Wanderer (poem)
- ''This article is about the Old English Wanderer poem, for the German Wanderer poems set to music by (amongst others) Franz Schubert, see: List_of_compositions_by_Schubert#Lieder_.28songs.29_and_songcycles and Wanderer Fantasy.
The Wanderer is an Old English poem from the 10th century, preserved in the Exeter Book. The date of composition is unknown but most certainly predates 1070 AD. It is a profoundly mournful poem, to the extent that it is an elegy, in which the author, an aged man, speaks of an attack upon his people that happened in his youth. In this attack, his close friends and kin were all killed, and memories of the slaughter have remained with him all his life. He questions the wisdom of the impetuous decision to engage a possibly superior fighting force: the wise man engages in warfare to preserve civil society, and must not rush into battle but seek out allies when the odds may be against him. This poet finds little glory in bravery for bravery's sake. He vividly describes his loneliness and yearning for the bright days past, and concludes with an admonition to put faith in God, "in whom all stability dwells". The structure of the poem is of four stress-lines of different lengths, divided by a caesura.
See also DeorThe Seafarer
External linksThe Wanderer ProjectThe Wanderer Online text of the poem
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