Mary Robinson’s sequence of sonnets tells the story of Sappho and Phaon, which comes from Greek mythology. According to mythology, Phaon was an old, ugly ferryman until he met Aphrodite, who gave him an ointment that made him young and beautiful. Eventually, Sappho, an ancient Greek poet, fell in love with him. Although they had a relationship for a while, Phaon eventually grew to hate and despise Sappho and decided to leave her. Sappho was so hurt that she eventually committed suicide.
This story that Mary Robinson describes is essentially a metaphor for her own love life. While she was an actress, she attracted the attention of George IV, who asked her to be his first mistress and promising to pay her. After a while, George IV ended the relationship and cast Robinson aside. Living in poverty, Robinson later died at the age of 42.
The series of poems that Robinson wrote go in a chronological progression that documents the relationship of Sappho and Phaon. In “Her Last Appeal to Phaon,” Sappho makes her final effort to convince Phaon to stay with her. The poem is a Petrarchen sonnet, following the ABBA ABBA CDCDCD rhyme scheme.
In the first quatrain, Sappho is obviously very distraught and upset as she appeals to Phaon in desperation, hoping he will stay with her. She claims to be “deformed and mangled by the rocky deep,” most likely referring to the deep love that she felt for him. She also refers to her “fatal fondness” for Phaon, alluding to the fact that she will eventually commit suicide. She also mentions that she has “peerless,” or unmatched, “fame,” referring to the popularity of Phaon because of his newfound beauty. This is also an obvious metaphor for George IV, who desired to find other mistresses to satisfy his needs.
In the second quatrain, Sappho seems very defeated and tiresome, as though she has come to terms with her eventual death. She sees no reason in continuing her life without Phaon, and vows to end her own life. Although she still seems very distressed and relatively angry as she describes “death’s cold sleep,” she seems to have finally given up on Phaon. At the end up this second quatrain, we see the volta come into play. At this point, Sappho comes to the realization that after committing suicide, she will be able to live eternally in Heaven where she will be able to have “days less mournful.” She claims that she will no longer weep over her lost relationship, instead promising to turn all her attention and praise to Phoebus, the sun god. By committing suicide and living a life dedicated to Phoebus, she will be freed of her depression and despair over a love who left her for dead.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Elizabeth Cobbold- "II. The Veil"
Elizabeth Cobbold’s “II. The Veil” is a sonnet set in a ABAB CDCD EFEF GG rhyme scheme. However, this does not fit any of the exact formats provided for typical sonnets, it is closely related to the Spenserian style. Although these sonnets generally only have 5 rhymes and each carries over from quatrain to quatrain, “The Veil” uses the 7 rhymes, much like a Shakespearian sonnet. In the style of the Spenserian sonnet, the general idea for each quatrain is carried over to the next, allowing for a sense of flow and progression throughout the sonnet.
In the first quatrain, Cobbold seems to be talking about a “remonstrance” she feels. But she refers to it as a weak grievance, and how it was something she simply created in her own mind. She introduces the veil, using it to act as a symbolic barrier between her mind and self and the physical world. By saying it is the veil that “shades the face obscures the mind”, she is bringing up the idea that there is some sort of block between what she sees and what she believes. Yet, it is obvious that she acknowledges that the veil is present and that her complaints are all made up within her mind.
Cobbold then continues on and brings about a feeling of love and courting that may be present. It seems as if she is playing the role of a coy young girl that is trying to hide behind a happy smile. This is an attempt to not let her interest know of the battles she is facing within her own mind. She is acknowledging the feelings of joy and happiness that she is experiencing with this person is around, and how she does not want him to pick up on her insecurities or grievances. The reader is fully aware of how much Cobbold wants the separation between her mind and her interest when she mentions the “tear of rapture” that is coming to her eye. It becomes apparent in the next quatrain that she hopes that her interest never learns of the other side of her.
The third quatrain seems to be a shift back and forth within her own mind about revealing her true feelings and battles and not letting her interest know of them. It appears as if she is once again ashamed of the feelings and thoughts she has, while still knowing they are insignificant in the larger picture. These thoughts are playing back and forth in her mind and trying to come out but she does not want to reveal them. However, she feels as if they are going to come out and, although she is not completely pleased with this, she is not fully against it either. The reader is now aware of just how interested she is in her pursuer and how much she cares about what he thinks. Now, she is faced with the problem of letting him in or allowing the veil to again serve as a protection between her heart and the outside world.
Finally, the sonnet ends with a couplet. It is here that Cobbold is telling the veil to come back and be her protection. She feels the need to have it return as her barrier and shield her heart. This time, it is a friendlier request. Instead of blocking her from the complaints and problems she feels between herself and the world, it is now to protect her heart from getting hurt by her new interest. She asked to veil to protect her pride, honor, and fame. In this, she is not asking that it keep her from being broken hearted, but rather just to keep her dignity and welcome love.
Emanuela Kucik on Mary Robinson's "Her Last Appeal to Phaon"
Mary Robinson’s “Her Last Appeal to Phaon” is a Petrarchan sonnet with an ABBAABBA CDCDCD rhyme scheme. The poem references an Ancient Greek mythology legend in which the Greek lyric poet Sappho falls in love with Phaon, a boatman in Lesbos. According to legend, Phaon was old and ugly until Aphrodite came to his boat disguised as an ugly, evil-looking woman. Phaon ferried her to Asia Minor free of cost and in return, Aphrodite gave him beautifying ointment that made him appear young and beautiful. As a result, Sappho fell in love with Phaon; however, after they had sex, he eventually grew to resent her and desire other lovers, leading her to drown herself. While the mythological part of the story concerning Phaon clearly is not fact-based, many people question even the basic premise of the poet Sappho falling in love with a man because it was rumored that Sappho was a lesbian and that the legend may just have been an attempt to portray her as heterosexual. Nonetheless, Robinson’s poem deals with the end of the legend in which Sappho makes a final speech to Phaon before her suicide.
