Week 6, Worksheet 6b

Week 6, Worksheet 6b Submit numbered answers only to the dropbox. Do not submit the questions, just the answers. Four More Sonneteers A. Wroth B. Donne C. Herbert D. Milton A. Lady Mary Wroth’s love sonnet sequence “Pamphilia to Amphilanthus” Textbook Introduction, p. 1560, 9th edn., p. 1110, 10th edn. Selections from the Textbook Introduction: “Lady Mary was inspired by the sonnet sequence of her uncle, Sir Philip Sidney, entitled Astrophel and Stella (Starlover and Star) The most relevant paragraph of this introduction (the third paragraph): “The significant names in the title of Wroth’s Petrarchan sequence Pamphilia (“all- loving”) to Amphilanthus (“lover of two”) are from characters in her romance who at times shadow Wroth and her lover Pembroke. (After the death of her husband Wroth, “carried on a long-standing love affair with her married first cousin, William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke” a relationship that produced two children and “occasioned some scandal” (Norton Anthology of English Literature 1560). “The Petrarchan lyric sequence had long served as the major genre for analyzing a male lover’s passions, frustrations, and fantasies (and sometimes career anxieties). So although the sonnet sequence was becoming passé by Worth’s time, it was an obvious choice for a woman poet undertaking the construction of subjectivity in a female lover-speaker. Wroth does not, however, simply reverse roles. Pamphilia addresses very few sonnets to Amphilanthus and seldom assumes the Petrarchan lover’s position of abject servitude to a cruel beloved. Instead, she proclaims subjection to Cupid, usually identified with the force of her own desire. This radical revision identifies female desire as the source and center of the love relationship and celebrates the woman lover-poet’s movement from the bondage of chaotic passion to the freedom of self-chosen constancy” (1560). Textbook contains nine (9) of Lady Mary Wroth’s sonnets; we have audio for the first three. Sonnet 1 “When night’s black mantle,” p. 1566 9th edn. / 1116 10th Sonnet 1 is not lyric, it tells a story, so it is narrative; a narrative sonnet is unusual. Audio for Sonnet 1 – Start at minute 0:00 http://ia902609.us.archive.org/15/items/pamphilia_to_amphilanthus_ek_librivox/pamphilia_01_wroth_64kb.mp3 In a dream the speaker sees a chariot “drawn by winged desire” (5). 1a. Who is the son of Venus, Queen of Love? (line 7) her son 1b. What does Venus tell her son to do to the speaker? (footnote 2) To “shut the burning heart into Pamphilia’s breast.” 1c. What has been the dream’s effect on the speaker ever since she woke up? (14) The effect was she became a lover. Sonnet 16 “Am I thus conquered?” p. 1567. 9th edn / p. 1117 10th Audio for Sonnet 16 – Skip to minute 16:40 (The reader calls it Sonnet 14) http://ia902609.us.archive.org/15/items/pamphilia_to_amphilanthus_ek_librivox/pamphilia_01_wroth_64kb.mp3 2a. The central conceit (that means extended metaphor) is of being conquered, captive, prisoner, bound, “unfree” (4). Type one line or phrase (and line number) showing the speaker wants to resist the bondage. “And captive leads me prisoner, bound, unfree?” (Line 4) 2b. When we get to the couplet at the end, there is a volta: “But O” (13) What do we find out happens? The the speaker confesses their love. Sonnet 25 “Like to the Indian scorched,” p. 1567 9th edn. / p. 1117 10th Audio for Sonnet 25 – Skip to minute 25:23 (Reader calls it Sonnet 22) http://ia902609.us.archive.org/15/items/pamphilia_to_amphilanthus_ek_librivox/pamphilia_01_wroth_64kb.mp3 Wroth creates a comparison, an analogy, between her speaker and Indians; the speaker’s request in the final four lines illustrates what the textbook editors claim, that, instead of addressing her beloved, “she proclaims subjection to Cupid.” 3a. In the analogy, Indians are to the sun as the speaker is to ____________. God adore. 