Exile was used particularly for political opponents of those in power. The use of exile for political purposes can sometimes be useful for the government because it prevents the exhilarant from organizing in their native land or from becoming a martyr. People feared exile and banishment so much because it effectively meant that they were going to die. In European history, at a time prior to Roman invasion, people lived completely co-dependently in farm towns where everyone had a function. Where the state controls a vast territory, it is possible to put great distance between offenders and their families or associates and still fix the location of the exile. Ovid was made to live on the Black Sea, the very periphery of the Roman Empire (Ovid: Black Sea on line). In imperial China the island of Hainan, viewed as the "end of the world", received many exiles. There seems to be another exile that is in the mind. Nazi Germany prisoners used mental exile to survive the concentration camps. Many Nazi captives never thought of the horrible conditions they faced incarcerated. Some prisoners saw their families die incinerated by fire. Others had a lack in nutrition. Despite the horrible conditions, the Nazi inmates took a positive thought in a place where in their mind they were exiled. After the fall of Nazi Germany many psychologists found this mental exile to be true. Exile is a very wide subject to cover and there is a parallel view in Anglo-Saxon literature. The poem “The Wife’s Lament” uses imagery, conflict, and theme to explain the causes and effects of exile.

In the poem “The Wife’s Lament,” the theme of exile demonstrates the Wife’s unpleasant life. The time period was very rough to live in. Many men would take advantage of the male dominate rule. Most women were wed for financial aid. Marriages in this time were least common for legitimate love. The wife expresses, “I a woman tell, / What griefs I had since I grew up, / New or old never more than now, / Ever I know the dark of my exile” (25). The wife laments for falling in love and is indignant of her satiation. She describes why the exile is the cause for her pain. The wife says, “There I may sit the summerlong day, / There I can weep over my exile, / My many hardships” (26). Pain is the perfect word to describe what is passing through her heart. She is wounded deep in her soul. A feel of hopeless is her shadow. Soreness is what impedes her from becoming happy. Hill comments over exiles in medieval times, “Matrimonies were the number one to face problems. The second crisis to hit in this time was illness. Many wives would exile away from their husbands” (On Line). Dilemmas were the main factors to separate many married couples. In modern days everyone can see a parallel circumstance there are more divorces than deaths. There are even jokes about this subject. Many would say why are divorces so expensive? The answer is because they are worth it. Other people would take it offensively in how marriages are viewed these days. In the past and future the idea of exile will remain the same. The poem uses more literacy devices to emphasis on the image of exile.

Imagery in the poem “The Wife’s Lament,” also illustrates the wife’s misery in many forms. Literature seems to become dull if there is not enough images to illustrate a condition. Many readers learn rapidly when the can comprehend words coming from pages. Imagery becomes a visual picture in the mind ready to set forward into understanding. Poets in the dark ages use constructive usage of images. The wife expresses, “The valleys are dark the hills high, / the yard overgrown bitter with briars, / a joyless dwelling. / Full oft the lack of my lord seizes me cruelly here” (26). The dark valleys are not literal. The color dark is an image of torment or soreness. The high hills are referred to a huge obstacle set forth on happiness. In Greek high hills translated to obstruction and hindrance. In the case of the Wife, complication is in between her marriage. Her exile is a cruel place. The wife’s husband took a league of absents. She can’t explain why her lord did that. The wife says, “Blithe was our bearing often vowed that but death alone would part us two, /’ naught else. / But this is turned round now . . . as it never were, / our friendship” (26). Vowels are promises in matrimony. Nothing will separate a marriage but death. In the poem she can’t make clear why there is division. The Wife describes how everything turned on her back as if friendship never existed. Mr. Huxtable comments on medieval English literature, “Imagery is a well known technique to give the reader a visual perspective on the writing style” (On Line). Images were used in the past and the future. This literacy device is the common path to give literature meaning. In ancient Egypt the pharos would hire dream translators to explain hallucination. These images had many meanings. When the translator had the right description the pharaoh would give him an elevated position in the kingdom. Jail or sometimes death would be the reward if the explanation of the image was wrong. Imagery has always been the means to visualize an idea. Another literacy device is conflict. In the poem “The Wife’s Lament,” conflict is internal and external.
The Wife suffers from the conflict of matrimony separation, while mourning under an oak tree.