In her poem, Mary Robinson takes on the persona of Sappho and uses three critical formal features throughout the poem. In the octet, Robinson uses direct appeal and imagery to make us feel Sappho’s desperation for Phaon to give her another chance at love with him. In the sestet, Robinson employs her third formal feature, personification, while simultaneously using imagery, to convey Sappho’s message that she will no longer live for Phaon, but will die peacefully focusing only on the sun.
In the poem’s first four lines, Sappho directly appeals to Phaon through the word “thou.” She asks him directly if he “wilt…remember, and forbear to weep, [her] fatal fondness, and [her] peerless fame,” thus causing us to feel her desperation. Through these questions, Sappho’s pain is evident, as is her plea to get Phaon to listen to her. This pain and desperation is further emphasized by the use of imagery, such as the image of her body “deformed and mangled by the rocky deep,” a direct reference to how distorted her corpse would look if she drowned herself.
In the next four lines of the octet, Sappho adopts a technique of using mostly imagery to plead with Phaon. She furthers the imagery of her prospective drowning by discussing the winds and ocean sweeping over her body and her “eyes [being] ever closed in death’s cold sleep,” in an attempt to illicit sympathy from Phaon and a consequent second chance at love with him.
In the sestet, Sappho furthers her use of imagery by introducing the use of personification in describing the ocean’s rocks, wind, and waves by saying “if rocks grow kind, and winds and waves conspire, to bear me softly on the swelling sea.” Through this, she is simply describing her drowning through personification, as though any part of the decision is up to the rocks, wind, waves, and sea. However, this personification presents a less gory image of her drowning than the deformed corpse image presented in the octet. In the personification, the image of her death seems gentler, especially in the line “to bear me softly on the swelling sea.”
Through direct appeal, imagery, and personification, Robinson allows us to see Sappho’s progression from a desperate plea full of vivid, disturbing imagery to Phaon to come back to her, else she gruesomely kill herself, to a resignation to peacefully drowning herself and leaving Phaon behind. In the second to last line of the poem Sappho says “to Phoebus only will I tune my Lyre.” Since Phoebus is the sun-god, Sappho is saying that she no longer lives for Phaon. In fact, she will no longer be living at all; however, she ends the poem with a positive image of her death, saying that in death, she will focus only on the sun, not on Phaon or anyone else. As a whole, the sestet combines the direct appeal, imagery, and personification of the entire poem and essentially says that Sappho will be more peaceful in death through the sea than she was in life chasing Phaon, the lover who rejected her.
In her poem, Mary Robinson takes on the persona of Sappho and uses three critical formal features throughout the poem. In the octet, Robinson uses direct appeal and imagery to make us feel Sappho’s desperation for Phaon to give her another chance at love with him. In the sestet, Robinson employs her third formal feature, personification, while simultaneously using imagery, to convey Sappho’s message that she will no longer live for Phaon, but will die peacefully focusing only on the sun.
In the poem’s first four lines, Sappho directly appeals to Phaon through the word “thou.” She asks him directly if he “wilt…remember, and forbear to weep, [her] fatal fondness, and [her] peerless fame,” thus causing us to feel her desperation. Through these questions, Sappho’s pain is evident, as is her plea to get Phaon to listen to her. This pain and desperation is further emphasized by the use of imagery, such as the image of her body “deformed and mangled by the rocky deep,” a direct reference to how distorted her corpse would look if she drowned herself.
In the next four lines of the octet, Sappho adopts a technique of using mostly imagery to plead with Phaon. She furthers the imagery of her prospective drowning by discussing the winds and ocean sweeping over her body and her “eyes [being] ever closed in death’s cold sleep,” in an attempt to illicit sympathy from Phaon and a consequent second chance at love with him.
In the sestet, Sappho furthers her use of imagery by introducing the use of personification in describing the ocean’s rocks, wind, and waves by saying “if rocks grow kind, and winds and waves conspire, to bear me softly on the swelling sea.” Through this, she is simply describing her drowning through personification, as though any part of the decision is up to the rocks, wind, waves, and sea. However, this personification presents a less gory image of her drowning than the deformed corpse image presented in the octet. In the personification, the image of her death seems gentler, especially in the line “to bear me softly on the swelling sea.”
Through direct appeal, imagery, and personification, Robinson allows us to see Sappho’s progression from a desperate plea full of vivid, disturbing imagery to Phaon to come back to her, else she gruesomely kill herself, to a resignation to peacefully drowning herself and leaving Phaon behind. In the second to last line of the poem Sappho says “to Phoebus only will I tune my Lyre.” Since Phoebus is the sun-god, Sappho is saying that she no longer lives for Phaon. In fact, she will no longer be living at all; however, she ends the poem with a positive image of her death, saying that in death, she will focus only on the sun, not on Phaon or anyone else. As a whole, the sestet combines the direct appeal, imagery, and personification of the entire poem and essentially says that Sappho will be more peaceful in death through the sea than she was in life chasing Phaon, the lover who rejected her.
