The Wife's Lament

"The Wife's Lament" or "The Wife's Complaint" is an Old English/Anglo Saxon poem found in the Exeter Book, which has been dated to 960-990 AD, making it the oldest English poetry anthology. "The Wife's Lament" may be the oldest extant English poem written by a female poet. The Wife's Lament loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch I draw these words from deep wells of my grief, care-worn, unutterably sad. I can recount woes I've borne since birth, present and past, never more than now. I have won, from my exile-paths, only pain. First, my lord forsook his folk, left, crossed the seas' tumult, far from our people. Since then, I've known wrenching dawn-griefs, dark mournings … oh where, where can he be? Then I, too, left—a lonely, lordless refugee, full of unaccountable desires! But the man's kinsmen schemed secretly to estrange us, divide us, keep us apart, across earth's wide kingdom, and my heart broke. Then my lord spoke: "Take up residence here." I had few friends in this unknown, cheerless region, none close. Christ, I felt lost! Then I thought I had found a well-matched man – one meant for me, but unfortunately he was ill-starred and blind, with a devious mind, full of murderous intentions, plotting some crime! Before God we vowed never to part, not till kingdom come, never! But now that's all changed, forever – our friendship done, severed. I must hear, far and near, contempt for my husband. So other men bade me, "Go, live in the grove, beneath the great oaks, in an earth-cave, alone." In this ancient cave-dwelling I am lost and oppressed – the valleys are dark, the hills immense, and this cruel-briared enclosure—an arid abode! The injustice assails me—my lord's absence! On earth there are lovers who share the same bed while I pass through life dead in this dark abscess where I wilt, summer days unable to rest or forget the sorrows of my life's hard lot. A young woman must always be stern, hard-of-heart, unmoved, opposing breast-cares and her heartaches' legions. She must appear cheerful even in a tumult of grief. Like a criminal exiled to a far-off land, moaning beneath insurmountable cliffs, my weary-minded love, drenched by wild storms and caught in the clutches of anguish, is reminded constantly of our former happiness. Woe be it to them who abide in longing. Keywords/Tags: Wife, Wife's Lament, marriage, Old English, Anglo-Saxon, grief, sad, sadness, pain, refugee, grove, oaks, love hurts, lost love, husband, longing