On Giles & Joan

On Giles and Joan seems to be representative of the writing style and subject matter of the Cavalier poets. This poem is packed with humor because of its very subject matter, and although the poem makes an astute observation about the discrepancy between happiness in marriage and “getting along” with one’s partner, it does so in a manner that maintains lightheartedness. While this poem definitely incorporates humor, it also raises questions about what the relationship between married parties should be.

Giles and Joan agree on their dislike for each other and the malcontent of their marriage. In this way, they get along. But, although the poet presents Giles and Joan as having a humorously discontented relationship, he brings up some rather serious subjects. Apparently, Joan’s children do not belong to Giles and the married couple cannot stand the site of each other. It would seem that to an outsider Giles and Joan have a decent marriage even though they despise each other. Thus this poem raises questions about the true nature of marriage and joy in marriage.

prompt for The Twelfth Night

If music be the food of love, play on,

Give me excess of it that, surfeiting,

The appetite may sicken and so die.

That strain again, it had a dying fall.

O, it came o’er my ear like the sweet sound

That breathes upon a bank of violets,

Stealing and giving odor. Enough, no more,

‘Tis not so sweet now as it was before.

[music ceases]

O spirit of love, how quick and fresh art thou

That, notwithstanding thy capacity

Receiveth as the sea, naught enters there,

Of what validity and pitch so e’er,

But falls into abatement and low price

Even in a minute! So full of shapes is fancy

That it alone is high fantastical.

As a stand alone piece of text this soliloquy works to point out the ever-changing character of love. Orsino uses natural images to lend visual context to the explanation of this abstract concept. Furthermore, the playing of music and the ceasing of it allow the reader to further connect the words of Orsino with something that appeals to their senses. Orsino describes the strain of music as having a dying cadence, starting strong and then progressively getting weaker. Orsino is obviously comparing the lessening strength of the music with the progression of love. Orsino further illuminates this theme by describing wind blowing over violets. While the wind “breathes” over the flowers it simultaneously yields fragrance while also taking the scent from the violets. Both these references, music and flowers, seem pleasing to Orsino at first, but then come to not be “as sweet” as they were before. Similarly, love begins with the near intoxication of infatuation but lessens with length of time. Further, the comparison between flowers and love can be taken further. Flowers are often connected with youth and youthfulness. A flower is in bloom for a time, during which it is beautiful, fragrant, and enjoyable. But, when a flower begins to wilt it loses both its beauty and pleasing smell. In the same way, love is often short lived and once love begins to fade it seems nearly putrid to dejected lovers. Orsino continues to use natural images by referring to the tides. Love, as the ocean, both asks for and is willing to receive a great amount. But, like the ebbing of tides, love also decreases after time. This comparison of love to tides is also interesting because tides continue to come and go. Therefore, although Orsino seems to be pointing to the way love can end quickly, he also may be saying that even when love seems to be ending it may return, just as high tide does.

When placed into the context of The Twelfth Night, Orsino’s soliloquy has similar meaning to its stand alone value. However, because this play is so full of confusion in relationships and characters who are constantly seeking the attention and recognition of those they love, the meanings are strengthened. Through reading the play, the reader receives an illustration of the ideas asserted by Orsino. Just as the tides ebb and flow, the relationships and connections between each of the characters also strengthen, weaken, and change. Furthermore, the reader is able to see how easily the characters fall in love with one another, fall out of love, and in love with someone else. Thus, placing Orsino’s soliloquy into the framework of the play does not lend a different meaning to the reading. Instead, placing Orsino’s words within the play’s context strengthens Orsino’s images and themes.

Sonnet #1: Astrophil & Stella

Loving in truth, and fain in verse my love to show,
That the dear She might take some pleasure of my pain,
Pleasure might cause her read, reading might make her know,
knowledge might pity win, and pity grace obtain,

