26 June 2008
English 3I06 / The Age of Elizabeth
The Unfortunate Traveller part deux
Outline
*anti-homage to the sonnet
*anti-allegory
*travel and anti-travel
*the Jews
*women and feminity
*revenge
Anti-homage to the sonnet
*Surrey and Jack Wilton in jail; Diamante also jailed because of her jealous husband (305)
*Surrey’s “wooing” (307): “This was all the injury he would offer her: sometimes he would imagine her in a melancholy humour to be his Geraldine, and court her in terms correspondent.”
*307-308 the terrible sonnet
*Jack Wilton’s response (308): “I should, if I were a wench, make many men quickly immortal….my silly jailor” – Diamante’s vengeance
*(312 top paragraph): Castaldo dies (allegorically?); Jack and Diamante leave Surrey on a sumptuous adventure
Anti-allegory
*Surrey battles his challengers in Florence, 316-322
Travel and anti-travel
*Jack Wilton as tourist in Rome, 324-330
*”Roman superstition”, 325 (bottom) to 326
*cultural differences, 326
*replica of the earthly paradise, 327-330 – note slippage between that place and the garden of Eden in the description
*homage to Rome, 330
*upon his rescue by the Englishman in exile, the discourse against travel, 341+
*Cain as the first traveller
*the humiliations of travel
*the bad habits of other countries
*the benefits of one’s own country (346: “The sea is the native soil to fishes…”)
The Jews
*Jews present in England after the Norman conquest (1066)
*flourished there during the next two centuries, including building the “Great Synagogue” in London
*massacre in 1264
*Jews expelled from England in 1290
*relationship of Christian Europe to Jews very negative; to Judaism, quite positive
*concept of supersession
*representation in Unfortunate Traveller
*captivity by Zadoch, 347
*sold to Dr. Zacharie, 348
*beating Diamante, 353
*vengeful, 354-355
*weirdly resilient – see Zacharie’s poisoning (351) and apparent resurrection (354)
*meeting a gruesome end, 359
Women and feminity
*the rape of Herclide, 331-336
*her suicide: 338 she examines her image in the glass; 339, her suicide
*Juliana the Pope’s courtesan, 350-ish+
Revenge
* “strange and wonderful are God’s judgements” 363
*Cutwolfe’s story; vengeance against Esdras, 368
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Lecture Notes, Tuesday, June 24: Unfortunate Traveller Part 1
24 June 2008
English 3I06 / The Age of Elizabeth
The Unfortunate Traveller, Part One
*genre: picaresque
*the anti-hero
*the culture of jest
The picaresque
(This and the Leiden info from Wikipedia)
“The picaresque novel (Spanish: "picaresca", from "pícaro", for "rogue" or "rascal") is a popular subgenre of prose fiction which is usually satirical and depicts in realistic and often humorous detail the adventures of a roguish hero of low social class who lives by his or her wits in a corrupt society. As indicated by its name, this style of novel originated in Spain and flourished in Europe in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and continues to influence modern literature.”
*records historical events, like the sweating sickness, 273+
*John Leiden sequence, 277+
Background info:
Raised a bastard and dogged by poverty, young John became a charismatic leader who was widely revered by his followers. According to his own testimony, he went to the German city of Münster, arriving in 1533, because he had heard there were inspired preachers there. He sent for Jan Matthys, who had baptized him, to come. After his arrival Matthys - recognized as a prophet - became the principal leader in the city. Following a failed military attempt on Easter Sunday 1534, in which Matthys died, John of Leiden became King of Münster until its fall in June of 1535. He set up a theocracy in Münster and led a communalistic and polygamous state. Some sources report that John of Leiden took sixteen wives. He publicly beheaded one of his wives after she rebelled against his authority.
The army of Münster was defeated in 1535 by the prince bishop Franz von Waldeck, and John of Leiden was captured. He was first taken to a dungeon in Dülmen, then brought back to Münster. On January 22, 1536, along with Bernhard Krechting and Bernhard Knipperdolling, he was tortured and then executed. Each attached to a pole by an iron spiked collar, their bodies were ripped with red-hot tongs for the space of an hour, then each was killed with a dagger thrust through the heart. Their bodies were raised in three cages above St. Lambert's Church, the remains left to rot. Their bones were removed about 50 years later, but the cages have remained into the 21st century.
*Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, 286+
*Erasmus and Thomas More, 290-91
*Agrippa, who conjures Tully 297-8, and Geraldine
*Nine Worthies
Pagan:
Hector
Alexander the Great
Julius Caesar
Jewish:
Joshua
David
Judas Maccabeus
Christian:
King Arthur
Charlemagne
Godfrey of Bouillon
The anti-hero
*doesn’t necessarily get away with everything he tries – see the result of his jest against the camp tapster, pg. 261: “Then was I pitifully whipped for my holiday lie, though they made themselves merry with it many a winter’s evening after.”
*his view of his own role, 271 “I was ordained God’s scourge”
*his view of religion, during the John Leiden sequence, 280+
The culture of jest
*the plot against the tapster
*the plot against “Monsieur Capitano”, 263+ - his argument to send him into the French court, 265-66
*mocking oratory of scholars, 291-2; and others, 293
English 3I06 / The Age of Elizabeth
The Unfortunate Traveller, Part One
*genre: picaresque
*the anti-hero
*the culture of jest
The picaresque
(This and the Leiden info from Wikipedia)
“The picaresque novel (Spanish: "picaresca", from "pícaro", for "rogue" or "rascal") is a popular subgenre of prose fiction which is usually satirical and depicts in realistic and often humorous detail the adventures of a roguish hero of low social class who lives by his or her wits in a corrupt society. As indicated by its name, this style of novel originated in Spain and flourished in Europe in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and continues to influence modern literature.”
