Most people turn their misery into depression, while a few creative minds turn their feelings into writing, often poetry or song. Additionally, most literary works express a theme in some way so that the work contains a deeper message that the audience can understand. The themes prove universal by standing the test of time and illustrating similar meanings over the years. Different elements of literature help develop a theme and transform it into a meaningful concept. Regardless of the different seasons used to describe the message of the poem and song, "The Wanderer", a poem written by an anonymous writer in the Anglo-Saxon era, and "Wake Me Up When September Ends", a song written by Green Day in the 21st century, compare the common theme that persists in the past causes isolation and despair through the literary elements of the symbolism of the seasons which reveal the narrator's desolate mood and reluctance to change, images for further accentuate the similar theme. between the two pieces, and a flashback to contrast the narrator's present depressed emotions with his past happiness. Despite the fact that the narrators use different seasons to describe the theme, "The Wanderer" and "Wake Me Up When September Ends" expand on the season. a symbolism that depicts the desolate mood and the narrators' reluctance to change due to their inability to let go of their past and present despair. In “The Wanderer,” the narrator “works dreadfully alone on the winter seas” (l. 3) because of “grave disasters and the deaths of loved ones” (l. 7). The author uses winter to symbolize a time of few opportunities and death for the narrator because winter is already an example of a dark time with little life, and since the...... middle paper ......e in his memories now. In both plays, flashbacks contrast the emotions of the present-day gloomy narrator with the happier emotions of the narrator before the change, while the narrators' persistence in the past causes their own isolation and misery. In conclusion, through the elements of symbolism, the images and flashbacks “The Wanderer” and “Wake Me Up When September Ends” produce the common theme that persists in the past creates isolation and misery. Although written in a different era, "The Wanderer" proves relevant to current times thanks to its notable comparison to a song from thousands of years later. The themes stand the test of time and apply to many types of people in different ways depending on a person's understanding of the implied message. Through literary elements, writers describe a message that the audience interprets with their own wisdom..