At first interpretation, The Tramp lends itself to a depressing and plaintive reading from the hands of the poet who wrote the words of a poor and lonely traveler who fights against his internal struggle against loneliness and the external force of nature. This wanderer longs for the company he had before battle and death took them away. It has lost its lord and his fellow warriors, the lively mead halls and the rain of feasts and treasures. This social circle no longer exists, leaving the wanderer alone to contemplate aspects of sadness, nobility, and wisdom. The Wanderer is made up of two voices: the narrator and the traveller. The poet, however, writes both. The poet's characterization of the wanderer allows readers to experience the symptoms of Anglo-Saxon depression on paper. However, when read again (and a few more times after that), a hint of humor can be found in the harsh words of the wanderer and the narration of the poet. The Christianization of the Anglo-Saxons began in 597, and this poem is a didactic response to previously widespread paganism. In this article, I will first define the wanderer as a pagan and, subsequently, explore how the unconscious humor in the poet's words presents a Christian remedy for the pre-Christian world of paganism. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay… Fate is firmly sealed This is a glaring contradiction between Christian and non-Christian ideas. Aspiring to God's mercy is strictly Christian, while believing in an inexorable destiny is pagan. Fatalism assumes that no circumstance of a human face is random, but predetermined by the natural or the supernatural. God is considered the being who regulates the outcome of nature. On the contrary, the Holy Scripture of the Bible says that God created man with the responsibility of free will and its consequences. With the decision to insist on the traveler's trust in destiny, the poet distances the traveler from Christianity. No one can serve two masters, because either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. other. You cannot serve God and money. A good Christian must denounce earthly vices and place his trust solely in the Lord, because nothing will accompany him to the grave except his good deeds. The wanderer's obsession with possessions and worldly virtues, such as companionship and riches, place him in a world that resembles Everyman. Not once in the poem does the wanderer mention a personal achievement. Instead, his fixation lies in his sorrows and happy moments from his past. When the traveler sleeps, he dreams of his lord and the gifts he once received. The wanderer, without hope, desires the "fruits of the earth", the company of his fellow warriors and riches. Furthermore, he laments his loneliness, instead of looking to God, in lines 29 to 31, when he says, “He who knows pain understands how cruel the pain of a fellow traveler is for someone with few friends by his side.” Once again, the Tramp ignores basic Christian ideals in his sad soliloquy. Now that I have addressed the non-Christianity of the Tramp, I will turn attention to the satirical techniques used by the poet. Satire is based on the use of irony, exaggeration and caricature. And the poet employs each of these when characterizing the wanderer. Starting in line 65, the wanderer considers the characteristics of a “wise man.” The traveler insists that "an excellent virtue is to close the treasure chest in your heart tightly, whatever you think." Because then he expresses aloud ihis complaints and his difficulties? His words are enclosed in quotation marks, in the poet's attempt to distance the narrative from the spoken word and to expose the disconnect between the soliloquy and the tramp's actions. By choosing to highlight this disconnect, the poet is parodying the pagans of the wanderer's world. The wanderer is not just a man but a symbol of the fall of paganism. Loneliness, loss, and depression are rampant in the world, and Christianity provides the remedy. The believed characteristics of wisdom, according to the wanderer's speech, cannot be found within the wanderer himself. The poet described the traveler as miserably melancholic and solitary. However, the words chosen are suspiciously melodramatic and reveal an unconscious humor. In fact, he is exaggerating and undermining the tramp's depression. Yes, the traveler feels alone, but, since he is traveling by sea, there are other travelers with him. Humor lies in the way a man thinks or feels. While it may be serious to the sufferer, it acts as an object of humor to an observer. A lonely man cannot face the tormenting nature explained by the wanderer. Nature, according to the solitary inhabitant, is sad and apocalyptic, not as generous as God created it. The “frozen seas” and “freezing cold” afflict him and increase his depression. His body is hungry for a happy soul, yet his words denote a right to companionship in line 29, when he asks to be "rewarded with comfort." The first half of the poem explores his melancholy, while the second half realizes the inevitability of suffering. The narrator recounts his ideas as a wise man at the poem's conclusion: A good man holds back his words, tells his misfortunes not too soon, baring his inner heart before he knows the best path, an earl who acts courageously . With this concluding narration, the poet calls attention to the irony in The Wanderer. The lonely man is characterized as unwise, simply because he speaks before he knows the best way. The alteration of the wanderer's tone on line 58 shows his disorientation with his depressive syndrome. Behind the wanderer's consideration of the end of creation, there is a strange similarity with the Book of Revelations of the New Testament. In the Apocalypse, John has a vision of Jesus; remains in ecstasy. Even the traveler experiences a pleasant vision that distracts him from his sorrows. Yet, his scene is devoid of Christian values. The wanderer's dream is found in lines 39 to 45 and focuses on his lord and the treasures given to him when he was in the latter's company. This vision makes him realize the transience of life, along with its most pleasant and discouraging moments. The Book of Revelations teaches this same idea. When creation began to fall at the hands of God, forces of nature, such as lightning, fire, and hail, plagued the earth. The traveler, surprised by a storm of hail and snow, states that "a wise man must know the misery of that time when the riches of the world will all be wasted... devoid of pleasures". Since the wanderer is not God's ally, the poet communicates that one day the former will see this end. The Book of Revelation states that there will be the creation of a New Earth and a New Heaven where there will be no suffering. However, once again, the poet exposes the naivety of the wanderer. Since he is not a Christian, he does not know the considerations of the Book of Revelation on the end of Creation. But, despite the lack of sacred guidance, the wanderer still realizes the catastrophe of impending doom. With his characterization of the wanderer as indecisive, contradictory, and excessively depressed, the poet satirizes the paganism that was.
tags