*records historical events, like the sweating sickness, 273+
*John Leiden sequence, 277+
Background info:
Raised a bastard and dogged by poverty, young John became a charismatic leader who was widely revered by his followers. According to his own testimony, he went to the German city of Münster, arriving in 1533, because he had heard there were inspired preachers there. He sent for Jan Matthys, who had baptized him, to come. After his arrival Matthys - recognized as a prophet - became the principal leader in the city. Following a failed military attempt on Easter Sunday 1534, in which Matthys died, John of Leiden became King of Münster until its fall in June of 1535. He set up a theocracy in Münster and led a communalistic and polygamous state. Some sources report that John of Leiden took sixteen wives. He publicly beheaded one of his wives after she rebelled against his authority.
The army of Münster was defeated in 1535 by the prince bishop Franz von Waldeck, and John of Leiden was captured. He was first taken to a dungeon in Dülmen, then brought back to Münster. On January 22, 1536, along with Bernhard Krechting and Bernhard Knipperdolling, he was tortured and then executed. Each attached to a pole by an iron spiked collar, their bodies were ripped with red-hot tongs for the space of an hour, then each was killed with a dagger thrust through the heart. Their bodies were raised in three cages above St. Lambert's Church, the remains left to rot. Their bones were removed about 50 years later, but the cages have remained into the 21st century.
*Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, 286+
*Erasmus and Thomas More, 290-91
*Agrippa, who conjures Tully 297-8, and Geraldine
*Nine Worthies
Pagan:
Hector
Alexander the Great
Julius Caesar
Jewish:
Joshua
David
Judas Maccabeus
Christian:
King Arthur
Charlemagne
Godfrey of Bouillon
The anti-hero
*doesn’t necessarily get away with everything he tries – see the result of his jest against the camp tapster, pg. 261: “Then was I pitifully whipped for my holiday lie, though they made themselves merry with it many a winter’s evening after.”
*his view of his own role, 271 “I was ordained God’s scourge”
*his view of religion, during the John Leiden sequence, 280+
The culture of jest
*the plot against the tapster
*the plot against “Monsieur Capitano”, 263+ - his argument to send him into the French court, 265-66
*mocking oratory of scholars, 291-2; and others, 293
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Lecture Notes, Thursday, June 19: Thomas Hariot's Brief and True Report
19 June 2008
3I06 / The Age of Elizabeth I
Thomas Harriot’s Brief and True Report
Lecture Outline
Tobacco
The Occasion of the Text
Commodity
“Trifles”
Religion
“Invisible Bullets”
“Temperature”
The True Pictures and Fashions of the People in that parte of America
De Bry’s intro
Comparison of images: John White’s paintings vs. De Bry’s engravings
Tobacco
Tobacco, Tobacco
Sing sweetly for Tobacco.
Tobacco is like love
O love it
For you see I will prove it.
Love maketh leane the fatte mens tumor,
So doth Tobacco.
Love still dries uppe the wanton humor,
So doth Tobacco.
Love makes men sayle from shore to shore,
So doth Tobacco.
Tis fond love often makes men poor,
So doth Tobacco.
Love makes men scorne all Coward feares,
So doth Tobacco.
Love often sets men by the eares,
So doth Tobacco.
Tobaccoe, Tobaccoe
Sing sweetely for Tobaccoe.
Tobaccoe is like Love,
O love it,
For you see I have provde it.
Anonymous lyrics, set to music by Tobias Hume in 1605.
The Occasion of the Text
*”There have been divers and variable reportes with some slaunderous and shamefull speeches bruited abroad” (pg 5)
Commodity
*a core purpose of Harriot’s text – what is “marchantable”
“Trifles”
* "In respect of us they are a people poor” (pg 25)
*pg. 45 on “The arrival of the Englishmen”
Religion
* an echoing of Christian faith in his description of the native belief system, bottom pg. 25
* “For mankind they say a woman was made first”
*the stories of heaven(ish) and hell(ish): 26 “They beleeve also the immortality of the soul
*27 idolatry re: Bible
“Invisible Bullets”
*pg 28 and 29; the microbiology of the contact zone
“Temperature”
*from “The Conclusion”, pg. 31-32
The True Pictures and Fashions of the People in that parte of America
The first image (pg 39):
De Bry’s intro
*Attitude toward the native population? pg. 41 “Although man by his disobedience…by their trauailes into the contrye.”
* “they be verye familiar with deuils” pg 54
*pg 60 “Yet are they moderate in their eatinge wher by they avoide sicknes”
*pg 71 and 72 Ther Idol Kiwasa “the keeper of the kings dead corpses”
Comparison of images: John White’s paintings vs. De Bry’s engravings
http://www.virtualjamestown.org/images/white_debry_html/jamestown.html
*pg 76 “The trvve picture of one Picte”
3I06 / The Age of Elizabeth I
Thomas Harriot’s Brief and True Report
Lecture Outline
Tobacco
The Occasion of the Text
Commodity
“Trifles”
Religion
“Invisible Bullets”
“Temperature”
The True Pictures and Fashions of the People in that parte of America
De Bry’s intro
Comparison of images: John White’s paintings vs. De Bry’s engravings
Tobacco
Tobacco, Tobacco
Sing sweetly for Tobacco.
Tobacco is like love
O love it
For you see I will prove it.
Love maketh leane the fatte mens tumor,
So doth Tobacco.
Love still dries uppe the wanton humor,
So doth Tobacco.
Love makes men sayle from shore to shore,
So doth Tobacco.
Tis fond love often makes men poor,
So doth Tobacco.
Love makes men scorne all Coward feares,
So doth Tobacco.
Love often sets men by the eares,
So doth Tobacco.
Tobaccoe, Tobaccoe
Sing sweetely for Tobaccoe.
Tobaccoe is like Love,
O love it,
For you see I have provde it.
Anonymous lyrics, set to music by Tobias Hume in 1605.