I. Reproach
The sonnet “Reproach” followed a rhyme scheme of ABAB CDCD EFEF GG. Each stanza clearly spoke about a particularly side of the poem. The characters Petrarch and Laura are compared throughout the poem. Petrarch is an outspoken person who openly expresses his opinions, while Laura is more quiet and unwilling to express her feelings.
In the first stanza the poet begins by introducing the first character, Petrarch. The poet says “Ah! little cause has Petrarch to complain” By saying the author allows the reader to infer that Petrarch is living the good life. He has does not really have much to make a fuss about but the line 2 of the poem comes in. “Since thus he boasts his wound, thus vaunts the smart” In this line, the poet is revealing another characteristic of Petrarch. The words boast and vaunt share the same meaning. By reiterating this action the poet is stressing the fact that Petrarch is open and talkative to the reader. The poet then introduces Laura the second character in the third line of the poem. As the poem continues, “While Laura struggles to conceal the pain, Derived from silence and a bursting heart.” These lines contrast the characters because while Petrarch was extremely outspoken, Laura was quiet and held her emotions inside. Her bursting heart confirms that her emotions are large in quantity.
After the poet introduced the characters in the first stanza, he reveals the secret emotions of Laura. “For dear she holds the Poet and his lay: But this avowal meets no human ear.” The emotions Laura has bottled up inside of her are feeling for Petrarch. In this particular line the use of the word avowal caught my attention. An avowal is open statement of affirmation. To say that this open statement meets no human ear, hints at the fact that her emotions are emotions that are obvious or worn on her face. However, the poem continues stating “Nor the conscious eye of tell-tale day.” This line negates the thought of Laura’s emotions being obvious and leaves the reader questioning whether her emotions are outwardly seen.
The third stanza delves into how Laura deals with her emotions. “She tries each varied art, each strange disguise …” in order to cover up the feelings she has for Petrarch. The poet says she smiles to cover her sighs. Each line in stanza develops an image for the reader that shows how Laura hides her emotions. The ending couplet concludes saying that although Laura’s emotions are causing her pain no one will ever help her or sympathize with her because she chooses to hide them. On the other hand Petrarch will receive attention and sympathy because he vocalizes his feelings.
In the first stanza the poet begins by introducing the first character, Petrarch. The poet says “Ah! little cause has Petrarch to complain” By saying the author allows the reader to infer that Petrarch is living the good life. He has does not really have much to make a fuss about but the line 2 of the poem comes in. “Since thus he boasts his wound, thus vaunts the smart” In this line, the poet is revealing another characteristic of Petrarch. The words boast and vaunt share the same meaning. By reiterating this action the poet is stressing the fact that Petrarch is open and talkative to the reader. The poet then introduces Laura the second character in the third line of the poem. As the poem continues, “While Laura struggles to conceal the pain, Derived from silence and a bursting heart.” These lines contrast the characters because while Petrarch was extremely outspoken, Laura was quiet and held her emotions inside. Her bursting heart confirms that her emotions are large in quantity.
After the poet introduced the characters in the first stanza, he reveals the secret emotions of Laura. “For dear she holds the Poet and his lay: But this avowal meets no human ear.” The emotions Laura has bottled up inside of her are feeling for Petrarch. In this particular line the use of the word avowal caught my attention. An avowal is open statement of affirmation. To say that this open statement meets no human ear, hints at the fact that her emotions are emotions that are obvious or worn on her face. However, the poem continues stating “Nor the conscious eye of tell-tale day.” This line negates the thought of Laura’s emotions being obvious and leaves the reader questioning whether her emotions are outwardly seen.
The third stanza delves into how Laura deals with her emotions. “She tries each varied art, each strange disguise …” in order to cover up the feelings she has for Petrarch. The poet says she smiles to cover her sighs. Each line in stanza develops an image for the reader that shows how Laura hides her emotions. The ending couplet concludes saying that although Laura’s emotions are causing her pain no one will ever help her or sympathize with her because she chooses to hide them. On the other hand Petrarch will receive attention and sympathy because he vocalizes his feelings.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Eliz. B. Browning's Sonnet XIV from Sonnets from the Portuguese
Scott Kimball
Browning's Sonnet XIV is wrought with the lessons learned with the experience of passing love. The poem opens with the heavy-hearted, "If you must love me," which begins immediately a turn on the sonnet model of inviting or bereaving love. Reluctantly, Browning will accept this love if it is different from what she has known before.
Written in the spirit, if not the letter, of a Shakespearean sonnet, XIV is structured with the typical crescendo of this, that and the other--in this case the things that Browning doesn't want her love to be about: "her look," "her way of speaking gently," the way these attractions bring a certain lifting joy to the person looking on them, and certainly not for pity or endearment. She has broken the sonnet up into three forms, mapping the kind of love she is/is not looking for. The first two quatrains speak to the first kind of faulty love: the superficial. The third quatrain deals on a pitious love and the concluding couplet reinforces Browning's desires for a different kind of love, "love for love's sake."
And that's a more serious kind of love, more truly empassioned and more physically and emotionally close. The other kind of love, the passing kind, Browning shows with one-sided possessives, repeating often "her ___" (her look, her way of speaking gently, her smile) or "thy/thine ____" (thine own dear pity, thy comfort long, thy love). That kind of love is not possessing both people, it is instead being possessed by only one of them and placed upon the other. Browning doesn't want that, she wants the objective love, the real love...in the words of Etta James, "the kind of love that lasts past Saturday night." Her "love" (a word used 9 times in a 14-line poem) extends beyond the persons, and cannot be so easily unwrought as the other kind.
