Get out the microscope, because we’re going through this poem line-by-line.
Ic þis giedd wrece bi me ful geomorre,
minre sylfre sið. Ic þæt secgan mæg,
hwæt ic yrmþa gebad, siþþan ic up weox,
niwes oþþe ealdes, no ma þonne nu.
A ic wite wonn minra wræcsiþa.
I make this song of myself, deeply sorrowing,
my own life's journey. I am able to tell
all the hardships I've suffered since I grew up,
but new or old, never worse than now –
ever I suffer the torment of my exile.
- Brace yourselves, intrepid Shmoopers, and ready the tissues—we're in for an emotional ride. From the first line, we have a strong sense of the poem's tone; we know this will be a sad tale, full of anguish and sorrow.
- Though it isn't clear in the English translation, we can tell from the syntax of the original Old English that the poem is written in the feminine voice. Words like "geomorre" (sad) and the phrase "minre sylfre sið" (my own life's journey) end in the feminine "re," indicating a female speaker.
- It's worth noting that the speaker, in the act of telling her own story, is exercising agency from the get-go.
- Whether or not the poem was actually written by a woman, the fact that it is told from a woman's perspective makes it extremely significant within its male-dominated historical context. Also, that opening phrase sounds a little like Walt Whitman, doesn't it?
- Finally, we learn the primary cause of all this suffering: exile.