The Occasion of the Text
*”There have been divers and variable reportes with some slaunderous and shamefull speeches bruited abroad” (pg 5)
Commodity
*a core purpose of Harriot’s text – what is “marchantable”
“Trifles”
* "In respect of us they are a people poor” (pg 25)
*pg. 45 on “The arrival of the Englishmen”
Religion
* an echoing of Christian faith in his description of the native belief system, bottom pg. 25
* “For mankind they say a woman was made first”
*the stories of heaven(ish) and hell(ish): 26 “They beleeve also the immortality of the soul
*27 idolatry re: Bible
“Invisible Bullets”
*pg 28 and 29; the microbiology of the contact zone
“Temperature”
*from “The Conclusion”, pg. 31-32
The True Pictures and Fashions of the People in that parte of America
The first image (pg 39):
De Bry’s intro
*Attitude toward the native population? pg. 41 “Although man by his disobedience…by their trauailes into the contrye.”
* “they be verye familiar with deuils” pg 54
*pg 60 “Yet are they moderate in their eatinge wher by they avoide sicknes”
*pg 71 and 72 Ther Idol Kiwasa “the keeper of the kings dead corpses”
Comparison of images: John White’s paintings vs. De Bry’s engravings
http://www.virtualjamestown.org/images/white_debry_html/jamestown.html
*pg 76 “The trvve picture of one Picte”
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Lecture Notes, Tuesday, June 17: Walter Ralegh and Colonization Narratives
17 June 2008
English 3I06 / The Development of English Drama
Travel and Colonization: Walter Ralegh and Colonization Narratives
LECTURE OUTLINE
*configuring the new world
*paradise
*cornucopia
*curiosity
*already possessed
*hell
Configuring the New World
*new world representation always a reflection of European culture and values
*why? Politics of the contact zone
*contact zone definition, Mary Louise Pratt:
“the space in which peoples geographically and historically separated come into contact with each other and establish relations, usually involving coercion, radical inequality, and intractable conflict”(from Imperial Eyes).
*narrative as a key to expressing how the reader should view the new territory
*things to watch for: disconnects between “adventure” narrative and conclusions; projection of European concerns and issues onto the new zone; a mixture of idolizing and dehumanizing the native peoples in the new territory
Paradise
*Michel de Montaigne, “Of Cannibals” (1588), pg 365 (bv)
*Ralegh 352 “I never saw a more beautiful country”
*Ralegh 357 “Guiana is a country that hath yet her maidenhead”
*Ralegh 356 “both for health, good air, pleasure, and riches, I am resolved it cannot be equalled either in the east or west”358 “
Hell
*Ralegh’s journey, 347, “the air breeding great faintness”
*Ralegh 348 “At the last we determined to hang the pilot”
Cornucopia
*Ralegh 340 “The island of Trinidad…will bear sugar, ginger, or any other commodity that the Indies yield.”
*342 “All the vessels of his house, table, and kitchen, were of gold and silver”
*Ralegh 345, “These Amazons have likewise great store of these plates of gold” (see also 344, relation of these Amazons to classical Amazons)
*Ralegh, 356: “The common soldier shall here fight for gold, and pay himself, instead of pence, with plates of half-a-foot broad”
Curiosity
*Jenkinson 362, description of the “Nagayans” (southern European Russia)
*Ralegh 353 “a nation of people whose heads appear not above their shoulders”
Already possessed
*Ralegh 341 “The Spaniards seemed to be desirous to trade with us” (story of Cantyman)
*Ralegh 355 “because I have not myself seen the cities of Inca I cannot avow on my credit what I have heard”
*347 “Of these people those that dwell upon the branches of the Orinoco…are for the most part carpenters…” (note lingering on detail of the corpses)
English 3I06 / The Development of English Drama
Travel and Colonization: Walter Ralegh and Colonization Narratives
LECTURE OUTLINE
*configuring the new world
*paradise
*cornucopia
*curiosity
*already possessed
*hell
Configuring the New World
*new world representation always a reflection of European culture and values
*why? Politics of the contact zone
*contact zone definition, Mary Louise Pratt:
“the space in which peoples geographically and historically separated come into contact with each other and establish relations, usually involving coercion, radical inequality, and intractable conflict”(from Imperial Eyes).
*narrative as a key to expressing how the reader should view the new territory
*things to watch for: disconnects between “adventure” narrative and conclusions; projection of European concerns and issues onto the new zone; a mixture of idolizing and dehumanizing the native peoples in the new territory
Paradise
*Michel de Montaigne, “Of Cannibals” (1588), pg 365 (bv)
*Ralegh 352 “I never saw a more beautiful country”
*Ralegh 357 “Guiana is a country that hath yet her maidenhead”
*Ralegh 356 “both for health, good air, pleasure, and riches, I am resolved it cannot be equalled either in the east or west”358 “
Hell
*Ralegh’s journey, 347, “the air breeding great faintness”
*Ralegh 348 “At the last we determined to hang the pilot”
Cornucopia
*Ralegh 340 “The island of Trinidad…will bear sugar, ginger, or any other commodity that the Indies yield.”
*342 “All the vessels of his house, table, and kitchen, were of gold and silver”
*Ralegh 345, “These Amazons have likewise great store of these plates of gold” (see also 344, relation of these Amazons to classical Amazons)
*Ralegh, 356: “The common soldier shall here fight for gold, and pay himself, instead of pence, with plates of half-a-foot broad”
Curiosity
*Jenkinson 362, description of the “Nagayans” (southern European Russia)
*Ralegh 353 “a nation of people whose heads appear not above their shoulders”
Already possessed
*Ralegh 341 “The Spaniards seemed to be desirous to trade with us” (story of Cantyman)
*Ralegh 355 “because I have not myself seen the cities of Inca I cannot avow on my credit what I have heard”
*347 “Of these people those that dwell upon the branches of the Orinoco…are for the most part carpenters…” (note lingering on detail of the corpses)
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Lecture Notes, Thursday, June 12: Hero and Leander
12 June 2008
English 3106 / The Age of Elizabeth I
Christopher Marlowe, Hero and Leander
Lecture Outline
*the problem of tone
*human behaviour?
