Journal 7

In the poem “Seafarer,” the poet wrote, “And forth in sorrow and fear and pain…/On an ice-cold sea, whirled in sorrow…/ That he feels no fear as the sails unfurl…” In these three lines the words sorrow and fear were both used twice. These would be motifs used to express the emotion within the poet. In the poem “The Wife’s Lament,” the poet wrote, “Under the oak-tree, in this earthy borrow…/Under the oak-tree round this earthy cave…” The poet reuses the image of an oak-tree which could represent a home changing over time because the line changes from earthy borrow to earthy cave. She is waiting all this time for this man and the earth changes every day. “Seafarer” has motifs that more relate to emotions while the motifs in “The Wife’s Lament” are object related to the time period and time changing.