The Wife’s Lament – Flashcards
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Why does the speaker live apart from her husband?
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The wife is exiled to the woods apart from her husband, who was at sea, because her husband's family wants to split them apart.
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Why is the wife in exile?
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She got kicked out of the house and her husband is at sea.
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What is her dwelling like?
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She is living in the woods under a cave.
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What does the speaker's description of her surroundings express about her emotional state?
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She is feeling guilty and sad.
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What sad images does the speaker imagine in lines 42 through 50?
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She is sad that she is away from her husband.
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Give five examples of imagery in this poem.
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• "My lord commanded me to move my dwelling here." • "First my lord went out over the wave tumult." • "May that young man be sad-minded always hard his heart's thought while he must wear a blithe bearing with care in the breast of a crowd of sorrows." • "Ancient this earth hall, I am all longing."
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List two tones in this poem.
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• She is eager to go home. • She is eager to see her husband.
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List two moods in this poem.
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• Sad • Guilty
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Give four examples from the poem that support the theme of Exile.
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• "Ever I know the dark of my exile." • "Then I went forth a friendless exile." • "There I may sit the summerlong day there I can weep over my exile my many hardships." • "Blithe was our bearing often we vowed that but death alone would part us two naught else."