*against chastity
*Hero’s struggles
*The story of the Fates
*The first meeting
*Separation
*Swimming the Hellespont
*Reunion
The problem of tone, Hero and Leander lines 1-90
Starring Dr. Melissa
And
Hot Victorian Babe as Hero
Christopher Marlowe and Leander
Crudely Drawn Sun as Apollo
Crudely Drawn Moon as Cynthia
Comical Bees as the Bees
Mr. William Shakespeare as Leander’s friend
Human behaviour? Lines 91-176
* the action of the crowd, 117-130
*the description of the temple of Venus, 142-167
Against chastity
*199-294
*the question of Hero’s oath, 294-310 – the argument that seals the deal
Hero’s struggles
*329-340 “These arguments he used, and many more / Wherewith she yielded, that was won before.”
*362-376 supernatural intervention
The story of the Fates, lines 178-484
*story of Mercury and the country maid, 386+
*428 “All women are ambitious naturally”
*Mercury kicked out of heaven for stealing the nectar of the gods, 439
*Cupid wounds the Fates so they love Mercury
*452 he asks them to overturn Jove
*455, a chance for a new Golden Age with the return of Saturn and Ops, with an end to “Murder, rape, war, lust, and treachery”
Their first meeting, 507-570
*betrothal without consummation
*messing about, 527-570 – Leander’s inexperience and Hero’s change of heart
Separation
*Leander returns to Abydos, 595-630
Swimming the Hellespont
*Encounter with Neptune, who mistakes him for Ganymede, 639-650
*Neptune toys with Leander, 665-675
* “You are deceived; I am no woman, I.” (676)
*Neptune’s disrupted story, 677-699
*Neptune lets Leander go while he tries to find gifts, 700-710
Reunion
*714 “seeing a naked man, she screeched for fear”
*745 Hero hides under the covers
*760-784 out of order??
*785 “And now she wished this night were never done”
*791+ Hero slides out of bed ungracefully
*Morning, and the end
English 3106 / The Age of Elizabeth I
Christopher Marlowe, Hero and Leander
Lecture Outline
*the problem of tone
*human behaviour?
*against chastity
*Hero’s struggles
*The story of the Fates
*The first meeting
*Separation
*Swimming the Hellespont
*Reunion
The problem of tone, Hero and Leander lines 1-90
Starring Dr. Melissa
And
Hot Victorian Babe as Hero
Christopher Marlowe and Leander
Crudely Drawn Sun as Apollo
Crudely Drawn Moon as Cynthia
Comical Bees as the Bees
Mr. William Shakespeare as Leander’s friend
Human behaviour? Lines 91-176
* the action of the crowd, 117-130
*the description of the temple of Venus, 142-167
Against chastity
*199-294
*the question of Hero’s oath, 294-310 – the argument that seals the deal
Hero’s struggles
*329-340 “These arguments he used, and many more / Wherewith she yielded, that was won before.”
*362-376 supernatural intervention
The story of the Fates, lines 178-484
*story of Mercury and the country maid, 386+
*428 “All women are ambitious naturally”
*Mercury kicked out of heaven for stealing the nectar of the gods, 439
*Cupid wounds the Fates so they love Mercury
*452 he asks them to overturn Jove
*455, a chance for a new Golden Age with the return of Saturn and Ops, with an end to “Murder, rape, war, lust, and treachery”
Their first meeting, 507-570
*betrothal without consummation
*messing about, 527-570 – Leander’s inexperience and Hero’s change of heart
Separation
*Leander returns to Abydos, 595-630
Swimming the Hellespont
*Encounter with Neptune, who mistakes him for Ganymede, 639-650
*Neptune toys with Leander, 665-675
* “You are deceived; I am no woman, I.” (676)
*Neptune’s disrupted story, 677-699
*Neptune lets Leander go while he tries to find gifts, 700-710
Reunion
*714 “seeing a naked man, she screeched for fear”
*745 Hero hides under the covers
*760-784 out of order??
*785 “And now she wished this night were never done”
*791+ Hero slides out of bed ungracefully
*Morning, and the end
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Lecture Notes, Tuesday, June 10: Sonnets by Shakespeare and Spenser, and Epithalamion
10 June 2008
English 3I06 / The Age of Elizabeth I
Sonnets by Shakespeare and Spenser; and Epithalamion
Lecture Outline
*Narcissus and Echo
*Shakespeare and Spenser take on the conventions
~writing
~blazon
~contraries
~New conventions? Life as Theatre and Consummation
*the addition on the Epithalamion
Narcissus and Echo
From http://hompi.sogang.ac.kr/anthony/Classics/OvidEchoNarcissus.htm
*See Shakespeare’s sonnet 1 as an extension of Narcissus and Echo; also Epithalamion
Shakespeare and Spenser (sometimes) Take on the Conventions
Writing
*Shakespeare 55 (459)
*Spenser 1, 3 (pg 244); 75 (pg 247)
Blazon
*Spenser 15 (pg. 244); but in contrast Epithalamion pg. 250 lines 171-180
*Shakespeare 106 (463) and 130 (465)
Contraries
*Spenser 26 (245)
*Shakespeare 138 (465)
Time / mortality trope
*Shakespeare 12 (456); 16 (457); 18 (457); esp. 71 (460) and 74 (461)
New Conventions??
