is the title commonly given to an Old English poem which survives only in two fragments in the Exeter Book. This title is, however, merely one given by modern editors, and therefore indicates not how the Anglo-Saxon author of the poem, or his or her audiences, understood the poem, but how the modern editors themselves understand it. The most recent editor of this text has chosen to entitle it
Contrition, rather than
Resignation, while it has also been referred to as
The Exile's Prayer. Either alternative is preferable to
Resignation, for the poem consists of the narrator's address to God, in which he expresses contrition for his many sins, and asks God for forgiveness, as well as presenting himself as an exile. The choice of the title
Resignationseems to have been governed…
500 words
Citation: Shaw, Philip A.. "Resignation". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 20 November 2002 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=2352, accessed 16 April 2024.]