For herself and for her love, Browning wishes her couplet love (an appropriate placement for love), the love for love's sake...more simple than ever and thus lasting "through love's eternity," since it is neither contingent upon the conceits and qualities of only one lover nor upon the lovers themselves; it simply is.
Browning's Sonnet XIV is wrought with the lessons learned with the experience of passing love. The poem opens with the heavy-hearted, "If you must love me," which begins immediately a turn on the sonnet model of inviting or bereaving love. Reluctantly, Browning will accept this love if it is different from what she has known before.
Written in the spirit, if not the letter, of a Shakespearean sonnet, XIV is structured with the typical crescendo of this, that and the other--in this case the things that Browning doesn't want her love to be about: "her look," "her way of speaking gently," the way these attractions bring a certain lifting joy to the person looking on them, and certainly not for pity or endearment. She has broken the sonnet up into three forms, mapping the kind of love she is/is not looking for. The first two quatrains speak to the first kind of faulty love: the superficial. The third quatrain deals on a pitious love and the concluding couplet reinforces Browning's desires for a different kind of love, "love for love's sake."
And that's a more serious kind of love, more truly empassioned and more physically and emotionally close. The other kind of love, the passing kind, Browning shows with one-sided possessives, repeating often "her ___" (her look, her way of speaking gently, her smile) or "thy/thine ____" (thine own dear pity, thy comfort long, thy love). That kind of love is not possessing both people, it is instead being possessed by only one of them and placed upon the other. Browning doesn't want that, she wants the objective love, the real love...in the words of Etta James, "the kind of love that lasts past Saturday night." Her "love" (a word used 9 times in a 14-line poem) extends beyond the persons, and cannot be so easily unwrought as the other kind.
For herself and for her love, Browning wishes her couplet love (an appropriate placement for love), the love for love's sake...more simple than ever and thus lasting "through love's eternity," since it is neither contingent upon the conceits and qualities of only one lover nor upon the lovers themselves; it simply is.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Sonnets From the Portuguese
By Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Sonnet I
By Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Sonnet I
Sarabeth Hogshire
2-25-09
Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote Sonnets from the Portuguese as a collection of love poems about her husband. Before she met him she wrote mainly about political issues, but afterwards she wrote mainly about love. This poem is about a woman looking back on her life in adulthood thinking that perhaps she did not get the most out of it, and that she would die having led a boring and uneventful life. However, to her surprise, love finds her.
This poem reflects Elizabeth Barrett Brownings own life in many ways. She grew up in a very oppressive household with a father who was extremely controlling. She remained in her childhood home throughout most of her adulthood, expecting to be an old maid, until she met her husband Robert Browning. Robert Browning saved her from her childhood home and gave her the life she never thought she could have, and that is what this poem is about.
Contextually this poem is divided into three parts. The first part consists of the first four lines. They introduce poetry that Browning was reading written by Theocritus. His poem discusses the passing of time throughout one’s life. Theocritus sees each passing year as a gift, expressing his view that life is a wonderful thing to experience. This serves to later contrast how Browning viewed her own life.
The second part of the poem consists of the next four lines. They reveal Browning’s thoughts on Theocritus’ poem. She looks at her own life not as a gift, but as sad, empty, mediocre years. Her description of the passing of time throughout one’s life is completely opposite of Theocritus view of life. She makes this clear by describing her life as “the sweet, sad years, the melancholy years…” I love Browning’s use of the “….” because it reflects so well how she was in a very pensive mood.
The last part of the poem consists of the last six lines, it also contains the turn in the poem. At first, Browning sees herself aging and acknowledges a change in her life. Initially she thinks this change is Death coming to claim her, but she realizes that it is love entering her life. Because Browning remained in her childhood home for so long, she thought the next big thing to happen to her would be her death, but she is surprised when love enters her life.
The rhyme scheme of this poem is almost Petrarchian. It has a ABBA ABBA CDC CDC rhyme scheme, so it follows Petrarchian rules for the first eight lines, but not the last six. Another quality that makes it almost Petrarchian is the fact that there is a volta, or turn, in the ninth line. Browning goes from passively contemplating her wasted years, to being aware that something is about to happen that will drastically change her situation.
*Some biographical information from:
http://lovepoems.yu-hu.com/e-browning/I_thought_once_how_Theocritus_had_sung.shtml
Monday, February 23, 2009
Ah Yes... Late...
For my blog post I will be analyzing “On a Discovery Made Too Late” simply for the irony of my situation. The poem focuses on the heartbreak of the speaker, who has no choice but to accept the fact that he and his lover will never be. It is a petrarchan sonnet, with a rhyme scheme of ABBA CDDC EFFE EF. Coleridge keeps the standard iambic pentameter with all masculine rhyme. The poem can be divided into two parts that depict the frustration and acceptance of the speaker.
The speaker uses the first half of the poem to present his situation. The first quatrain focuses on his inner turmoil. He compares his feelings to a festering critical wound. He has evidently loved someone and been deeply hurt by the realization that they cannot be together. He feels blind sighted and recognizes defeat with agonizing pain. With the second quatrain the speaker moves into questioning his situation. He first personifies Hope and blames it for persuading him. In his state of mind he has reached the point where he is trying to find reason for his failure and properly blames Hope and Jealousy for turning him into a “maniac.” Clearly this pain was not his fault (Spoken with heavy sarcasm). The audience can sense that the speaker is feeling pretty hurt, possibly destroyed by his love life. He has presented his despair, but can he recover?