Life as Theatre
*Spenser 54 (345)
*Shakespeare 23 (458)
Separation from the Beloved / Revised as Consummation
Shakespeare Sonnet 20 (457-8)
Rima 190 (Spenser version pg 246, sonnet 67)
Petrarch (), Rima 190 (Italian)
Una candida cerva sopra l'erba
Verde m'apparve, con duo corna d'oro
Fra due riviere, a l'umbra d'un alloro,
Levando 'l sole, a la stagione acerba.
Era sua vista si solce superba,
Ch'i' lasciai per seguirla ogni lavoro;
Come l'avaro che 'n cercar tesoro
Con diletto l'affanno disacerba.
'Nessun mi tocchi.' al bel collo d'intorno
Scritto avea di diamanti e di topazi;
'Libera farmi al mio Cesare parve.'
Et era 'l sol gia volto al mezzo giorno;
Gli occhi miei stanchi di mirar, non sazi;
Quand'io caddi ne l'acqua, at ella sparve.
Petrarch (), Rima 190 (English)
A white hind in a green glade
Appeared to me, with two gold horns,
Between two streams, in the shade of a laurel
At sunrise, in a bitterly cold season.
Her appearance was so sweetly haughty
That I left any work I had to follow her,
Like the miser who, looking for treasure,
Sweetens his bitterness with delight.
'Touch me not.' around her lovely neck
Was written with stones of diamond and topaz,
'It has please my lord to set me free.'
And the sun was already turned toward noon;
My weary eyes hadn't had enough of admiring,
When I fell in the water, and she was gone.
Sir Thomas Wyatt
Whoso list to hunt, I know where is an hind,
But as for me, alas, I may no more.
The vain travail hath wearied me so sore,
I am of them that farthest cometh behind.
Yet may I, by no means, my wearied mind
Draw from the dear, but as she fleeth afore,
Fainting I follow. I leave off, therefore,
Since in a net I seek to hold the wind.
Who list her hunt, I put them out of doubt,
As well as I, may spend his time in vain.
And graven with diamonds in letters plain
There is written, her fair neck round about,
'Noli me tangere, for Caesar's I am,
And wild for to hold, though I seem tame.'
Based on Petrarch's Rima 190
Edmund Spenser (1552-1599), Amoretti 67
Lyke as a huntsman after weary chase,
Seeing the game from him escapt away
Sits downe to rest him in some shady place,
With panting hounds beguiled of their pray:
So after long pursuit and vaine assay,
When I all weary had the chace forsooke,
The gentile deare returnd the selfe-same way,
Thinking to quench her thirst at the next brooke.
There she beholding me with mylder looke,
Sought not to fly, but fearelesse still did bide:
Till I in hand her yet halfe trembling tooke,
And with her owne goodwill hir fyrmely tyde.
Strange thing me seemd to see a beast so wylf,
So goodly wonne with her owne will beguyld.
Based on Petrarch's Rima 190
Spenser’s Epithalamion
*modeled after classical poets Sappho and Catullus: invocation of Muses; description of wedding; and comsummation
*a “wedding” of classical convention with the 16th century sonnet form, esp. the story of Narcissus and Echo
*also related to the carpe diem tradition (pg. 252 lines 296+ “Now”)
*note end of Epithalamion (paradox)
English 3I06 / The Age of Elizabeth I
Sonnets by Shakespeare and Spenser; and Epithalamion
Lecture Outline
*Narcissus and Echo
*Shakespeare and Spenser take on the conventions
~writing
~blazon
~contraries
~New conventions? Life as Theatre and Consummation
*the addition on the Epithalamion
Narcissus and Echo
From http://hompi.sogang.ac.kr/anthony/Classics/OvidEchoNarcissus.htm
*See Shakespeare’s sonnet 1 as an extension of Narcissus and Echo; also Epithalamion
Shakespeare and Spenser (sometimes) Take on the Conventions
Writing
*Shakespeare 55 (459)
*Spenser 1, 3 (pg 244); 75 (pg 247)
Blazon
*Spenser 15 (pg. 244); but in contrast Epithalamion pg. 250 lines 171-180
*Shakespeare 106 (463) and 130 (465)
Contraries
*Spenser 26 (245)
*Shakespeare 138 (465)
Time / mortality trope
*Shakespeare 12 (456); 16 (457); 18 (457); esp. 71 (460) and 74 (461)
New Conventions??
Life as Theatre
*Spenser 54 (345)
*Shakespeare 23 (458)
Separation from the Beloved / Revised as Consummation
Shakespeare Sonnet 20 (457-8)
Rima 190 (Spenser version pg 246, sonnet 67)
Petrarch (), Rima 190 (Italian)
Una candida cerva sopra l'erba
Verde m'apparve, con duo corna d'oro
Fra due riviere, a l'umbra d'un alloro,
Levando 'l sole, a la stagione acerba.
Era sua vista si solce superba,
Ch'i' lasciai per seguirla ogni lavoro;
Come l'avaro che 'n cercar tesoro
Con diletto l'affanno disacerba.
'Nessun mi tocchi.' al bel collo d'intorno
Scritto avea di diamanti e di topazi;
'Libera farmi al mio Cesare parve.'
Et era 'l sol gia volto al mezzo giorno;
Gli occhi miei stanchi di mirar, non sazi;
Quand'io caddi ne l'acqua, at ella sparve.
Petrarch (), Rima 190 (English)
A white hind in a green glade
Appeared to me, with two gold horns,
Between two streams, in the shade of a laurel
At sunrise, in a bitterly cold season.
Her appearance was so sweetly haughty
That I left any work I had to follow her,
Like the miser who, looking for treasure,
Sweetens his bitterness with delight.
'Touch me not.' around her lovely neck
Was written with stones of diamond and topaz,
'It has please my lord to set me free.'
And the sun was already turned toward noon;
My weary eyes hadn't had enough of admiring,
When I fell in the water, and she was gone.
Sir Thomas Wyatt
Whoso list to hunt, I know where is an hind,
But as for me, alas, I may no more.
