Transience And Eternity In The Elegy Theology Religion Essay

Transience And Eternity In The Elegy divinity fudge Religion EssayOld position poetry can be divided into two main types heroic poetry and Christian poetry. Christianity, as the most widely spread religion, is pre direct in most literary works, including more or less of the heroic poems, although heroic poetry is considered separate from Christian poetry. in that location are many analogies to Christian themes in the poetry of the Old English period, since religion played a major part in peoples gos at the time.The diddlyshit is an Old English poem which was recorded in the Exeter book, or Codex Exoniensis, a collection of Old English poetry, including The Wanderer and The regrets into Hell, which dates back to the tenth century. It is a poem which describes the l onely, full of misadventure and pitiful vitality of the oceanman. It can be logically divided into two parts. The jump is a typical elegy the speaker remembers his dismal support at sea, which he has chosen to the disturbing animateness on land. He knows he is alone, and he constantly has this internal conflict about choosing the sea to the land. The act part is more honorableistic, or didactic. The speaker talks about the transiency of wealth and fame on hide, and how nobody will manage to outwit final stage and God, no matter how empyrean a life they have led. ultimately all people will die, life will give the axe for everyone at a certain point, and no amount of money will attend to them avoid their fate.In the beginning of the poem the seaman makes a pains about his travels and experiences at sea. He begins grimly with a description of the difficult times and lonely life while hes sailing. This is a life which roughhewnalty people in the city know nonhing about. They are preventative on the land while the seaman risks his life at sea. The bear is cold and stormy, the terrible tossing of waves rock the ship, the seaman will soon freeze. He has to endure the fierce st orms, the snow and the hail. The beginning of the poem is non however when a description of a fierce weather. It is a description of the intimate state of fountainhead of the seaman the inner struggles and conflicts he has. He is non homesick, but he slangs he is alone in the sea. His troubles are stand for as being caused by the sea, but in reality the sea save represents what is already inside him, in his soul. The seafarer feels grim ruefulness at heart. He is unable to feel any pleasure from the milieu he does not enjoy it because of the darkness in his soul and heart. thither are moments in which he holds life at sea in contempt.Yet there is something which draws him back to the sea. He can choose the natural rubber life on land, at home, where there are his fellow men, maybe his family, and where food and warmth are ensured. However, he feels this constant urge to travel, to go back to the sea. The sea is mysterious it is wide and infinite it holds many secrets it offers a divergent lifestyle it draws one away from everything familiar and safe, and throws them into a new, different world the world of danger, uncertainty, constant change a world with no boundaries or limits. This is what the seafarer seeks, this is why he constantly returns to the dangerous travels he needs the challenge of the hard life at sea he needs the struggles either physical or emotional. His move in the sea is not only a journey on the physical level. It represents the journey which his soul give ins on the running to God. He has to go through and through hardship and struggles he has to fight with the difficulties which God sends him he has to welcome the challenges of the sea as challenges which God sends to test his soul. He is sailing in the sea which suggests that he is going forward. His soul is, symbolically, about to walk the path which leads to God, passing through severe trials. His kinsmen, who live on land, stay where they are, they havent move d from their place not only physically, but figuratively as well their souls have not taken the path to God, but they simply enjoy the transient greats in life while they have them. They live a stable, secure life with no dangers or trials. They strive for the goods and the glory which earthly life offers, and neer rally of their spirituality and honorableity. They dont realize that everything on Earth is fleeting and that life as they know it wealthy, glorious and bountiful will only inhabit until their death and not in the later onlife when their souls will meet God.This is a light transition to the second part of the poem which is a moral criticism of the people, especially the well-to-do, who rely on their wealth and glory only. They may lead a sinful life, they may oppress the weaker or the inadequate people, but their deeds are the only thing which will go by and by them in the afterlife, not gold or money, not friends and kinsmen. There is a similar judgment in the English morality play Everyman, in which wealth and fellow men abandon Everyman on his journey to death, and only good deeds stay with him until the end. There is the Christian influence, which is present in almost every piece of work in the medieval literature. harmonize to the Christian religion God is the only truly eternal and abiding thing in the Universe. The speaker strongly criticizes the sinful life of common men instead of living a good, honorable and humble life, they only rely on wealth and bounty, and they think these earthly goods will alleviate them or benefit them in some way in the afterlife. They never challenge their souls, and they never even pray to God. The speaker tries to imply that the rich need to change their lifestyle but he realizes that they will not, because they do not understand how their sins and idleness will only harm them later. They dont realize that wealth is transient and they will not be able to take it with them after death. God will not take in intelligence how powerful a man was on Earth or how such(prenominal) money did he possess, but will only consider his good and brave deeds and his sins. Life in heaven is eternal and Heaven is a sort of reward for leading a faithful, honorable life. The seafarer claims that earthly happiness will not endure. He mentions that age comes upon him eventually, which suggests that glorious life is only there for some time and then one gradually loses everything they possess, including their vitality, and outer things like their friends and kinsmen. The way one spends their life on Earth determines where they will spend their afterlife. The speaker urges people to think carefully what afterlife they would like to have and then decide what the right path to there is. He tries to explain to them that they will all be be after death, no matter how wealthy some were and how poor the other(a)s were on Earth. Moreover, they all are equal even now in Gods eyes. It does not make a difference to God whether one is rich or poor whether one is famous or not. What will differentiate them after death is how they led their life, what they did and what their deeds led to. This is the point at which some will be sent to Heaven and others will be sent to Hell. Afterlife will be eternal, that is why people have to think now how they want to spend it. The seaman has given up on all earthly goods and bounty because he has realized that they are not important, they will be lost in time and in the end nothing will remain, only memories of the glorious days and consequences from the deeds, good or bad.The Seafarer is not only a poem about life and death. It concerns transience in life and eternity as a concept mainly in the afterlife. It suggests that life on its own has no other meaning but to praise God and to prove that one is august enough to go to Heaven. Moreover, life is a test for the soul whether it has to be sent to Heaven or to Hell. Life after death is what rightfully matters, because it will be for eternity, in contrast to life on Earth which lasts only a few decades. The concept of eternity is important for the moral to reach the common people. If the common man does not fear God, or does not at least consider what will happen to him after his death, he will not try to live a better, master life, but he will only keep in mind his earthly matters, and this will lead him to impious, even ignoble deeds. Thus The Seafarer can be considered a moral poem which teaches man how to live and how to save his soul, so that he deserves afterlife in Heaven.