3b. At the end, just as they (the Indians) have skin purported affected by Phoebus (the sun god), the speaker says “Then let me wear the mark of _________ ________” (12). Cupid’s might. Read Sonnet 40 “False hope” p. 1568 (9th edn.) / p. 1118 (10th edn.) 4a. In this sonnet about the dangers of false hope, in the first quatrain, Wroth uses what unexpected ideas? (see footnote 8). “Kill, the image is of miscarriage or infanticide. Read Sonnet 68 “My pain,” p. 1569 (9th edn.) / p. 1119 (10th edn.) 4b. Wroth uses the Petrarchan convention of the effects of love as a ship on the sea Provide one line of this poem (and the line number) that uses metaphors of a ship at sea. “Lost, shipwrecked, spoiled, debarred of smallest hope” (Line 9) Read Sonnet 77 “In this strange labyrinth” p. 1570 (9th Edition) / p. 1120 (10th) 5a. Wroth uses the convention of not knowing which way to turn, which path to take. She creates a catalogue of her alternatives. Paraphrase her conclusion in the couplet. She wants to go back because her not doing anything is harder then doing something and she feels shameful. Read Sonnet 103 “My muse how happy” p. 1571 (9th) / p. 1121 (10th) Wroth’s speaker, like Petrarch’s and Shakespeare’s, is aware of herself as a poet. At the end of her sequence, she deploys the figure of Cupid again. She addresses her muse, telling it “Write you no more” (3). Sestet: “Leave the discourse of Venus and her son / To young Beginners…” (9-10). The “you/your” is her muse (figure of poetic inspiration) 5b. Provide one line (and line number) that shows the female speaker’s attitude. “Write you no more, but let these fancies move.” (Line 3) 5c. Interpret that line. How does it show her attitude? (Remember this is the last poem in the sequence.) It show her attitude by its letting us know she is independent. B. John Donne’s Holy Sonnets Holy Sonnet 1: “Thou hast made me” Textbook Vol. B, 1410, 9th edn., p. 960, 10th edn. 6a. To whom is the speaker addressing this poem? Who is “Thou”? Death 6b. Type the line (and line number) that contains the volta. “But sin in it, which it towards hell doth weigh.” (Line 8) Holy Sonnet 7: “At the earth’s imagined corners, blow” Textbook Vol. B, p. 1411, p. 961, 10th edn. 7. Footnote 6 tells us that Donne draws images from which book of the Bible? Revelation Holy Sonnet 8: “If poisonous minerals” p. 1412, p. 962 8. Paraphrase what the speaker is asking in the first six lines. The speaker is asking God why people having consequences for their sins bascially Holy Sonnet 10: “Death Be Not Proud” Textbook Vol. B, p. 1412, 9th edn., p. 962, 10th Video of this most famous Holy Sonnet (Video, 1 min.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6_-C2dcFuc 9a. What condition is personified in this poem. How is personification used? Death; it is used by death and not being proud of it is used in the first line. 9b. In the final couplet, what is one of the two instances of paradox? (13-14) “And death shall be no more” Holy Sonnet 13: “What if this present were the world’s last night?” p. 1413, p. 963 10. The speaker asks his soul “O soul” (2), to mark “the picture of Christ crucified,” (3) Why does Donne want his soul (and the reader) to consider Christ’s crucified countenance? (60+ words) Donne wants his soul to consider the crucifixion so that it can be a resemblance to the life that was gave to take the “sins” of all. Also, that it can portray a sign of giving something in return of something more righteous. Holy Sonnet 14: “Batter my Heart Three Person’d God” Textbook Vol. B, p. 1413, p. 963, 10th edn. Video of this second most famous Holy Sonnet (Video, 1 min.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfwG_WtWGIo 11a. In the first quatrain (4 lines), which term is Donne using? Choose one: Understatement OR Hyperbole OR Litotes Hyperbole 11b. Type the example of alliteration in line 4 “break, blow and burn.” 12a. What is the paradox in lines 12-13 “Imprison me” Hint: “enthrall” normally means capture the attention of; here it means “enslave” 12b. What is the paradox in line 14? “Except you ravish me” Hint: “ravish” used to mean to seize & carry off (and by implication or fact, to rape) [Note, it’s strange how, nowadays “ravish” has come to mean to fill with intense delight, to enrapture.] C. George Herbert’s Devotional Sonnets “The Altar” Textbook Vol. B, p. 1707, 9th edn., p. 1257, 10th edn. Look at this shaped poem. (It’s not a sonnet, but it’s cool because it’s written in the shape of the title word). In addition to this shaped poem, there is another shaped poem, just a few entries later. 13a. What is the title of the second shaped poem by Herbert? (Not “The Alter,” but the next one in the book) “Redemption” 13b. How is it shaped? In a stanza form. /Structured. “Redemption” p. 1708 9th edn, p. 1258 10th edn. This one is a sonnet, obviously. Read it with the footnotes. The extended metaphor or analogy that runs throughout the poem is that of a tenant who needs to find his lord to ask him for a new lease. The speaker runs around looking for him, to ask him to grant a request. 