earticle

영어

A number of textual passages in Resignation, a noticeably elegiac Old English poem, demonstrate the gradual and intense revelation of the speaker’s innermost heart, charged with severe distress caused by his prolonged conditions of exile and also a guilty consciousness of past sins. The key purpose of this article is to examine the speaker’s reflections on bereavement, memories of previous crimes, and the consequential affliction, most of which propounds the multiple layers of his religious thoughts and emotions. The paper contends that most literary commentators have paid little attention to these subtle, complex aspects of the speaker’s mental journey, accompanied by his strong perception of internal distress and also by challenging stance to get over the tribulation. The article also aims to investigate the way in which the speaker struggles to achieve a spiritual fortification as an intended liberation from such harsh adversity. His close observation into the inner state of his mind does unfold simultaneously his sense of anguish entwined with his painful awakening into the irresolvable boundaries of human weakness in seeking after his earthly desires. (Changwon National University)