The vain travail hath wearied me so sore,
I am of them that farthest cometh behind.
Yet may I, by no means, my wearied mind
Draw from the dear, but as she fleeth afore,
Fainting I follow. I leave off, therefore,
Since in a net I seek to hold the wind.
Who list her hunt, I put them out of doubt,
As well as I, may spend his time in vain.
And graven with diamonds in letters plain
There is written, her fair neck round about,
'Noli me tangere, for Caesar's I am,
And wild for to hold, though I seem tame.'
Based on Petrarch's Rima 190
Edmund Spenser (1552-1599), Amoretti 67
Lyke as a huntsman after weary chase,
Seeing the game from him escapt away
Sits downe to rest him in some shady place,
With panting hounds beguiled of their pray:
So after long pursuit and vaine assay,
When I all weary had the chace forsooke,
The gentile deare returnd the selfe-same way,
Thinking to quench her thirst at the next brooke.
There she beholding me with mylder looke,
Sought not to fly, but fearelesse still did bide:
Till I in hand her yet halfe trembling tooke,
And with her owne goodwill hir fyrmely tyde.
Strange thing me seemd to see a beast so wylf,
So goodly wonne with her owne will beguyld.
Based on Petrarch's Rima 190
Spenser’s Epithalamion
*modeled after classical poets Sappho and Catullus: invocation of Muses; description of wedding; and comsummation
*a “wedding” of classical convention with the 16th century sonnet form, esp. the story of Narcissus and Echo
*also related to the carpe diem tradition (pg. 252 lines 296+ “Now”)
*note end of Epithalamion (paradox)
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Lecture Notes, Thusday, June 5: The Defense of Poesy and Astrophil and Stella
5 June 2008
Lecture Notes
English 3I06 / The Age of Elizabeth
Philip Sidney, The Defence of Poesy and Astrophil and Stella
Outline
*The Defence of Poesy
~structure and argument
~major ideas
*Astrophil and Stella: an Offence of Poetry?
~backstory
~the book of nature
~relationship of art and experience
~interior world of the poet vs. social world
The Defence of Poesy
Structure
*Intro: the horseman’s self-promotion
*pg. 260-261 the relationship of poetry to philosophy and history
*261 their reliance on poetry: “neither philospher nor historiographer could at the first have entered into the gates of popular judgements if they had not taken a great passport of poetry”
*history of poetry: 261 “vates” (prophet) and Greek term for “poet” (maker)
*263 purpose of poetry (teach and delight)
*types of poetry: divine, philosophical, and (264) poets of “invention” (no verse required)
*265 knocks down philosophers and historians as contenders for the prize of best type of moralizer (265, adds laywers into the mix)
*266+ the benefit of “feigned example”
*270 a mini conclusion, top left of page
*the capacity of poetry to “move”
*causing its audience to take in the moral lesson even if they don’t realize it (271)
*272-4 types of poetry: Pastoral, Elegaic, satire (Iambic), Comic, Tragic, Lyric*, Heroical
*275L summary of argument thus far
*276+ objections lodged against poets
*276-7 they waste time; they lie; they abuseth men’s wit
*277-8 the best tools can be used for ill
*the philosphers are jealous of poetry and poets
*poets follow culture
*281 the final section of the defence: the enquiry into England
*English language is fully capable BUT
*playwrights are irresponsible
*songs and sonnets aren’t that nice
Major ideas
*natural philosphy (sciences), philosophy, history, depend on nature as their objects, but (262)
“Only the poet, disdaining to be tied to any such subjection, lifted up with the vigour of his own invention, doth grow in effect into another nature, in making things either better than nature bringeth forth, or, quite anew, forms such as never were in nature…so as he goes hand in hand with nature, not enclosed within the narrow wrrant of her gifts, but freely ranging within the zodiac of his own wit.”
*Relation between the poet as maker and god as maker (263)
“Neither let it be deemed too saucy a comparison to balance the highest point of man’s wit with the efficacy of nature; but rather give right honor to the heavenly maker of that maker, who, having made man to his own lieness, set him beyond and over all the works of that second nature: which in nothing he showeth so much as in poetry, when with the force of a divine breath he bringeth things forth surpassing her doings – with no small arguments to the incredulous of that first accused fall of Adam, since our erected wit maketh us know what perfectin is, and yet our infected will keepeth us from reaching unto it.”
*Poetry’s purpose (263):
“Poesy is an art of imitation…that is to say, a representing, counterfeiting, or figuring forth – to speak metaphorically, a speaking picture – with this end, to teach and delight.”
*Method (264):
“For these third be they [poets who use invention / imagination] which most properly do imitate to teach & delight, and to imitate borrow nothing of what is, hath been, or shall be; but range, only reined with learned discretion, into the divine consideration of what may be and should be.”
*the violence of poetry (266)
“the philosopher bestoweth but a wordish description, which doth neither strike, pierce, nor possess the sight of the soul so much as that other doth”
*Aristotle’s definitions (268)
“poesy dealeth with…the universal consideration, and the history with…the particular.” – slippage in Sidney’s ideas vs Aristotle’s – “universal condition” vs. “as it should be”
Astrophil and Stella
*note idea of the book of nature
*defense of poesy 276-7 – how does Sidney’s poetry compare to the defense he offers here? Compare also to his further thoughts on English songs and sonnets, 285
*backstory
*the book of nature
*relationship of art and experience
*interior world of the poet vs. social world
Workshop: essay writing
How to Build an Essay
1. Before you begin writing:
* choose a topic you like, applied to a work you enjoy or are interested in/challenged by
* read or re-read the text, jot down some first thoughts
* consider what the topic means to you
* let it ferment
Fermentation means giving the ideas you’ve absorbed time to filter through your thoughts and for your mind to make the connections between different points in the text. Taking a break in between steps of the researching and writing process is to my way of thinking the single most important and helpful thing you can do. It’s not procrastination – you’re just taking a step back from intensive engagement with the work so your mind can do its thing. Especially when the topic of your research is literature, this process is intuitive, not logical.