The second half of the poem culminates with his acceptance of the situation. The volta, or switch, occurs in line 9, where the speaker shifts his tone in the middle of the fourth foot. He changes from a passionate anger to a quieting compromise. He moves past the blaming and feeling sorry for himself as he realizes that he still has the love in his dreams. He understands that he cannot change her mind, but she can’t take away the memories. While the memories may be detrimental to his current situation, the fact that he provides a moment of content proves to the audience that his feelings are improving. But then he blows it and revels in self pity. He compares the love to a baby that died in his motherly arms. He recognizes that he could have made things work, but he had let sickness grow until the baby couldn’t be saved.
“On a Discovery Made Too Late” is an all too believable love conclusion. A man settles with defeat when he cannot get the woman he loves. Coleridge’s poem creates sympathy for the speaker and his tragedy. The speaker compares his love to a baby, but luckily the audience can rest assured that he will not be treating a baby of his own so poorly.
The speaker uses the first half of the poem to present his situation. The first quatrain focuses on his inner turmoil. He compares his feelings to a festering critical wound. He has evidently loved someone and been deeply hurt by the realization that they cannot be together. He feels blind sighted and recognizes defeat with agonizing pain. With the second quatrain the speaker moves into questioning his situation. He first personifies Hope and blames it for persuading him. In his state of mind he has reached the point where he is trying to find reason for his failure and properly blames Hope and Jealousy for turning him into a “maniac.” Clearly this pain was not his fault (Spoken with heavy sarcasm). The audience can sense that the speaker is feeling pretty hurt, possibly destroyed by his love life. He has presented his despair, but can he recover?
The second half of the poem culminates with his acceptance of the situation. The volta, or switch, occurs in line 9, where the speaker shifts his tone in the middle of the fourth foot. He changes from a passionate anger to a quieting compromise. He moves past the blaming and feeling sorry for himself as he realizes that he still has the love in his dreams. He understands that he cannot change her mind, but she can’t take away the memories. While the memories may be detrimental to his current situation, the fact that he provides a moment of content proves to the audience that his feelings are improving. But then he blows it and revels in self pity. He compares the love to a baby that died in his motherly arms. He recognizes that he could have made things work, but he had let sickness grow until the baby couldn’t be saved.
“On a Discovery Made Too Late” is an all too believable love conclusion. A man settles with defeat when he cannot get the woman he loves. Coleridge’s poem creates sympathy for the speaker and his tragedy. The speaker compares his love to a baby, but luckily the audience can rest assured that he will not be treating a baby of his own so poorly.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Whether thou smile or frown...
In this poem, the speaker talks about how much he loves his once significant other no matter what she does. Her actions are magical, and he remembers the times that she was his. Now, he just wants to let go and “bid the mutual soul depart.” In other words, he wants to say goodbye to their past connection which linked them together as one. Although he wants to get over her, he can’t stop thinking about her. To conclude his sonnet, he notes his upset over the fact that departed love crushes the joy in life. In other words, he suffers and expresses his dissatisfaction that one cannot find other joys after a heart break. In this poem, I was most drawn to the rhythm and the rhyme.
The poem mostly presents meter in iambic pentameter although a few variations in meter exist at points of drama. For example, one dramatic place of amplified feelings occurs in the sixth line which states, “Die on thy lips, and, as fierce raptures dart.” At this line in the poem, the speaker changes his attitude from his admiration of his once significant other to his desire to forget about everything he had with her. Charles Lloyd shows his amplified feelings in the last part of the line which includes two stressed syllables in a row followed by an unstressed then stressed syllable. The two stressed syllables, fierce raptures, also are the most intense words in the line, and by stressing these two syllables, Lloyd draws attention to the words and intense emotions.
Variations in the poem also present points of depression. For example, toward the end of the poem as Lloyd expresses his upset for joy’s dependency on love, the iambic pentameter is drastically broken. In the line, “love is departed, and in agony,” the meter has changed immensely. To me, there seems to be three “feet” or beats in the line where the stresses lie on love, the second syllable in departed, and the first syllable in agony. I think the break of iambic pentameter mirrors Lloyd’s “break” within himself. He is falling apart as the poem’s meter falls apart.
In terms of the rhyme scheme, the poem presents four layers of rhyme. The pattern is as follows: ABBAABBCDDCDC. The first pattern of rhyme, corresponding to A, marks lines which note Lloyd’s admiration of his past love. Specifically, the speaker notes the woman’s beautiful face, enchanting grace, lovely form, keen glances, and love. The poem begins with this rhyme scheme yet drops it after about half way into the poem since the poet’s attitude changes from admiring the woman to wanting the situation to be over. The second rhyme scheme, corresponding to B, mostly marks lines which support the speaker’s change in attitude; however, I feel that the third line in the poem does not relate to the other lines of this rhyme scheme. I am not sure why this line rhymes with the other three which, as stated above, mark his transformation in attitude. The third group of rhymed lines, corresponding to C, mark the poet’s upset and suffering. This rhyme scheme actually ends the poem to note the speaker’s loss of a resolution to his pain. The last layer of rhyme, corresponding to layer D, marks lines which make it clear that the relationship is over. He was prone to loving her, yet she is no longer his. “The infatuated spirit must deplore.” I believe the reason the poet mixes up the lines with different rhyme schemes to tine certain lines together yet also to represent his jumbled thoughts. As the meter represents his “breaking apart,” the rhyme too represents this loss of organized feelings and coherent thought which stem from his sadness.