These are the first four lines of Sidney's first Astrophil & Stella sonnet. I have heard this sonnet many times before and have always liked it. What I think is significant about this sonnet is the willingness on the part of the speaker to do what is needed to obtain the favor of the woman he loves. He is willing to embrace his pain and to be pitied in order to obtain her grace. In an odd way, the reader can also see a reflection of interaction between God and a human. (Bare with me here, I know this is abstract) A surface reading of this poem most definately yields the interpretation that the speaker is seeking earthly romantic love and affection from a woman, which he tries to obtain by delighting her with his writing skills, ultimately realizing that it is not his intellect that will bring him favor in her eyes, but his true feelings from his heart. However, the word choice in this poem also reflect the struggle of a man who is searching for salvation. If we think of "my verse" as actions instead of written words one can assume that the speaker is attempting to obtain salvation or God's "grace" through his actions here on Earth. Salvation from God is often referred to as God's grace or mercy. Thus, the speaker is attempting to please God through his works. As the speaker toils on Earth attempting to please God, he hopes that God will see his hard work, pity him, and grant him salvation. If God is therefore the muse for the speaker's actions on Earth, the statement "look in thy heart and write" would be a statement to the speaker directly from God. Instead of an urging from a woman to a man to accurately write of his love for her, this statement can be interpreted as an urging from God for the man to open his heart to receive true salvation. Thus, this poem can be read as a gospel message. Although one's efforts here on Earth to do "good works" and to please God through one's actions are admirable, all one must really do to become "saved" is open their heart to God.

writing prompt for love poetry week 2

In small groups during class my group concentrated on sonnet #5 from Sidney's Astrophil & Stella sonnets. I think my group came up with a lot of really great analysis about the poem. During our classtime I noticed, in particular, one portion of the sonnet that yields multiple meanings. The second quatrain reads,

"It is most true, what we call Cupid's dart/ An image is, which for ourselves we carve;/ And, fools, adore in the temple of our heart,/ Till that good god make church and churchman starve."

I think this particular quatrain is interesting. In it, Sidney describes earthly romantic love. Sidney dedicates the first four lines to a description of virtue, which he says should rule. The four lines following the description of earthly love describe heavenly love, one that should transcend earthly romantic feelings for Christians. Sidney's address of three types of love in one poem lend to the reader's ability to see multiple meanings throughout the poem's text. Here, I will concentrate only on the portion of this sonnet that speaks of Astrophil's earthly love for Stella. When the speaker points to "what we call Cupid's dart" it is easy to see that he is pointing to a distinctly human interpretation of love. He then refers to love as "an image" which is "carved" or created for oneself by oneself, or created for humanity by humanity. The speaker says that love is created, instead of that it exists outside of human control. Thus, one analysis of this passage would be that love is a social construction, and therefore is not real. The speaker affirms that although earthly love is a creation of earthly beings, it entices real feelings from people, causing us to "adore in the temple of our heart." He also asserts that submitting to this false constructed love makes fools of humanity, since, instead, they should be embracing the heavenly love that, unlike earthly love, is immortal.

A second or alternate interpretation of this passage is that the speaker is equating earthly love to a violation of the first and second commandments which are (1) Thou shalt have no other gods before me [Jesus] and (2) you shall not make for yourself an idol. In line 6 the speaker refers to love directly as a carven image. Furthermore, Christians often speak of their bodies and hearts as "temples," in which Jesus resides, and which should not be polluted by the worshipping of false idols or delighting in lust. Referencing these ideas suggest that to embrace earthly love is to deny God's true love and to instead idolize our own, temporary, created love.

Farewell, Love

Wyatt’s “Farewell, Love” presents a quite pessimistic view of what love is. In each line the speaker characterizes love in a different way, each of which reveals an equally negative view. The text of the poem reads

Farewell, Love, and all thy laws forever,

Thy baited hooks shall tangle me no more;

Senec and Plato call me from thy lore

To perfect wealth my wit for to endeavor.

In blind error when I did persever,

Thy sharp repulse, that pricketh aye so sore,

Hath taught me to set in trifles no store,

And ‘scape forth since liberty is lever.

Therefore farewell, go trouble younger heart,

And in me claim no more authority;

With idle youth go use thy property,

And thereon spend thy many brittle darts.

For hitherto though I have lost all my time,

Me lusteth no longer rotten bows to climb.

