George Herbert
SWEET PEACE, where dost thou dwell ? I humbly crave,
Let me once know
I sought thee in a secret cave,
And ask’d, if Peace were there.
A hollow winde did seem to answer, No :
Go seek elsewhere.
I did ; and going did a rainbow note :
Surely, thought I,
This is the lace of Peaces coat :
I will search out the matter.
But while I lookt, the clouds immediately
Did break and scatter.
Then went I to a garden, and did spy
A gallant flower,
The crown Imperiall : Sure, said I,
Peace at the root must dwell.
But when I digg’d, I saw a worm devoure
What show’d so well.
At length I met a rev’rend good old man :
Whom when of Peace
I did demand, he thus began ;
There was a Prince of old
At Salem dwelt, who liv’d with good increase
Of flock and fold.
He sweetly liv’d ; yet sweetnesse did not save
His life from foes.
But after death out of his grave
There sprang twelve stalks of wheat :
Which many wondring at, got some of those
To plant and set.
It prosper’d strangely, and did soon disperse
Through all the earth :
For they that taste it do rehearse,
That vertue lies therein ;
A secret vertue bringing peace and mirth
By flight of sinne.
Take of this grain, which in my garden grows,
And grows for you ;
Make bread of it : and that repose
And peace, which ev’ry where
With so much earnestnesse you do pursue
Is onely there.
1. Vocabulary: gallant (14), virtue (34). "Crown Imperial" (15) is a garden flower, fritillary; "Salem" (23) is Jerusalem.
2. Identify the "prince" (22), his "flock and fold" (24), the "twelve stalks of wheat" (28), the "grain" (37), and the "bread" (39).
The prince is Jesus Christ, his flock and fold are his followers, the twelve stalks of wheat represent the twelve apostles, and grain and bread represent the spread of Christianity and the sustenance it provides.
3. Should the "secret cave" (stanza 1), the "rainbow" (stanza 2), and the flower "garden" (stanza 3) be understood merely as places where the speaker searched or do they have more precise meanings?
I think the secret cave represents man's mind. Perhaps the speaker sought peace through some sort of meditation or self reflection. The rainbow could be nature, or superficial items. The garden might represent the heart, the beautiful flower with worm-eaten roots being vanity (which is wicked or rotten underneath a lovely façade).
4. Who is the "reverend good old man' (19), and what is his garden (37)?
The reverend good old man is a priest who grows the grains of Christianity in his heart (garden).
Monday, March 1, 2010
To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time
Robert Herrick
GATHER ye rosebuds while ye may,
Old time is still a-flying :
And this same flower that smiles to-day
To-morrow will be dying.
The glorious lamp of heaven, the sun,
The higher he's a-getting,
The sooner will his race be run,
And nearer he's to setting.
That age is best which is the first,
When youth and blood are warmer ;
But being spent, the worse, and worst
Times still succeed the former.
Then be not coy, but use your time,
And while ye may go marry :
For having lost but once your prime
You may for ever tarry.
1. The first two stanzas might be interpreted literally if the third and fourth stanzas did not force us to interpret them symbolically. What do the "rosebuds" symbolize (stanza 1)? What does the course of a day symbolize (stanza 2)? Does the poet narrow the meaning of the rosebud symbol in the last stanza of merely one of its specific meanings?
2. How does the title help us interpret the meaning of the symbol? Why is "virgins" a more meaningful word than, for example, maidens?
3. Why is such haste necessary in gathering the rosebuds? True, the blossoms die quickly, but others will replace them. Who really is dying?
4. What are "the worse, and worst" times (11)? Why?
5. Why is the wording of the poem better than these possible alternatives: blooms for "smiles" (3); course for "race" (7); used for "spent" (11); spend for "use" (13)?
GATHER ye rosebuds while ye may,
Old time is still a-flying :
And this same flower that smiles to-day
To-morrow will be dying.
The glorious lamp of heaven, the sun,
The higher he's a-getting,
The sooner will his race be run,
And nearer he's to setting.
That age is best which is the first,
When youth and blood are warmer ;
But being spent, the worse, and worst
Times still succeed the former.
Then be not coy, but use your time,
And while ye may go marry :
For having lost but once your prime
You may for ever tarry.
1. The first two stanzas might be interpreted literally if the third and fourth stanzas did not force us to interpret them symbolically. What do the "rosebuds" symbolize (stanza 1)? What does the course of a day symbolize (stanza 2)? Does the poet narrow the meaning of the rosebud symbol in the last stanza of merely one of its specific meanings?
2. How does the title help us interpret the meaning of the symbol? Why is "virgins" a more meaningful word than, for example, maidens?
3. Why is such haste necessary in gathering the rosebuds? True, the blossoms die quickly, but others will replace them. Who really is dying?
