The Wife's Lament
Poetry
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Anonymous
The Wife's Lament Main Text
The Wife's Lament
by Anonymous Author
Translated by André Babyn
I sing this song, full of sadness,
this song which is myself. I will tell, what I am able,
about what hardships I have faced—since I grew up,
recently or long ago, never more than now.
Always I suffer my misery of exile.
First my lord departed from my people,
over waves rolling; I had grief before dawn
thinking o...
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The Wife's Lament Key Facts
The Wife's Lament Key Facts
Title: The Wife’s Lament
Poet: Anonymous
[The poem The Wife’s Lament is a first-person monologue by a wife who shares her sorrowful story of exile and separation from her husband.]
Manuscript Source: Preserved in the Exeter Book, a 10th-century anthology of Old English poetry
Lines: 53 lines
Genre: Elegy in the manner of the German frauenlied, or "women's s...
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The Wife's Lament Themes
Here we have the major themes of the Old English poem The Wife's Lament.
Exile and Isolation
The poem's central theme is the wife’s physical and emotional exile. She is separated from her husband and kinsmen and forced to live in a desolate, unfamiliar land. Her isolation in a cave under an oak tree reflects her emotional state—cut off from the warmth of love, companionship, and community....
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The Wife's Lament Summary
The poem The Wife’s Lament is a first-person monologue by a wife who shares her sorrowful story of exile and separation from her husband. She begins by expressing her deep sadness. The pain she feels from being alone is unlike anything she has experienced before.
The wife reveals that her suffering began when her lord (her husband) left their home and family. He sailed away to a distant land, leav...
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