Lines 42-53 Summary

Lines 42-45

A scyle geong mon wesan geomormod,
heard heortan geþoht, swylce habban sceal
bliþe gebæro, eac þon breostceare,
sinsorgna gedreag,

May the young man be sad-minded
with hard heart-thoughts, yet let him have
a smiling face along with his heartache,
a crowd of constant sorrows.

• The meaning and purpose of this final section of the poem (surprise, surprise) is the subject of heavy speculation. In fact, it's probably the most hotly contested section in the entire poem. How can someone smile in "a crowd of constant sorrows"? Here are three leading interpretations. 
• 1. It is intended as a piece of gnomic wisdom. No, we don't that kind of gnome. In the literary sense, gnomes are aphorisms, or "short memorable statements of traditional wisdom or morality." By that definition, these few lines certainly seem gnomic. A heartbroken young man should always put on a smile and hide his sorrow, the speaker seems to suggest. Tidbits of gnomic wisdom were sprinkled heavily throughout Old English literature, and can be found everywhere from the Wanderer to Beowulf. Gnomes were also an important component of riddles, over ninety of which can be found in the Exeter Book. Because of its inclusion of gnomic wisdom, and proximity to so many riddles, some critics believe that "The Wife's Lament" is, in fact, a riddle itself. 
• 2. It is a curse (boo!). Like gnomes, curses were common in Old English literature. Thus, another popular theory amongst critics is that this section is intended as a curse upon her husband, the man who brought her such sadness. This interpretation will play out more clearly in the next few lines.
• 3. It's speculation regarding the emotional state of the husband. The wife suffers in her loneliness, but perhaps the husband does, too. In this sense, it's not so much a curse, or a warning, but rather mere musings as to how her husband is handling things on his own. 
• Got a favorite yet? Let's read on, examine how these theories hold up, and see what we can decipher…

Lines 45-52

sy æt him sylfum gelong
eal his worulde wyn, sy ful wide fah
feorres folclondes, þæt min freond siteð
under stanhliþe storme behrimed,
wine werigmod, wætre beflowen
on dreorsele. Dreogeð se min wine
micle modceare; he gemon to oft
wynlicran wic.

Let to himself
all his worldly joys belong! let him be outlawed
in a far distant land, so that my friend sits
under stone cliffs chilled by storms,
weary-minded, surrounded by water
in a sad dreary hall! My beloved will suffer
the cares of a sorrowful mind; he will remember
too often a happier home. 

• All of a sudden, everything seems less gnomic. These are not vague aphorisms, or pieces of general wisdom to be heeded by readers, but rather concrete images concerning a specific figure: the speaker's husband. She imagines him exiled in a distant land (47), chillin' in a spot that could generously be described as "gloomy."
• The Old English original tells of "stanhliþe storme behrimed" (stone cliffs, frost-covered), "wætre beflowen" (surrounded by water)—cold, stark landscapes that call to mind the stormy setting of the contemporary elegy "The Seafarer." 
• The husband, wallowing in this lonely locale, will inevitably look back on happier times with regret. This interpretation seems to support the curse claim, as the speaker declares that her absent lover will suffer ("Dreogeð") in solitary sadness, just as she does.

Lines 52-53

Wa bið þam þe sceal
of langoþe leofes abidan.

Woe to the one
who must suffer longing for a loved one.

• The poem concludes with a gnomic couplet typical of the period. Though the preceding several lines concern the specific situation of her husband, here the speaker expands the scope of her statement, lamenting more generally upon the terrible tragedy of longing for a lost loved one. 
• Proponents of "The Wife's Lament"-as-riddle theory draw much of their evidence from these final two lines.
• Riddles often ended with a gnomic statement, or epithet, like the one seen here (for another particularly imaginative interpretation, check out "Symbols: The Lord").
• Well, we're finally finished. We've shared our thoughts about what's really going on here, but, even as we close, there's not much closure—we admit. Feeling sad yet?