The Seafarer (poem)

It has most often, though not always, been categorised as an elegy, a poetic genre commonly assigned to a particular group of Old English poems that reflect on spiritual and earthly melancholy.

Much scholarship suggests that the poem is told from the point of view of an old seafarer who is reminiscing and evaluating his life as he has lived it.

[3] He describes the anxious feelings, cold-wetness, and solitude of the sea voyage in contrast to life on land where men are surrounded by kinsmen, free from dangers, and full on food and wine.

[14] Many scholars think of the seafarer's narration of his experiences as an exemplum, used to make a moral point and to persuade his hearers of the truth of his words.

Another argument, in "The Seafarer: An Interpretation" (1937), was proposed by O. S. Anderson, who plainly stated:A careful study of the text has led me to the conclusion that the two different sections of The Seafarer must belong together, and that, as it stands, it must be regarded as in all essentials genuine and the work of one hand: according to the reading I propose, it would not be possible to omit any part of the text without obscuring the sequence.

[21] However, he also stated that the only way to find the true meaning of The Seafarer is to approach it with an open mind, and to concentrate on the actual wording, making a determined effort to penetrate to what lies beneath the verbal surface[22] and added, to counter suggestions that there had been interpolations, that: "personally I believe that [lines 103–124] are to be accepted as a genuine portion of the poem".

In 1975, David Howlett published a textual analysis which suggested that both The Wanderer and The Seafarer are "coherent poems with structures unimpaired by interpolators"; and concluded that a variety of "indications of rational thematic development and balanced structure imply that The Wanderer and The Seafarer have been transmitted from the pens of literate poets without serious corruption."

By 1982, Frederick S. Holton had amplified this finding by pointing out that "it has long been recognized that The Seafarer is a unified whole and that it is possible to interpret the first sixty-three-and-a-half lines in a way that is consonant with, and leads up to, the moralizing conclusion".

Thomas D. Hill, in 1998, argues that the content of the poem also links it with the sapiential books, or wisdom literature, a category particularly used in biblical studies that mainly consists of proverbs and maxims.

Hill argues that The Seafarer has "significant sapiential material concerning the definition of wise men, the ages of the world, and the necessity for patience in adversity".

Critics who argue against structural unity specifically perceive newer religious interpolations to a secular poem.

Their translation ends with 'My soul unceasingly to sail o'er the whale-path / Over the waves of the sea', with a note below "at this point the dull homiletic passage begins.

[32] Marsden points out that although at times this poem may seem depressing, there is a sense of hope throughout it, centered on eternal life in Heaven.

[30] John C. Pope and Stanley Greenfield have specifically debated the meaning of the word sylf (modern English: 'self, very, own'),[35] which appears in the first line of the poem.

[18] In Medium Ævum (1957–1959), G. V. Smithers drew attention to the following points in connection with the word anfloga, which occurs in line 62b of the poem: 1.

In the Angelsächsisches Glossar, by Heinrich Leo, published by Buchhandlung Des Waisenhauses, Halle, Germany, in 1872, unwearn is defined as an adjective, describing a person who is 'defenceless, vulnerable, unwary, unguarded or unprepared'.

It is included in the full facsimile of the Exeter Book by R. W. Chambers, Max Förster and Robin Flower (1933), where its folio pages are numbered 81 verso – 83 recto.

[45] American expatriate poet Ezra Pound produced a well-known interpretation of The Seafarer, and his version varies from the original in theme and content.

[51] She went on to collaborate with composer Sally Beamish to produce the multi-media project 'The Seafarer Piano trio', which premiered at the Alderton Arts festival in 2002.

[55][56] Independent publishers Sylph Editions have released two versions of The Seafarer, with a translation by Amy Kate Riach and Jila Peacock's monoprints.

'Drift' reinterprets the themes and language of 'The Seafarer' to reimagine stories of refugees crossing the Mediterranean sea,[59] and, according to a review in Publishers Weekly of May 2014, 'toys with the ancient and unfamiliar English'.