrative. The second chapter addresses the themes of loneliness, alienation, isolation and separation in each of the four poems, their given reasons, manifestations, progress and the common elegiac imagery used to express them. The mood evoked by specific word meanings and employed rhetorical devices...
|
guest ::