The poem mostly presents meter in iambic pentameter although a few variations in meter exist at points of drama. For example, one dramatic place of amplified feelings occurs in the sixth line which states, “Die on thy lips, and, as fierce raptures dart.” At this line in the poem, the speaker changes his attitude from his admiration of his once significant other to his desire to forget about everything he had with her. Charles Lloyd shows his amplified feelings in the last part of the line which includes two stressed syllables in a row followed by an unstressed then stressed syllable. The two stressed syllables, fierce raptures, also are the most intense words in the line, and by stressing these two syllables, Lloyd draws attention to the words and intense emotions.
Variations in the poem also present points of depression. For example, toward the end of the poem as Lloyd expresses his upset for joy’s dependency on love, the iambic pentameter is drastically broken. In the line, “love is departed, and in agony,” the meter has changed immensely. To me, there seems to be three “feet” or beats in the line where the stresses lie on love, the second syllable in departed, and the first syllable in agony. I think the break of iambic pentameter mirrors Lloyd’s “break” within himself. He is falling apart as the poem’s meter falls apart.
In terms of the rhyme scheme, the poem presents four layers of rhyme. The pattern is as follows: ABBAABBCDDCDC. The first pattern of rhyme, corresponding to A, marks lines which note Lloyd’s admiration of his past love. Specifically, the speaker notes the woman’s beautiful face, enchanting grace, lovely form, keen glances, and love. The poem begins with this rhyme scheme yet drops it after about half way into the poem since the poet’s attitude changes from admiring the woman to wanting the situation to be over. The second rhyme scheme, corresponding to B, mostly marks lines which support the speaker’s change in attitude; however, I feel that the third line in the poem does not relate to the other lines of this rhyme scheme. I am not sure why this line rhymes with the other three which, as stated above, mark his transformation in attitude. The third group of rhymed lines, corresponding to C, mark the poet’s upset and suffering. This rhyme scheme actually ends the poem to note the speaker’s loss of a resolution to his pain. The last layer of rhyme, corresponding to layer D, marks lines which make it clear that the relationship is over. He was prone to loving her, yet she is no longer his. “The infatuated spirit must deplore.” I believe the reason the poet mixes up the lines with different rhyme schemes to tine certain lines together yet also to represent his jumbled thoughts. As the meter represents his “breaking apart,” the rhyme too represents this loss of organized feelings and coherent thought which stem from his sadness.
From Petrarch
“From Petrarch,” by Charlotte Smith could be first seen as a love sonnet as the speaker proclaims their love to a woman that is like a goddess. It begins by telling of the woman’s physical beauty, but questions how that might have deceived the speaker. They come to realize continue to tell how the woman is like a goddess; the reader begins to see that this poem is not of a current love, rather a former love who has broken the heart of the speaker.
The sonnet begins with a reference to the Greek god Zephyr who is the god of the west wind. The west wind comes during spring time, which is the season of love and fertility. Though Zephyr had many loves and wives, he had his heart broken when he lost out to the god Apollo while both tried to court a Spartan man. I believe most readers would assume the speaker of the poem is a man, but the knowledge of Zephyr’s attempt to court a man brings the speakers sex into question. The poem never specifies if the speaker is a man or a woman, but with the reference to Zephyr one could say it is a woman speaking of her same sex love interest. This love interest seems to be solely physical, and that is when they question the love.
At line five which begins “Was I deceived?” hints to the reader that this is a sonnet about a broken heart. They know that they may have been seduced by the charm and looks of this woman which could have been false love, but as it was happening at the time they did not care and fell under her spell. The speaker continues to glorify this woman: “They soft melodious voice, thy air, thy shape, / Were of a goddess—not a mortal maid” (lines 9-10). This obsession just creates a larger potential for an enormous letdown and tragic heartbreak that occurs immediately after.
Yet though thy charms, thy heavenly charms should fade,
My heart, my tender heart could not escape;
No cure for me in time or change be found:
The shaft extracted does not cure the wound!
The speaker explains that they are still in love with this woman even after she begins to lose her charm. They feel that they will never heal from this horrible feeling of heartache. “The shaft extracted” can be thought of either as the woman actually leaving the speaker leaving a gaping wound. Or it could be seen as the sonnet itself as telling this story could have been a way to try to relieve the pain. The last two lines make it painful for the reader as the ending words end similarly but they do not sound the same. It is almost emphasizing the pain the speaker is in as it is painful to want to rhyme the two words but be unable to.
This sonnet brings about the pain and heartache of losing someone you love and lust for. The speaker brings forth all the qualities in the woman that they loved, which in essence makes the pain harder to deal with. The poem begins cheery and adoring, but ends in a depression as the pain of the heartache is still there like an open wound.
The sonnet begins with a reference to the Greek god Zephyr who is the god of the west wind. The west wind comes during spring time, which is the season of love and fertility. Though Zephyr had many loves and wives, he had his heart broken when he lost out to the god Apollo while both tried to court a Spartan man. I believe most readers would assume the speaker of the poem is a man, but the knowledge of Zephyr’s attempt to court a man brings the speakers sex into question. The poem never specifies if the speaker is a man or a woman, but with the reference to Zephyr one could say it is a woman speaking of her same sex love interest. This love interest seems to be solely physical, and that is when they question the love.
