It seems essential to have two sides to everything. Whether it's a reward and punishment, or a heart full of hate and love. Dualism is not simply the act of having two parts; it is the act in which the second part is essential to the first. Maybe the second part provides motivation on what not to do, or it's our human nature to want more than one thing. This ultimately creates a greater challenge for ourselves than we originally anticipated. “The Seafarer” was written during the Anglo-Saxon period of Britain and was used primarily as entertainment at the time. Of course, entertainment had a completely different meaning in those days. The Anglo-Saxons were known to have a strong connection with God, which is clearly portrayed through the spirituality of the poem. Through the use of dualism the author highlights the dominant metaphor, underlines the imagery, shapes the poetic structure and emphasizes the theme in “The Sailor”. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The poem accentuates two sides, the land and the sea. Throughout the poem the sea is given a negative connotation where the land is represented as a safe and calm place. When the poet writes of the land, “orchards bloom and cities blossom, / the fields grow beautiful as the world sprouts fresh,” (48-49) it makes it seem more peaceful and serene. Yet, when he writes about the sea. “frozen sea, swirling in pain,” (15) gives off the opposite effect. Even though the sea can be rough and dangerous, the Seafarer still wants to venture out into the open waves. The dualism of good and evil is commonly seen in literature. However, a deeper meaning is contained in this poem. In the dominant metaphor the sea represents the challenges faced by Christians and the obstacles in ordinary life and in their spiritual journey. For example, “with frozen chains and fatigue groaned / around my heart.” (10-11) symbolizes the harshness of the sea. The sea is a vortex of guilt, sin and loneliness. As humans we are drawn to curiosity. This is what drives the seafarer to return to the water, even though he knows the pain and suffering it causes him. This is shown here when the poet writes, “Yet my heart wanders, / my soul wanders with the sea” (58-59). Despite all this, he continues to ride the waves, proving that you need to be persistent in overcoming challenges to achieve greatness. Greatness is the idea that one day you will go to heaven, which is considered our true home. By using the dualism of land and sea, the dominant metaphor is demonstrated that we do not belong to the land or the sea, but rather to God. The dualism also accentuates the vivid imagery. The images are meant to enhance the poem and when you compare two things the power of ordinary images intensifies. It therefore seems that the poem's images also battle back and forth for both sides of the dualism, rather than simply describing the words. When the poet uses imagery to describe the sea, it gives off such an eerie effect. “The deadly noise of birds instead of laughter” (21) is one line in particular that shows the restlessness of the poem. The poet then uses a metaphor: "the hail would fall, / the coldest of seeds". (32-33) to add to images. The images of time seem to be a constant theme in this poem. The poem begins by talking about violent winds and freezing temperatures. The poet also uses nature in the imagery of the poem. Discussing wild life and natural plants in all rooms. Both land and sea images tie into the idea of ​​dualism and create more power behind each subject. The poetic structure.