wayfaring

Everyday

1. Travelling, especially on foot from place to place: a wayfaring man. tree →
2. The act of travelling on foot (old). tree →

In the lessons

An old and poetic word. In The Wind in the Willows chapter «Wayfarers All», the Sea Rat, a wayfaring rat, tells Water Rat about faraway ports and almost tempts him to leave the river; Mole has to hold him back. Old songs talk of «a poor wayfaring stranger». A wayfarer is a traveller. The wayfaring tree is a real English shrub growing by old paths.

Examples

• The wayfaring Sea Rat told stories of distant lands. tree →
• «Wayfarers All» is a chapter in The Wind in the Willows. tree →
• The wayfaring man rested by the road. tree →
• Swallows feel the wayfaring urge in autumn. tree →
• The old song tells of a wayfaring stranger. tree →
• The wayfaring tree grows along chalky lanes. tree →
• A WAYFARING MAN, traveling in the desert, met a woman standing alone and terribly dejected. tree →

Note

Old-fashioned; noun for the person: «wayfarer». Today say «travelling».

In Jewish tradition

A wayfaring man is a traveler who walks the roads. Empty roads show that a land is wrecked and unsafe.

Interpretation. The traveler's lodging is a symbol of Israel's duty to welcome guests. Jeremiah's wish for a lodging place is read as his deep grief at his people's sins.

Examples

• The highways lie waste, the wayfaring man ceaseth; he hath broken the covenant, he hath despised the cities, he regardeth not man. (Prophets ISA.33.8, JPS 1917) tree →
• Oh that I were in the wilderness, in a lodging-place of wayfaring men, that I might leave my people, and go from them! (Prophets JER.9.1, JPS 1917) tree →
• And he lifted up his eyes, and saw the wayfaring man in the broad place of the city; and the old man said: 'Whither goest thou? and whence comest thou?' (Prophets JDG.19.17, JPS 1917) tree →

Note

Old-fashioned; noun for the person: «wayfarer». Today say «travelling».