At line five which begins “Was I deceived?” hints to the reader that this is a sonnet about a broken heart. They know that they may have been seduced by the charm and looks of this woman which could have been false love, but as it was happening at the time they did not care and fell under her spell. The speaker continues to glorify this woman: “They soft melodious voice, thy air, thy shape, / Were of a goddess—not a mortal maid” (lines 9-10). This obsession just creates a larger potential for an enormous letdown and tragic heartbreak that occurs immediately after.
Yet though thy charms, thy heavenly charms should fade,
My heart, my tender heart could not escape;
No cure for me in time or change be found:
The shaft extracted does not cure the wound!
The speaker explains that they are still in love with this woman even after she begins to lose her charm. They feel that they will never heal from this horrible feeling of heartache. “The shaft extracted” can be thought of either as the woman actually leaving the speaker leaving a gaping wound. Or it could be seen as the sonnet itself as telling this story could have been a way to try to relieve the pain. The last two lines make it painful for the reader as the ending words end similarly but they do not sound the same. It is almost emphasizing the pain the speaker is in as it is painful to want to rhyme the two words but be unable to.
This sonnet brings about the pain and heartache of losing someone you love and lust for. The speaker brings forth all the qualities in the woman that they loved, which in essence makes the pain harder to deal with. The poem begins cheery and adoring, but ends in a depression as the pain of the heartache is still there like an open wound.
Coleridge- "On a Discovery Made too Late"
Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s 1794 sonnet entitled “On a Discovery Made too Late” is a lament about making a bad decision. Coleridge acted on an amorous notion, only to find out that his feelings were not reciprocated. This poem, written after he was rejected by Mary Evans, his first love, is a sonnet written to his own heart. It treats the heart as a separate entity from Coleridge himself, personifying the heart in a way that must have eased the pain of rejection at least a little bit. Coleridge first berates his heart, angrily asking it a broad question: Why? He then moves on, in the last six lines, and tells his heart what it should have done in the situation. Not once does the author consider the fact that maybe he, not his heart, was the one who made the bad decision.
The poem begins with two quatrains written in ABBA form. In these two quatrains, Coleridge laments the bad decision his heart made and angrily asks why his heart had to listen to “Hope’s whisper bland.” Coleridge’s hope appears to have been that Mary Evans would marry him, which obviously didn’t happen. These first eight lines, written after the rejection, berate the heart for not knowing that the Hope was merely a bland whisper, thus unrealistic and not likely to work out. Coleridge describes his jealousy that Evans would be taken by someone else as a “maniac’s hand” jarring the fibers of his heart. His tone is angry, almost like he is yelling at his heart, asking why it acted on what he now considers to be “feverous fancies.”
The last six lines of the sonnet, in which an ABBA quatrain is followed by a non-rhyming AB couplet, mark a turning point between a question and an answer. The first big question, “Why?” asked in the first two quatrains, is followed by an answer, not to the first question, but to the question “What should the heart have done?” Coleridge’s answer is that his heart should have hung on to the hope that Mary Evans loved him and cherished that thought rather than actually acting on it. This hope, according to the author, was “fair and sooth’d with many a dream the hour of rest.” What Coleridge means is that thinking about Mary Evans made him feel good and satisfied, thus, the heart should have just played along with that feeling and embraced it, “nurs’d it with an agony of care”, rather than actually acting on the feeling. Coleridge acknowledges how pitiful this sounds, but presents an argument for doing so, in the last non-rhyming couplet. He compares cherishing the feeling of hope that Mary Evans loved him to a mother nursing her sick infant: Although the idea, like the baby, is weak and does not hold up to any sort of examination at all, it is dependent upon its creator and thus deserves to be taken care of.
The first eight lines of the poem show a clear distinction in Coleridge’s thinking between his heart and his head. His brain, though unmentioned, is the author of this poem, written after the fact with the clarity of hindsight. His heart, on the other hand, was the rogue actor, escaping from under the sway of his brain and foolishly offering Coleridge to his love, only to be rejected. This way of thinking explains the big question in the two quatrains, which can be summed up as a general “Why did you do that?” The last six lines at the end of the sonnet then attempt to tell the heart what it should have done instead of acting on the hope. Coleridge’s bipolar scheme of heart vs. mind probably helped him ease the pain of the rejection and the shame of his false hope by placing the blame on his heart rather than his brain, which represents his rational self.
The poem begins with two quatrains written in ABBA form. In these two quatrains, Coleridge laments the bad decision his heart made and angrily asks why his heart had to listen to “Hope’s whisper bland.” Coleridge’s hope appears to have been that Mary Evans would marry him, which obviously didn’t happen. These first eight lines, written after the rejection, berate the heart for not knowing that the Hope was merely a bland whisper, thus unrealistic and not likely to work out. Coleridge describes his jealousy that Evans would be taken by someone else as a “maniac’s hand” jarring the fibers of his heart. His tone is angry, almost like he is yelling at his heart, asking why it acted on what he now considers to be “feverous fancies.”