Good things to do while you let things ferment: anything repetitive that does not fully engage your logic circuits. Driving, laundry, cleaning, gardening, going for a hike, cooking, putting on music and dancing around – anything relatively solitary that gives you space to process your ideas without actively engaging them is great. This way, you can create the space you need to have a flash of inspiration.
2. Gathering evidence, preliminary thoughts, outlining:
* return to the text
* organize your findings
* build your essay outline from the evidence up
* let the text speak for itself
* tentative thesis statement
* let it ferment
3. Writing
* compose a first draft, following your outline if possible, deviating from it where your developing ideas or discoveries dictate
* include the following components:
~ intro paragraph(s), with statement of topic preliminary thesis, and brief outline of
argument
~ as many body paragraphs as necessary to make your argument work. Each body
paragraph should include the following:
~a topic sentence telling your reader how the paragraph will fit into your overall
argument
~ evidence from the text to support your point
~ some discussion of why that evidence is significant
~ and a mini-conclusion statement that wraps up the point of the paragraph
~ a conclusion
As you write, Consider William G. Perry’s description of the writing process: “First you make a mess, then you clean it up.”
* LET IT FERMENT
4. Revision
* view revision as a distinct task from writing
* it’s better to remove and refine than to add during revision
* clean up loose ends—you can’t say everything in an essay
* make sure that each paragraph has what it needs
~ focus on refining your thesis and making your introduction as strong as possible
~ preserve forward momentum
* let it ferment
* re-read, revisit, and revise again until you feel it’s as good as it can be
5. Notes on Style
* keep it simple: bigger is not better when it comes to vocabulary
* complex ideas can be explained simply
* explain yourself as clearly as possible
Sample opening paragraphs
1.
The revenge tragedy is a common genre of literary works. A revenge tragedy “in Seneca’s tragedies horrifying events take place offstage (and are only reported by the actors); in Elizabethan Senecan tragedies, pitched at a popular audience, events are brought on stage for the audience to see and experience. This form of Senecan tragedy is commonly called the revenge tragedy” (Bedford Glossary, 405). William Shakespeare created many great revenge tragedies one being Titus Andronicus. This revenge tragedy depicts many different schemes characters plot for revenge upon each other. The two main characters, Titus, a Roman general, and Tamora, the queen of the Goths (and later the Empress of Rome), display the true significance of enemies. The revenge against each other becomes a constant conspiracy to harm each other. This eventually leads to the downfall of both these characters but it leaves one question to be answered. Who is the tragic hero in Titus Andronicus, Titus or Tamora?
2.
Time is evidently central to the plot of Shakespeare’s Macbeth from the beginning, with the initial prophecies of the three witches, and Banquo’s subsequent inquiry into his own future: “If you can look into the seeds of time, / And say which grains will grow, and which will not, / Speak, then, to me” (1.3.57). As Scotland descends into a realm of darkness, the land is terrorized by raging storms and “unnatural” happenings. Temporality and nature are paralleled, both reflecting the effects of evil deeds upon the earth and upon the future. Ghostly visits layer past upon present and alter the future by planting seeds that sprout into paranoid delusions inside the villainous minds of Macbeth and the Lady Macbeth at his side. When Macbeth commits murder to obtain the crown, nature and time become disoriented and it is not until the final act that “the time is free” (5.8.55), and the world is restored to order at last.
3.
In modern literature the underdog character is a treasured favourite. Readers love the average man beating the odds and rising above his allotted station in life. In 17th century Britain the opposite is true: the underdog is feared and despised because his attempts for success destabilizes the highly rigid social structure. With this view in mind, the hero is the common man who knows his place and is content with his lot in life. The villain is the disruptive person either with aspirations above his station, or deemed unworthy of his status. In this situation sympathy is developed for the deserving average man, who fulfils his role in society by simply knowing and maintaining his place. Disdain is engendered for the overreaching villain who attempts to disrupt the known social structure and who aspires to a greater status. In The Alchemist by Ben Jonson, The Wonderfull Yeare by Thomas Dekker and “The Learned Wife” by John Dryden, the authors emphasize the belief that those who strive to improve their social stature should not succeed. In order to effectively demonstrate their point, the authors use a variety of literary techniques to manufacture enmity for those characters failing to fit in with approved social standards. The ending for each character, the language used to describe the particular characters and the type of humour used in relation to the characters are exploited by the authors to display a definite opinion on the quality of certain characters in their respective works. These also serve as warnings to the readers of their works on the danger of overreaching their social status.
4.
In the works of both Shakespeare and Jonson, many strong female characters appear. In Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor, and All’s Well that Ends Well, and in Jonson’s Epicene, the female characters are portrayed as the opposite to the ‘silent woman’ type. In both Shakespeare and Jonson, the women are characterized, for the most part positively, as strong women who are rewarded by the end of the plays for their break with the traditional feminine model. This will be made evident through the discussion of the characters of Mistress Page and Mistress Ford, and Anne Page in The Merry Wives of Windsor, Helen and Diana in All’s Well that Ends Well, and Epicene, Mrs. Otter and the Ladies Collegiate in Epicene.
Lecture Notes
English 3I06 / The Age of Elizabeth
Philip Sidney, The Defence of Poesy and Astrophil and Stella
Outline
*The Defence of Poesy
~structure and argument
~major ideas
*Astrophil and Stella: an Offence of Poetry?