4. What are "the worse, and worst" times (11)? Why?
5. Why is the wording of the poem better than these possible alternatives: blooms for "smiles" (3); course for "race" (7); used for "spent" (11); spend for "use" (13)?
To His Coy Mistress
Andrew Marvell
Had we but world enough, and time,
This coyness, lady, were no crime.
We would sit down and think which way
To walk, and pass our long love's day;
Thou by the Indian Ganges' side
Shouldst rubies find; I by the tide
Of Humber would complain. I would
Love you ten years before the Flood;
And you should, if you please, refuse
Till the conversion of the Jews.
My vegetable love should grow
Vaster than empires, and more slow.
An hundred years should go to praise
Thine eyes, and on thy forehead gaze;
Two hundred to adore each breast,
But thirty thousand to the rest;
An age at least to every part,
And the last age should show your heart.
For, lady, you deserve this state,
Nor would I love at lower rate.
But at my back I always hear
Time's winged chariot hurrying near;
And yonder all before us lie
Deserts of vast eternity.
Thy beauty shall no more be found,
Nor, in thy marble vault, shall sound
My echoing song; then worms shall try
That long preserv'd virginity,
And your quaint honour turn to dust,
And into ashes all my lust.
The grave's a fine and private place,
But none I think do there embrace.
Now therefore, while the youthful hue
Sits on thy skin like morning dew,
And while thy willing soul transpires
At every pore with instant fires,
Now let us sport us while we may;
And now, like am'rous birds of prey,
Rather at once our time devour,
Than languish in his slow-chapp'd power.
Let us roll all our strength, and all
Our sweetness, up into one ball;
And tear our pleasures with rough strife
Thorough the iron gates of life.
Thus, though we cannot make our sun
Stand still, yet we will make him run.
1. Vocabulary: coy (title), Humber (7), transpires (35). "Mistress" (title) has the now archaic meaning of sweetheart; "slow-chapped" (40) derives from chap, meaning jaw.
2. What is the speaker urging his sweetheart to do? Why is she being "coy"?
The speaker is urging his mistress to live life to its fullest, and in the moment. He's propbably trying to get her to have sex with him by employing the "we could die tomorrow" argument, and that is most likely why she is being so very coy.
3. Outline the speaker's argument in the three sentences that begin with the words If, But, and Therefore. Is the argument valid?
The speaker argues that time (death) could come whenever, its "winged chariot" at his back already. He mentions that the dead do not embrace, and therefore he and his mistress should take advantage of their youth.
4. Explain the appropriateness of "vegetable love" (11). What simile in the third section contrasts with it and how? What image in the third section contrasts with the distance between the Ganges and the Humber? Of what would the speaker be "complaining" by the Humber (7)?
I like the use of vegetable love when compared to the second section, which basically talks about decomp and decay and worms eating away. Both seems like a slow process, both involve dirt (in usual burials). This is contrasted i. the third section, when youth "sits on [...] skin like morning dew." One image, vegetables, draws images of roots and dirt, the other conjures up images of youth and freshness.
In the third section, the image of the speaker and his sweetheart curling up into one ball contrasts the distance of the Ganges and Humber, next to which the speaker might be complaining about his sweetheart's distance or her coyness.
5. Explain the figures in lines 22, 24, and 40 and their implications.
6. Explain the last two lines. For what is "sun" a metonymy?
The sun is a metonymy for time and, therefore, death, which approaches with the passing of time. The speaker argues that, if he and his mistress cannot avoid death, they should live life to the fullest and force death to catch up to them.
7. Is this poem principally about love or about time? If the latter, what might love represent? What philosophy is the poet advancing?
I think this poem is primarily about time, with love representing youth and it's rash decisions. The poet is advancing the idea of living life to the fullest, and not wasting a moment.
Had we but world enough, and time,
This coyness, lady, were no crime.
We would sit down and think which way
To walk, and pass our long love's day;
Thou by the Indian Ganges' side
Shouldst rubies find; I by the tide
Of Humber would complain. I would
Love you ten years before the Flood;
And you should, if you please, refuse
Till the conversion of the Jews.
My vegetable love should grow
Vaster than empires, and more slow.
An hundred years should go to praise
Thine eyes, and on thy forehead gaze;
Two hundred to adore each breast,
But thirty thousand to the rest;
An age at least to every part,
And the last age should show your heart.
For, lady, you deserve this state,
Nor would I love at lower rate.
But at my back I always hear
Time's winged chariot hurrying near;
And yonder all before us lie
Deserts of vast eternity.
Thy beauty shall no more be found,
Nor, in thy marble vault, shall sound
My echoing song; then worms shall try
That long preserv'd virginity,
And your quaint honour turn to dust,
And into ashes all my lust.
The grave's a fine and private place,
But none I think do there embrace.
