Old English Shorter Poems: Volume II (Bjork - HC)

Editor/Translator: Robert E. Bjork

Publisher: Dumbarton Oaks

ISBN: 9780674053069

Binding: hardcover

Section: Loeb/Literature of the Middle Ages

The twenty-five poems and eleven metrical charms in this Old English volume offer tantalizing insights into the mental landscape of the Anglo-Saxons. The Wanderer and The Seafarer famously combine philosophical consolation with introspection to achieve a spiritual understanding of life as a journey. The Wife’s Lament, The Husband’s Message, and Wulf and Eadwacer direct a subjective lyrical intensity on the perennial themes of love, separation, and the passion for vengeance. From suffering comes wisdom, and these poems find meaning in the loss of fortune and reputation, exile, and alienation.