The last six lines of the sonnet, in which an ABBA quatrain is followed by a non-rhyming AB couplet, mark a turning point between a question and an answer. The first big question, “Why?” asked in the first two quatrains, is followed by an answer, not to the first question, but to the question “What should the heart have done?” Coleridge’s answer is that his heart should have hung on to the hope that Mary Evans loved him and cherished that thought rather than actually acting on it. This hope, according to the author, was “fair and sooth’d with many a dream the hour of rest.” What Coleridge means is that thinking about Mary Evans made him feel good and satisfied, thus, the heart should have just played along with that feeling and embraced it, “nurs’d it with an agony of care”, rather than actually acting on the feeling. Coleridge acknowledges how pitiful this sounds, but presents an argument for doing so, in the last non-rhyming couplet. He compares cherishing the feeling of hope that Mary Evans loved him to a mother nursing her sick infant: Although the idea, like the baby, is weak and does not hold up to any sort of examination at all, it is dependent upon its creator and thus deserves to be taken care of.
The first eight lines of the poem show a clear distinction in Coleridge’s thinking between his heart and his head. His brain, though unmentioned, is the author of this poem, written after the fact with the clarity of hindsight. His heart, on the other hand, was the rogue actor, escaping from under the sway of his brain and foolishly offering Coleridge to his love, only to be rejected. This way of thinking explains the big question in the two quatrains, which can be summed up as a general “Why did you do that?” The last six lines at the end of the sonnet then attempt to tell the heart what it should have done instead of acting on the hope. Coleridge’s bipolar scheme of heart vs. mind probably helped him ease the pain of the rejection and the shame of his false hope by placing the blame on his heart rather than his brain, which represents his rational self.
..To Valclusa..
The sonnet that I decided to write for this week’s blog post is To Valclusa, which I am assuming was written by Thomas Russell. By the title the reader would assume that the author is writing a letter to whoever Valclusa is. After reading this poem thoroughly one complete time, it seems as if the author is explaining how he deals with the death of somebody that is close to him and somebody whom he loved. Some of the things he used to deal with this death includes bringing flowers to a shrine, singing a song, and just plainly mourning. As the sonnet continues it seems to be a change in pace as the author seems to be talking about more positive things instead of the mournful and depressing emotions from the death. The structure of this sonnet is what really stood out to me after reading this sonnet about six to eight times. It seems to be that the sonnet is split into two sections. The first section includes the first eight lines and the second section includes the last 6 lines.
The first section of this sonnet that I just mentioned has a different mood and emotion than the second section. In the first section the author seems to be focused on the mournful and grieving period after somebody’s death.
Long loved her living, long bemoaned her dead,
This line seems to sum up the author’s emotion of her death completely. He is simply saying that he loved her so much while she was living and always loved her. Then he is saying that now that she has died, he will mourn for her forever long, as he had loved her forever long when she was on earth. And as the author continues, it seems as though he will never be able to let go of her death and he will be grieving for all of eternity. The entire mood of this section seems to be depressing as seen in this line:
As erst, when drooping o’er her turf forlorn
He charmed wild Echo with his plaintive song!
This line tells the reader that the author is still mourning even while singing songs that are filled with sorrowful memories and pains. But the mood seems to turn around in the final section of this sonnet
This second section seems to almost take a complete turnaround from the first section in the direction the emotion is going. Through my own reflection of this sonnet I feel as though this second section is explaining how the author now realizes that even though his loved one is now gone, life still goes on.
Yet still soft music breathes in every gale,
Still undecayed the fairy-garlands bloom,
Still heavenly incense fills each fragrant vale,
These few lines come off to me as though the author finally came to the realization that even if he sits around and continues to mourn that life is still existing and going on. The author uses a comparison of the author moving on to nature. Because no matter if it snows, rains, or sleets nature still exists or nature rebuilds and grows again.
After understanding this poem, I believe the author is trying to get the reader to understand that mourning is not supposed to be something that last an eternity. He is not trying to downplay mourning, but he just wants the reader to understand that life HAS to go on. We cannot let the deaths of our closed, loved ones hinder our lives and keep us from achieving any goals in life.
The first section of this sonnet that I just mentioned has a different mood and emotion than the second section. In the first section the author seems to be focused on the mournful and grieving period after somebody’s death.
Long loved her living, long bemoaned her dead,
This line seems to sum up the author’s emotion of her death completely. He is simply saying that he loved her so much while she was living and always loved her. Then he is saying that now that she has died, he will mourn for her forever long, as he had loved her forever long when she was on earth. And as the author continues, it seems as though he will never be able to let go of her death and he will be grieving for all of eternity. The entire mood of this section seems to be depressing as seen in this line:
As erst, when drooping o’er her turf forlorn
He charmed wild Echo with his plaintive song!
This line tells the reader that the author is still mourning even while singing songs that are filled with sorrowful memories and pains. But the mood seems to turn around in the final section of this sonnet
This second section seems to almost take a complete turnaround from the first section in the direction the emotion is going. Through my own reflection of this sonnet I feel as though this second section is explaining how the author now realizes that even though his loved one is now gone, life still goes on.
Yet still soft music breathes in every gale,
Still undecayed the fairy-garlands bloom,
Still heavenly incense fills each fragrant vale,
These few lines come off to me as though the author finally came to the realization that even if he sits around and continues to mourn that life is still existing and going on. The author uses a comparison of the author moving on to nature. Because no matter if it snows, rains, or sleets nature still exists or nature rebuilds and grows again.
After understanding this poem, I believe the author is trying to get the reader to understand that mourning is not supposed to be something that last an eternity. He is not trying to downplay mourning, but he just wants the reader to understand that life HAS to go on. We cannot let the deaths of our closed, loved ones hinder our lives and keep us from achieving any goals in life.
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