In the first line the speaker rejects love by saying “farewell” to it forever. Not only does he say goodbye to Love, but the speaker also rejects Love’s “laws.” To suggest that Love has laws defies the idea of this abstraction as fanciful and pleasant. Instead, the reader is forced to see Love as having structure, boundaries, rules, and restrictions. The next line characterizes Love as a dangerous beast with hooks. The fact that the hooks “tangle” the speaker shows that, in his view, Love is confusing and easy to get caught up in. The next two lines suggest that to submit to Love is to be witless. Thus the speaker characterizes Love as something that should be reserved for uneducated idiots, and that those who sharpen their minds will not be dumb enough to fall prey to it. Lines five and six continue the speaker’s negative analysis by saying that Love repels, instead of embraces the speaker. No matter how hard the speaker “persevered” to obtain Love, it was always beyond his reach. Furthermore, the speaker suggests that Love’s rejection of him never ceased to be hurtful. In the next line the speaker says that Love is a trifle. According to the Oxford English dictionary a trifle is, “a false or idle tale told to deceive, cheat, or befool.” By describing Love as a trifle, the speaker asserts that it is almost evil because it aims to deceive and harm. Line eight continues by suggesting that to submit to love is to lose freedom. Thus, according to the speaker, Love makes people into slaves. The next four lines suggest that the speaker feels he is too old, and possibly too emotionally tired, to be bothered by love. He says that Love is for young people who still have the strength to sustain the troubles that Love inflicts. Furthermore, Love is given a weapon by the speaker to inflict pain on those who are struck by its’ arrows.

Wyatt’s poem definitely represents the most negative view of Love I have seen in awhile. What I think is most interesting about this poem, though, is that each line has within it a different evaluation of the danger and uselessness of Love.

Sonnet 61

Michael Drayton's sonnet number sixty-one, on first look, seems to be a sonnet about the ease with which love can be ended. However, a more careful reading of this sonnet reveals that it may in fact have the opposite meaning. One key word of this text, "vows," illuminates the speaker's true feelings about the difficulty of losing or ending a love affair.

Drayton begins his sonnet by having the speaker assert his joy at having the relationship end. The speaker then goes on to describe how easily the love affair will be done away with by saying, "Shake hands forever, cancel all our vows,/and when we meet again,/ Be it not seen in either of our brows/ That we one jot of former love retain." The word "vows" stands out as the key word of this poem and one which reveals the speaker's true feelings. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, a vow is "a solemn promise made to God..." A vow inherently cannot be broken because it is a promise to one’s maker. The fact that the speaker and his lover have made vows to each other reveals the seriousness of their relationship. Usually, a vow is considered to bind one person to another for eternity or until one of the persons in the relationship dies. So, even though the speaker may desire a simple end to his relationship, the existence of a vow between these two lovers suggests that an easy “canceling” of their promises will not be possible.

Later in the poem the idea that freeing himself will not be as easy as the speaker first suggests is confirmed when he says that Love is gasping his last breath, Passion’s pulse is failing, and Faith is near death. Although the speaker desires for the vows made in the relationship to be easily broken, it is simply impossible. In order for the separation of the lovers to occur, Love, Passion, and Faith, the sustaining matter of their connection must perish with the relationship.

Pride is excessive belief in one's own abilities that interferes with the individual's recognition of the grace of God. It has been called the sin from which all others arise. Pride is also known as Vanity.
Envy is the desire for others' traits, status, abilities, or situation.
Gluttony is an inordinate desire to consume more than that which one requires.
Lust is an inordinate craving for the pleasures of the body.
Anger is manifested in the individual who spurns love and opts instead for fury. It is also known as Wrath.
Greed is the desire for material wealth or gain, ignoring the realm of the spiritual. It is also called Avarice or Covetousness.
Sloth is the avoidance of physical or spiritual work.
(www.deadlysins.com)

In Canto 4 six counsellours are described. They are Idleness, Gluttony, Lechery, Avarice. Envie, and Wrath. According to the descriptions of each, they seem to reflect the seven deadly sins, minus one. I took the definitions of each of the deadly sins and listed them above. By comparing these definitions with the descriptions of the counselors it seems that pride is the sin that remains unmentioned. This made me think of your analysis of the story that you presented in class and in your blog about the possible critique that occurs of Elizabeth’s prideful decision not to marry through Spenser’s description of Lucifera. At first, I was confused by the seeming absence of Pride as one of Lucifera’s counselors. Now, however, if your assumption is right, Lucifera herself may be left as encompassing pride, and thus Pride is not one of her counselors. What do you think?

I also thought the passages describing the counselors were quite interesting, specifically in light of which animals were chosen for each counselor to be placed on. However, I am only going to discuss the first, Idleness or Sloth, who is placed on a slow and unattractive animal, the donkey. However, the donkey is often pointed to in the Bible as a common method of travel for biblical characters. Idleness carries a prayerbook with him, further illuminating the similarities between this character and a biblical one. Thus, Idleness not only rides on an animal that may exhibit similar behavior to him, but he also seems to make a mockery of the Bible by wearing a habit, carrying a prayerbook, and traveling on a donkey.