Now therefore, while the youthful hue
Sits on thy skin like morning dew,
And while thy willing soul transpires
At every pore with instant fires,
Now let us sport us while we may;
And now, like am'rous birds of prey,
Rather at once our time devour,
Than languish in his slow-chapp'd power.
Let us roll all our strength, and all
Our sweetness, up into one ball;
And tear our pleasures with rough strife
Thorough the iron gates of life.
Thus, though we cannot make our sun
Stand still, yet we will make him run.
1. Vocabulary: coy (title), Humber (7), transpires (35). "Mistress" (title) has the now archaic meaning of sweetheart; "slow-chapped" (40) derives from chap, meaning jaw.
2. What is the speaker urging his sweetheart to do? Why is she being "coy"?
The speaker is urging his mistress to live life to its fullest, and in the moment. He's propbably trying to get her to have sex with him by employing the "we could die tomorrow" argument, and that is most likely why she is being so very coy.
3. Outline the speaker's argument in the three sentences that begin with the words If, But, and Therefore. Is the argument valid?
The speaker argues that time (death) could come whenever, its "winged chariot" at his back already. He mentions that the dead do not embrace, and therefore he and his mistress should take advantage of their youth.
4. Explain the appropriateness of "vegetable love" (11). What simile in the third section contrasts with it and how? What image in the third section contrasts with the distance between the Ganges and the Humber? Of what would the speaker be "complaining" by the Humber (7)?
I like the use of vegetable love when compared to the second section, which basically talks about decomp and decay and worms eating away. Both seems like a slow process, both involve dirt (in usual burials). This is contrasted i. the third section, when youth "sits on [...] skin like morning dew." One image, vegetables, draws images of roots and dirt, the other conjures up images of youth and freshness.
In the third section, the image of the speaker and his sweetheart curling up into one ball contrasts the distance of the Ganges and Humber, next to which the speaker might be complaining about his sweetheart's distance or her coyness.
5. Explain the figures in lines 22, 24, and 40 and their implications.
6. Explain the last two lines. For what is "sun" a metonymy?
The sun is a metonymy for time and, therefore, death, which approaches with the passing of time. The speaker argues that, if he and his mistress cannot avoid death, they should live life to the fullest and force death to catch up to them.
7. Is this poem principally about love or about time? If the latter, what might love represent? What philosophy is the poet advancing?
I think this poem is primarily about time, with love representing youth and it's rash decisions. The poet is advancing the idea of living life to the fullest, and not wasting a moment.
When my lover swears that she is made of truth
William Shakespeare- Sonnet 138
When my love swears that she is made of truth
I do believe her, though I know she lies,
That she might think me some untutor'd youth,
Unlearned in the world's false subtleties.
Thus vainly thinking that she thinks me young,
Although she knows my days are past the best,
Simply I credit her false-speaking tongue:
On both sides thus is simple truth suppress'd.
But wherefore says she not she is unjust?
And wherefore say not I that I am old?
O, love's best habit is in seeming trust,
And age in love loves not to have years told:
Therefore I lie with her and she with me,
And in our faults by lies we flatter'd be.
1. How old is the speaker? How old is his beloved? What is the nature of their relationship?
The speaker is older than his beloved, probably by a substantial amount if they feel the need to lie about.
2. How is the contradiction in line 2 to be resolved? In lines 5-6? Who is lying to whom?
The contradiction in line 2, and later in lines 5-6, are resolved by the characters denial of them. The speaker knows that his love is lying to him, and chooses to ignore it. The beloved knows that she is lying to herself, but chooses not to acknowledge it. Tye two are lying to themselves.
3. How do "simply" (7) and "simple" (8) differ in meaning/ The words "vainly" (5), "habit" (11), "told" (12), and "lie" (13) all have double denotative meanings. What are they?
The speaker is "simply" choosing to ignore his beloved's lies. He does this by blaming her tongue, which supresses "simple truth"--things that should be apparent (like the speakers age), and easily accepted.
"Vainly" could mean "with a high opinion of one's self," or "desperately, with little-to-no hope of succeeding.
"Told" here can mean "counted, or accounted for," which would relate back to the speaker's advanced age. It can also refer
to the speaker and his beloved's desire to not talk about his age, as it would undo all of their lies.
In the poem, "lie" means not only to not tell the truth, but to lie next to one another, as lovers do.
4. What is the tone of the poem--that is, the attitude of the speaker toward his situation? Should line 11 be taken as an expression of (a) wisdom, (b) conscious rationalization, or (c) self-deception? In answering these questions, consider both the situation and the connotations of all the important words beginning with "swears" (1) and ending with "flattered" (14).
When my love swears that she is made of truth
I do believe her, though I know she lies,
That she might think me some untutor'd youth,
Unlearned in the world's false subtleties.
