2. English Literature I : “The Wife’s Lament” – Anglo-Saxon Poetry
Instructions:
In groups, paraphrase your lines. Use Dictionaries and Thesaurus to help you.
DEADLINE: THU 10TH, MAY -13.00 p.m.
“The Wife’s Lament”
Group 1
1.I make this song of myself, deeply sorrowing,
2.my own life’s journey. I am able to tell
3.all the hardships I’ve suffered since I grew up,
4.but new or old, never worse than now-
5.ever I suffer the torment of my exile.
6.First my lord left his people
7.for the tumbling waves; I worried at dawn
Group 2
8.where on earth my leader of men might be.
9.When I set out myself in my sorrow.
10.a friendless exile, to find his retainers,
11.that man’s kinsmen began to think
12.in secret that they would separate us,
13.so we would live far apart in the world,
14.most miserably, and longing seized me.
Group 3
15.My lord commanded me to live with him here;
16.I had few loved ones or loyal friends
17.in this country, which causes me grief.
18.Then I found that my most fitting man
19.was unfortunate, filled with grief,
20.concealing his mind, plotting murder
21.with a smiling face. So often we swore
Group 4
22.that only death could ever divide us,
23.nothing else-all that is changed now;
24.it is now as if it had never been,
25.our friendship. Far and near, I must
26.endure the hatred of my dearest one.
27.They forced me to live in a forest grove,
28.under an oak tree in an earthen cave.[or “earthen grave” or barrow]
Group 5
29.This earth-hall is old, and I ache with longing;
30.the dales are dark, the hills too high,
31.harsh hedges overhung with briars,
32.a home without joy. Here my lord’s leaving
33.often fiercely seized me. There are friends on earth,
34.lovers living who lie in their bed,
35.while I walk alone in the light of dawn
Group 6
36.under the oak-tree and through this earth-cave,
37.where I must sit the summer-long day;
38.there I can weep for all my exiles,
39.my many troubles; and so I may never
40.escape from the cares of my sorrowful mind,
41.nor all the longings that have seized my life.
42.May the young man be sad-minded (*)
Group 7
43.with hard heart-thoughts, yet let him have
44.a smiling face along with his heartache,
45.a crowd of constant sorrows. Let to himself
46.all his worldly joys belong! Let him be outlawed
47.in a far distant land, so that my friend sits
48.under stone cliffs chilled by storms,
49.weary-minded, surrounded by water
Groups……… & ………..
50.in a sad dreary hall! My beloved will suffer
51.the cares of a sorrowful mind; he will remember
52.too often a happier home. Woe to the one
53.who must suffer longing for a loved one.
Group 4
ReplyDeleteAlcaraz, Daniela
Bogado, Diego
Rivera, Paula
Segovia, Brian
Ramirez, Micaela
22.that only death could ever divide us,
that only death could part us,
23.nothing else-all that is changed now;
nowadays, all is very different
24.it is now as if it had never been,
our friendship vanished as if it had never existed in the first place,
25.our friendship. Far and near, I must
when he is miles away from where I am and when he is next to me, I must
26.endure the hatred of my dearest one.
tolerate the loathing of my beloved.
27.They forced me to live in a forest grove,
I was obliged to live in a forest grove
28.under an oak tree in an earthen cave.[or “earthen grave” or barrow]
in a barrow under an oak tree
27. My husband and his relatives have pressured / commanded me to live in a copse (a cluster of trees), in a cave beneath an oak tree. This barrow is old and I suffer the pain of yearnig.
DeleteThe rest is OK. Well done, guys.
DeleteGroup 2:
ReplyDeleteSolari Daiana
Banegas Katerina
Velazquez Lionela
Suligoy Ludmila
López Rodrigo
Mathiew Giuliana
8.where on earth my leader of men might be.
9.When I set out myself in my sorrow.
10.a friendless exile, to find his retainers,
11.that man’s kinsmen began to think
12.in secret that they would separate us,
13.so we would live far apart in the world,
14.most miserably, and longing seized me.
I wondered at sunrise
Where my husband may be
I was banished alone,
left in profound sandness
to find his servants,
which my husband's family thought secretly
that they would break us apart
so we live distant from one another,
heartbroken, yearning overtook me.
Some lines are paraphrased well but some others are unclear.
DeleteI'd like to add my own paraphrase to lines 9-11
I undertook a quest to find my husband on my own, to find his men/followers but his relatives wanted to keep us apart and devised plans to separate us.
Thanks, that part was really hard.
DeleteGROUP #5: Tourn, Luisina; Lodi, Malena; Altamirano, Agustin; Moreyra, Fabio; Ledesma, Emanuel.
