In the poem "The Wife's Lament" the narrator-the wife- finds herself stuck between were her life was and the anticipation of what's the come. The beginning of the poem gives a sense of anticipation and sadness of what is to come. The future is unwritten and unknown which is why the wife is dwelling on it.
The opening line "I make this song of myself, full of sorrow about my fate" paints the picture of the wife's liminality because she is in mourning of where her life might take her, but she isn't there yet. From there, the wife says "I departed on a journey, a friendless exile, to find a place for my grievous need" (9-10). Readers can infer from here that the wife has set off to find her husband alone since she used the term "friendless". This sense of loneliness brings in the feeling of liminality because she has nothing to ground her; not a place or even human connection. This feeling of separation and isolation gives readers the feeling of a purgatory-like state.
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She says "Then I found my lord was like myself...All that is changed; it has come to pass as though our love had never been. I must, far and near (19-25). Here she is reflecting on how she felt when she first met her husband while giving insight on who he was. She then adds how nothing will be the same and it will be as if he never existed. This feeling of nostalgia demonstrates the second half of liminality which is the reflection of where you were. She knows that she is no longer his wife since he is gone and she must learn how to cope with no longer having him in her