14. In context of the Christian theology of salvation, how do you interpret the relationship between the speaker’s being granted the suit and then immediately dying? (60+ words) I interpret the relationship between the speaker being granted the suit and immediately dying , in saying that you can be giving something so fast and it can also be taken away as if you never had it. Therefore, concluding that maybe he was granted that as a death wish or to be given a gift before he dies. “Prayer” (1), p. 1711 9th edn, p. 1261, 10th edn. “Prayer” is a catalog or list; it’s missing a certain type of word. 15a. Which part of speech (one that is necessary to a complete sentence) is missing from this sonnet? (Parts of speech are: noun, adjective, verb, adverb, conjunction, article) 15b. What figure of thought (essential term) is used over and over to define prayer? Choose one: Simile OR Metaphor OR Paradox Metaphor “Love III” p. 1725 9th edn., p. 1275, 10th edn. Love III is longer than a sonnet, but it provides an excellent example of Herbert’s colloquial style (that is a conversational, talking style) in his address to God. In this poem, “Love” is God, the Holy Spirit. 16a. How would you characterize the speaker’s relationship to Love? Afraid of getting hurt. 16b. Which line (and line number) supports your claim? “Love bade me welcome: yet my soul drew back” (Line 1) D. John Milton’s Political Sonnets Milton’s sonnets are neither amorous nor devotional; instead they are political. He also writes the Petrachan/Italian stanza structure (8-6) rather than the Shakespearean/English version: (4-4-4-2). “To the Lord General Cromwell, May 1652” Textbook Vol. B., p. 1941, 9th edn, p. 1491, 10th edn. Audio Recording (1 min.) p. 1941 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGBya5ijtQk Read the textbook footnote number 1 to find out the historical background on this sonnet. Milton praises Cromwell by listing his achievements in the “octave” (the first 8 lines). 17a. Type one of the lines of praise here. “And Dunbar field resounds thy praises loud.” The normal position for a volta in a Petrarchan sonnet is the first word of line 9 (the first word of the “sestet” (the 6 last lines). Yet the volta occurs “late” in this Petrarchan poem, with the phrase “yet much remains” (9) 17b. If you had to give a reason for Milton deciding to put the volta “later” than the normal place, what might have been his meaning in doing that? It’s kind of a hard question. I keep asking myself what I think the answer is. There’s no “right” answer. I feel like he did this so that he can keep readers attention, and make it a attention grabber right when it about to end. Making you the reader want more. 18a. Footnote 7, who are the “new foes”? “Alluding to the new proposals that parliament, the secular power, repress heresies and blasphemy.” 18b. Footnote 8, who are the “hireling wolves”? “Milton fiercely opposed a paid clergy, believing they should support themselves or be supported by their congregations.” 18c. In the sestet, what is Milton telling Cromwell he still has to do? That he still has to conquer his battles and get victory. “On the Late Massacre in Piedmont” (“Avenge, O Lord, they slaughtered saints”) When you were first learning about sonnets, did you ever think one would open with “slaughtered saints”? No but then again sonnets have interesting attention grabbers or topic sentences to grab they readers attention. Audio (1 min.), p. 1942 9th edn. p. 1492, 10th. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZI4F03NlkcE 19a. Read the footnote for “Piedmont.” Who were the Waldensians (or Vaudois)? Was a proto-protestant sect from the 12th century, who lived in the valleys of northern Italy and southern France.” 19b. What was the response of Protestant Europe about what happened to the Waldensians in 1655? They were outraged. 20a. Milton uses the Petrarchan/Italian rhyme scheme (not the English one of Shakespeare) abba abba cdc dcd. Lines 7-8 complete the second quatrain. Type them out here: “Slain by the bloody Piemontese that rolled. Mother with infant down the rocks.” 20b. How does Milton use enjambment in lines 8-9? “Mother with infant down the rocks. Their moans”