ReplyDelete29. This earth-hall is old, and I ache with longing;
This cave is old, and it hurts me to remember
30. the dales are dark, the hills too high,
The valleys are overshadowed by the high hills
31. harsh hedges overhung with briars,
rough obstacles expose thorns
32. a home without joy. Here my lord's leaving
an unhappy home. Here my husband’s departure
33. often fiercely seized me. There are friends on earth,
Overwhelms me. Friends live on this earth
34. lovers living who lie in their bed,
lovers happily share their bed
35. while I walk alone in the light of dawn
while I walk alone at dawn
31. Sharp bushes / hedgerows have brambles /burrs[ a wild bush with thorns],over them.
Delete32.... I'm saddened by my husband's leaving / abandoning me.
The rest is fine, guys.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteGroup#3:Aguirre,Mailen;Mandel,Luciana;Montini,Cecilia;Quatrin Paula;Valiente,Micaela;Vittori Giuliana.
ReplyDelete15.My lord commanded me to live with him here;
-My husband requested me to live with him in this place.
16.I had few loved ones or loyal friends
17.in this country, which causes me grief.
-I hardly had any reliable friends who loved me in this country which makes me feel melancholic.
18.Then I found that my most fitting man
19.was unfortunate, filled with grief,
20.concealing his mind, plotting murder
21.with a smiling face. So often we swore
-Then I discovered that my strongest man was cursed,full of agony,hiding the plan of killing me behind a smile.
50.in a dreary hall!My beloved will suffer
51.the cares of sorrowful mind;he will remember
-in a gloomy cave.My dearest will agonize about the affliction of a worrying mind;it will be in his mind...
15. My husband ordered me to live with him...
Delete( request (verb): to ask for something politely or officially; command(verb): to give someone an order)
The rest is OK, guys. Good job!
DeleteGroup #6 (Gabriel Malagueño, Emanuel Massin, Mariel Spesot, Melina Delbon, Yamila Moschen, Gustavo Duarte)
ReplyDelete36.37. I have to sit under the oak tree and across the den during all summer day.
38.39.40.41 There I am able to cry for all my sufferings and problems. I will never evade from the worries of my desolated mind neither the nostalgic that snatched my life.
42.Perhaps her youthful beloved is depressed.
52.He won't forget how happy was our home
53 How miserable is the one who undergoes sadness for his beloved.
38-40. ... NEITHER CAN I escape from the troubles/ worries of my grieving mind NOR CAN I ESCAPE from my desires ("longings that have seized my life...").
Delete42. When you're young, you must show a happy face, no matter how much you're actually suffering.
Your paraphrase is quite unclear, I'm afraid.Only some lines are paraphrased correctly.
Group #1: Borda, Mailen; Corti, Carolina; Quiroz Soechting, Priscila, Rubianes, Ariana; Rubianes, Loreley.
ReplyDelete1.I make this song of myself, deeply sorrowing,
- I make this song sadly
2.my own life’s journey. I am able to tell
- Of my life. It´s tells all
3.all the hardships I’ve suffered since I grew up,
- The difficulties I had to pass since I was a child
4.but new or old, never worse than now-
- I'm in a nightmare, my exile.
5.ever I suffer the torment of my exile.
- This is the worst moment ever
6.First my lord left his people
- My leader abandoned us and went
7.for the tumbling waves; I worried at dawn
- Through the sea. I felt worried when the sun rose
1. I write/sing this song about my life, grieving deeply (or really grieving) about my life's odyssey.
Delete2. I can tell about the adversities I've overcome / I've met with / triumphed over since I became an adult.
These aren't worse than exile, which I now suffer.
Only some lines are OK, girls.
Group #7 (Aguirre, Natalí; Altamirano, Rocío; Fernández, Gimena; Gómez, Laura; Gómez, Paulina)
ReplyDelete43. With hard heart-thoughts, yet let him have
/with thoughts of hard heart, having/
44.a smiling face along with his heartache,
/a smiling face despite his heartache/
45.a crowd of constant sorrows. Let to himself
/a swarm of unceasing grief. Let all of his/
46.all his worldly joys belong! Let him be outlawed
/earthly delights belong to him. My husband is exiled/
47.in a far distant land, so that my friend sits
/in a far away land, so he lays/
48.under stone cliffs chilled by storms,
/under stone cliffs, made cold by the stormy weather/
49.weary-minded, surrounded by water
/exhausted, surrounded by water/
42-44. When you are young, you must show a happy face, no matter how much you are suffering.
ReplyDelete45-46. I wish him unending grief [she seems to curse him by wishing that he may suffer pain and exile as as punishment for what he has made her suffer.] A young man deserves all the happiness of this world. [But]I do hope that he is exiled far way..
46-50. So that my husband may be sitting beneath the cliffs before a stormy sea, cold in body and mentally exhausted, surrounded by the sea in a gloomy hall.
Girls: you have managed to do only very few lines right, I'm afraid.
GENERAL FEEDBACK:
ReplyDeleteSome groups some managed - better than others - to paraphrase their lines of the poem. Those who haven't done so well will be asked to do a make-up task later on which can be something in the Blog or to prepare a topic to teach to their classmates in a future lesson.
DON'T FORGET to copy and paste the paraphrase of the ENTIRE poem, especially my corrections, to have it handy when the time comes to study it for your term exam ( and finals too).