There is a great similarity between the three elegiac poems, The Wanderer, The Wife of Lament, and The Seafarer. This similarity is the theme of exile. Exile means separation, or banishment from ones native country, region, or home. During the Anglo Saxon period, exile caused a great amount of pain and grief. The theme is shown to have put great sadness into literature of this time period. The majority of the world"s literature from the past contains the theme of exile. The Wife of Lament is another perfect example of literature with exile, and was written by an unknown author....
land and all it"s wonders.

Although these poems tell different stories, they all contain the main themes exile and pain. After reading each of these poems, it is obvious that stories of misery were very popular during this period. Authors wrote about pain and exile possibly to lighten the spirits of those fortunate to have the things that had been taken away from the people in the stories, or maybe people of this period just enjoyed reading depressing stories. These three poems did a great job of showing how exile really causes pain amongst the people suffering from it.