THE DISCUSSION OF POEM THE SEAFARER

王思拓

Medieval writers like to write about themselves. I can sing a true song of myself， tell of my journeys， how in days of toils.” （The Seafarer， Line 1-2） With the spirit of reaching the greatest， without the impact of war and multinational environment， medievalists would like to enroll the nature into the way of thinking of the lost past. In this essay， I will discuss how the medievalists are thinking of the lost pasts through the poem “The Seafarer.”

The seafarer is a poem about the life by the sea instead of the town， and that is the moment when the author is thinking about himself and his passing time. He is experiencing it thought feeling the nature， the sea itself. “Pinched with cold were my feet， bound by frost in cold fetters， while cares seethed hot around my heart， and hunger gnawed my sea-weary mind.” That is everyones experience when they just spend a few weeks or months living by the sea， just experience the nature and think about the past. Everyone is thinking based on their existed knowing knowledge and experience， their past， whether it is medievalists or modern men. “I heard nothing there but the noise of the sea， the ice-cold waves; the wild swans song.” Even Gorky has the writing about the swans song in his “The Song of the Stormy Petrel” On that poem， under the influence of revolutionary thought， his thinking about the past is a way different then “The Seafarers thinking about the past， his poem is showing an attitude that it is the change that they were making， there is a great difference to change the entire social system， that is the way “ The Song of the Stormy Petrel” is showing the change by thinking the past.” High above the silvery ocean winds are gathering the storm-clouds， and between the clouds and ocean proudly wheels the stormy petrel， like a streak of sable lighting.” （Song of the Stormy Petrel， Line 1-2） That is the viewing of Gorkys writing about the experience by viewing the sea. However， the medieval writers are not thinking about the great social change on the period of 500-900 BC time， they are more focusing on philosophy aspects. Who are we？ What happened in the past in this land we are living right now？What are the world losing past before， and even how things should be， and the land far away. “my hearts desire urges my spirit time and again to travel， so that I might seek a foreign land somewhere far from here.”（The Seafarer， Line 36-38） The mind of looking for the losing past is associated with the mind to look for the foreign land. Medieval writers ae thinking about that past by thinking about the unknown. “All these urge the eager-hearted spirit to travel， who one intends to journey far over the flood-ways.” （The Seafarer， Line 50-52） The value that goes with the lost past is with the value of wondering the outside world， the root of exploring the further land and the future， and the value of spreading the religion of Christianity.

The figure in the Seafarer is thinking from himself to the lord. “Blessed is he who lives humbly; mercy from heaven comes to him.” （The Seafarer， Line 107）. Then the difference between the thinking of religion by thinking of passing past from The Song of the Stormy Petrel and The Seafarer is that from a process of nothing to something or， a process of from existing A to an existing B. However， what medievalist is thinking is that the possibility to passing the Christianity to another possible place. However， the thought is not clear and the goal is not direct and did not form yet. Everything is at the starting point. They just think about those possibility thought through thinking about the lost past. Those desire is in the fantasy period， and that is not a reality yet.

The poem The Seafarer is a great poem and the way of thinking the losing past is also a way to write about poem in the same time period in the writers in China around 500-900. The desire is quite similar， to spread the civilization and religion. There always a complication going in the world， there is always someone thinking， there is always someone changing it.

In-text Citation

1. The Seafarer Old English Poetry： An Anthology P32

2. The Song of the Stormy Petrel，  Gorky， Maxim  1901