And so he mourned as he moved about the world, deserted and alone, lamenting his unhappiness day and night, until death’s flood brimmed up in his heart.
Maria Dahvana Headley:
And so the last survivor mourned, making his way
from emptiness to emptiness, listing his sins one by one,
wandering the world woefully, until death came
welling in, to wash him from the rocks.
Burton Raffel:
And so he spoke, sadly, of those
Long dead, and lived from day to day,
Joyless, until, at last, death touched
His heart and took him too.
Tom Shippey:
So the lone man lamented his sorrow
over all things, wandered unhappily
day and night until death's stroke
pierced his heart.
Francis B. Grummere:
Mournful of mood, thus he moaned his woe,
alone, for them all, and unblithe wept
by day and by night, till death's fell wave
o'erwhelmed his heart.
Lesslie Hall:
So, woful of spirit one after all
Lamented mournfully, moaning in sadness
By day and by night, till death with its billows
Dashed on his spirit.
JRR Tolkien:
Even thus in woe of heart he mourned his sorrow, alone when all had gone; joyless he cried aloud by day and night, until the tide of death touched at his heart.
Gerald Davis:
Thus, sad in spirit, did the sole survivor lament his sorrow. By day and by night, he mourned, till the foul billows of Death overwhelmed his heart.
Heaney:
And so he mourned as he moved about the world,
deserted and alone, lamenting his unhappiness
day and night, until death’s flood
brimmed up in his heart.
(lines 2267-70)
This good man wandering alone after the extinction of his people may be compared to Grendel, who wanders in banishment.
See also Book VI of Homer's "Iliad", a passage about Bellerophon (translation by Emily Wilson):
Alone and lost, he wandered
across the Alean plain, heartsick with grief,
avoiding any human habitation.