Thus vainly thinking that she thinks me young,
Although she knows my days are past the best,
Simply I credit her false-speaking tongue:
On both sides thus is simple truth suppress'd.
But wherefore says she not she is unjust?
And wherefore say not I that I am old?
O, love's best habit is in seeming trust,
And age in love loves not to have years told:
Therefore I lie with her and she with me,
And in our faults by lies we flatter'd be.
1. How old is the speaker? How old is his beloved? What is the nature of their relationship?
The speaker is older than his beloved, probably by a substantial amount if they feel the need to lie about.
2. How is the contradiction in line 2 to be resolved? In lines 5-6? Who is lying to whom?
The contradiction in line 2, and later in lines 5-6, are resolved by the characters denial of them. The speaker knows that his love is lying to him, and chooses to ignore it. The beloved knows that she is lying to herself, but chooses not to acknowledge it. Tye two are lying to themselves.
3. How do "simply" (7) and "simple" (8) differ in meaning/ The words "vainly" (5), "habit" (11), "told" (12), and "lie" (13) all have double denotative meanings. What are they?
The speaker is "simply" choosing to ignore his beloved's lies. He does this by blaming her tongue, which supresses "simple truth"--things that should be apparent (like the speakers age), and easily accepted.
"Vainly" could mean "with a high opinion of one's self," or "desperately, with little-to-no hope of succeeding.
"Told" here can mean "counted, or accounted for," which would relate back to the speaker's advanced age. It can also refer
to the speaker and his beloved's desire to not talk about his age, as it would undo all of their lies.
In the poem, "lie" means not only to not tell the truth, but to lie next to one another, as lovers do.
4. What is the tone of the poem--that is, the attitude of the speaker toward his situation? Should line 11 be taken as an expression of (a) wisdom, (b) conscious rationalization, or (c) self-deception? In answering these questions, consider both the situation and the connotations of all the important words beginning with "swears" (1) and ending with "flattered" (14).
Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer's Day
William Shakespeare- Sonnet 18
Shall I compare thee to a Summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And Summer's lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And oft' is his gold complexion dimm'd;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd:
But thy eternal Summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;
Nor shall Death brag thou wanderest in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou growest:
So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
1. Vocabulary: temperate (2), shade (11). What different meanings does "temperate" have when used to describe a person or "a summer's day"?
Generally, to be temperate is to be moderate. A temperate person us one who avoids extravagance. A temperate climate, or temperate "summer's day," is one which lacks extremes in temperature.
2. What details show that "a summer's day" is lacking in loveliness and is intemperate?
"Rough winds," the (sometimes excessive) heat of the sun, and the fact that they must end and give way to the other seasons show that summer days are not as lovely or intermperate as one would believe.
3. What are "the eye of heaven" (5) and "his gold complexion" (6)?
The sun and the sun's rays.
4. The poem begins more or less literally comparing the person being addressed to "a summer's day," but at line 9 it departs from what is literally possible into what is impossible. What does the poem gain by this shift in meaning?
The poem becomes more than just a sappy love poem--for me it almost becomes sad. The idea if someone never losing their beauty makes me think of death--a young person remembered as they were, a rose in full bloom, or a temperate summer's day.
5. Explain the logic behind lines 13-14. Is it valid proof? Why or why not?
The poet is stating that the subject, their beloved, will live on in the poem. The subject will forever be beautiful in the poem, which will be read or relevant as long as man continues to exist.
Shall I compare thee to a Summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And Summer's lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And oft' is his gold complexion dimm'd;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd:
But thy eternal Summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;
Nor shall Death brag thou wanderest in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou growest:
So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
1. Vocabulary: temperate (2), shade (11). What different meanings does "temperate" have when used to describe a person or "a summer's day"?
Generally, to be temperate is to be moderate. A temperate person us one who avoids extravagance. A temperate climate, or temperate "summer's day," is one which lacks extremes in temperature.
2. What details show that "a summer's day" is lacking in loveliness and is intemperate?
"Rough winds," the (sometimes excessive) heat of the sun, and the fact that they must end and give way to the other seasons show that summer days are not as lovely or intermperate as one would believe.
3. What are "the eye of heaven" (5) and "his gold complexion" (6)?
The sun and the sun's rays.
4. The poem begins more or less literally comparing the person being addressed to "a summer's day," but at line 9 it departs from what is literally possible into what is impossible. What does the poem gain by this shift in meaning?
The poem becomes more than just a sappy love poem--for me it almost becomes sad. The idea if someone never losing their beauty makes me think of death--a young person remembered as they were, a rose in full bloom, or a temperate summer's day.
5. Explain the logic behind lines 13-14. Is it valid proof? Why or why not?
The poet is stating that the subject, their beloved, will live on in the poem. The subject will forever be beautiful in the poem, which will be read or relevant as long as man continues to exist.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