In the past when dating was respected, it was wise for a third person accompany the dating couple. This was done so it would be harder to sin and not commit fornication. In a marriage the third person becomes extra baggage. Family becomes disturbance. The wife expresses, “My man’s kinsmen began to plot, / by darkened thought to divide us two, / so we most widely in the world’s kingdom, / lived wretchedly and I suffered longing” (25). The poem says that her man’s kinsman began to intrude in their marriage. This occurs in daily society. Privacy is the golden rule to follow. The wife deserves legitimate attention. The wife says, “First my lord went out away from his people, / over the wave-tumult. I grieved each dawn, / wondered where my lord my first on the earth might be, / Then I went forth a friendless exile, / to seek service in my sorrow’s need” (25). It seems her lord took a league of absents. The Wife clearly states that she went on exile friendless. On her time away she needed to find reconciliation elsewhere. The readers do not know if she has committed adultery during her exile, but she is dying from pain. The poem says that she grieves each dawn. This mental badger was a war with her feelings and her man’s kinsmen. The importance of dating is to know the future spouse not to sin and use the time for sexual intercourse. Luyster says, “Most couples lament after marriage that the spouse was not ready for commitment” (On Line). This critic is correct. The purpose for dating was to know the person before marriage. Young married couples often lament after marriage. In all cases exile becomes a psychological departure to avoid stress. In modern days people seek different ways of exile.
Today exile can be experienced in many forms. War veterans have different backgrounds or explanations in why they joined the military. Many Americans grew up in a pleasant environment. Others grew up in the ghetto. That is the American term for poor. In the ghetto drugs and prostitution are all around in the atmosphere. The police are corrupt like in third world countries. People live every day in life or death situations. Some know that when they step out of home, thinking that it might be their last time. Most poor families wash plastic spoons. A good number grow up with out a father. Kids see their mom cry everyday because there is nothing to eat. Seeing all of these events an 18 year old seeks exile in the military. Joining the armed forces becomes a solution. There is another motive for enrollment in the military. This reason is the bad results of relationships. Most soldiers enlist because they had their hearts broken. These soldiers feel like they do not belong in society. They want to forget the love life they once knew. The only alternative is to become cold blooded in the armed forces. Hough says, “Soldiers seek alternative solutions mainly in the military” (On Line). The army becomes a place of exile. All branches of the military are refuges for every one that wants it. The poem “The Wife’s Lament,” teaches readers how minds in the past expressed exile. The Wife in the poem may be resting in a deep sleep but her soul lives in literature.

Works Cited

Hill, Thomas D. "'Leger weardiad': The Wife's Lament 34b." ANQ. 15.2 (Spring 2002): p34. Literature Resources from Gale. Gale. Gwinnett County Public Schools. 19 Aug. 2009 .
Hough, Carole. "Soldiers’ Exile” ANQ. 16.4 (Fall 2003): p5. Literature Resources from Gale. Gale. Gwinnett County Public Schools. 19 Aug. 2009 .
Huxtable, Michael J. "Medieval English Literature." Medium Aevum. 72.1 (Spring 2003): p183. Literature Resources from Gale. Gale. Gwinnett County Public Schools. 19 Aug. 2009 .
Kinsella, Kate, et al. Timeless Voices, Timeless Themes; The British Tradition. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2004.
Luyster, Robert. "The Wife's Lament in the Context of Scandinavian Myth and Ritual." Philological Quarterly. 77.3 (Summer 1998): p243. Literature Resources from Gale. Gale. Gwinnett County Public Schools. 19 Aug. 2009 .
“The Wife’s Lament.” Trans. Ann Standford. Kinsella 25.
Ovid: Black Sea. “Classical Studies.” Lycos Retriever. 1 September 2009. http://www.lycos.com/info/ovid--black-sea.html

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