Tuesday Poetry: The Seafarer (Excerpt from the Anglo-Saxon Poem)
The Seafarer
May I of my own self
Truth’s song reckon,
Tell of my traverse,
How I oft endured
Days of hardship
Times of trouble,
Bitter the breast-care
That I suffered,
Known at my keel
Many a care’s hold,
Dread wave-fall
When wary night-watch
Found me often
There at the ship’s stem,
Wave-tossed, by cliff-wall.
Cold-fettered
My feet
Frost-bound
In cold clasp,
Where cares seethed then
Hot at the heart;
Hunger within tore
The sea-weary soul.
…
from the Anglo-Saxon original; excerpt from the abridged translation by A.S. Kline © 2010
Reproduction in accordance with the translator’s permission.
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Recently, I have been featuring poems that are themed around the sea. Last week I featured one of the most famous, Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. The Anglo Saxon poem The Seafarer is equally famous, but less well known, I believe. However, I don’t believe any look at “sea” themed poetry would be complete without it.
It’s also one for lovers of the TV series’ The Vikings. 😉
To read the full AS Kline translation, click on:
If you fancy trying it in the Anglo-Saxon, see:
The Seafarer; Anglo Saxons.net
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Prior ‘Sea’ Poems include:
“Dover Beach” (Excerpt) by Matthew Arnold
“Breathing You In” by David Gregory
“We are more than half water” by Helen Rickerby
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Part 1 by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
The short lines make it seem so modern, Helen!
That’s very true, actually. I wonder if it’s because the Anglo Saxons (supposedly) used to strum the harp and chant the lines, ie more of a natural speech rhythm?