~backstory
~the book of nature
~relationship of art and experience
~interior world of the poet vs. social world
The Defence of Poesy
Structure
*Intro: the horseman’s self-promotion
*pg. 260-261 the relationship of poetry to philosophy and history
*261 their reliance on poetry: “neither philospher nor historiographer could at the first have entered into the gates of popular judgements if they had not taken a great passport of poetry”
*history of poetry: 261 “vates” (prophet) and Greek term for “poet” (maker)
*263 purpose of poetry (teach and delight)
*types of poetry: divine, philosophical, and (264) poets of “invention” (no verse required)
*265 knocks down philosophers and historians as contenders for the prize of best type of moralizer (265, adds laywers into the mix)
*266+ the benefit of “feigned example”
*270 a mini conclusion, top left of page
*the capacity of poetry to “move”
*causing its audience to take in the moral lesson even if they don’t realize it (271)
*272-4 types of poetry: Pastoral, Elegaic, satire (Iambic), Comic, Tragic, Lyric*, Heroical
*275L summary of argument thus far
*276+ objections lodged against poets
*276-7 they waste time; they lie; they abuseth men’s wit
*277-8 the best tools can be used for ill
*the philosphers are jealous of poetry and poets
*poets follow culture
*281 the final section of the defence: the enquiry into England
*English language is fully capable BUT
*playwrights are irresponsible
*songs and sonnets aren’t that nice
Major ideas
*natural philosphy (sciences), philosophy, history, depend on nature as their objects, but (262)
“Only the poet, disdaining to be tied to any such subjection, lifted up with the vigour of his own invention, doth grow in effect into another nature, in making things either better than nature bringeth forth, or, quite anew, forms such as never were in nature…so as he goes hand in hand with nature, not enclosed within the narrow wrrant of her gifts, but freely ranging within the zodiac of his own wit.”
*Relation between the poet as maker and god as maker (263)
“Neither let it be deemed too saucy a comparison to balance the highest point of man’s wit with the efficacy of nature; but rather give right honor to the heavenly maker of that maker, who, having made man to his own lieness, set him beyond and over all the works of that second nature: which in nothing he showeth so much as in poetry, when with the force of a divine breath he bringeth things forth surpassing her doings – with no small arguments to the incredulous of that first accused fall of Adam, since our erected wit maketh us know what perfectin is, and yet our infected will keepeth us from reaching unto it.”
*Poetry’s purpose (263):
“Poesy is an art of imitation…that is to say, a representing, counterfeiting, or figuring forth – to speak metaphorically, a speaking picture – with this end, to teach and delight.”
*Method (264):
“For these third be they [poets who use invention / imagination] which most properly do imitate to teach & delight, and to imitate borrow nothing of what is, hath been, or shall be; but range, only reined with learned discretion, into the divine consideration of what may be and should be.”
*the violence of poetry (266)
“the philosopher bestoweth but a wordish description, which doth neither strike, pierce, nor possess the sight of the soul so much as that other doth”
*Aristotle’s definitions (268)
“poesy dealeth with…the universal consideration, and the history with…the particular.” – slippage in Sidney’s ideas vs Aristotle’s – “universal condition” vs. “as it should be”
Astrophil and Stella
*note idea of the book of nature
*defense of poesy 276-7 – how does Sidney’s poetry compare to the defense he offers here? Compare also to his further thoughts on English songs and sonnets, 285
*backstory
*the book of nature
*relationship of art and experience
*interior world of the poet vs. social world
Workshop: essay writing
How to Build an Essay
1. Before you begin writing:
* choose a topic you like, applied to a work you enjoy or are interested in/challenged by
* read or re-read the text, jot down some first thoughts
* consider what the topic means to you
* let it ferment
Fermentation means giving the ideas you’ve absorbed time to filter through your thoughts and for your mind to make the connections between different points in the text. Taking a break in between steps of the researching and writing process is to my way of thinking the single most important and helpful thing you can do. It’s not procrastination – you’re just taking a step back from intensive engagement with the work so your mind can do its thing. Especially when the topic of your research is literature, this process is intuitive, not logical.
Good things to do while you let things ferment: anything repetitive that does not fully engage your logic circuits. Driving, laundry, cleaning, gardening, going for a hike, cooking, putting on music and dancing around – anything relatively solitary that gives you space to process your ideas without actively engaging them is great. This way, you can create the space you need to have a flash of inspiration.
2. Gathering evidence, preliminary thoughts, outlining:
* return to the text
* organize your findings
* build your essay outline from the evidence up
* let the text speak for itself
* tentative thesis statement
* let it ferment
3. Writing
* compose a first draft, following your outline if possible, deviating from it where your developing ideas or discoveries dictate
* include the following components:
~ intro paragraph(s), with statement of topic preliminary thesis, and brief outline of
argument
~ as many body paragraphs as necessary to make your argument work. Each body
paragraph should include the following:
~a topic sentence telling your reader how the paragraph will fit into your overall
argument
~ evidence from the text to support your point
~ some discussion of why that evidence is significant
~ and a mini-conclusion statement that wraps up the point of the paragraph
~ a conclusion
As you write, Consider William G. Perry’s description of the writing process: “First you make a mess, then you clean it up.”
* LET IT FERMENT
4. Revision
* view revision as a distinct task from writing
* it’s better to remove and refine than to add during revision
* clean up loose ends—you can’t say everything in an essay
* make sure that each paragraph has what it needs
~ focus on refining your thesis and making your introduction as strong as possible
~ preserve forward momentum
* let it ferment
* re-read, revisit, and revise again until you feel it’s as good as it can be
5. Notes on Style
* keep it simple: bigger is not better when it comes to vocabulary
* complex ideas can be explained simply
* explain yourself as clearly as possible
Sample opening paragraphs
1.
The revenge tragedy is a common genre of literary works. A revenge tragedy “in Seneca’s tragedies horrifying events take place offstage (and are only reported by the actors); in Elizabethan Senecan tragedies, pitched at a popular audience, events are brought on stage for the audience to see and experience. This form of Senecan tragedy is commonly called the revenge tragedy” (Bedford Glossary, 405). William Shakespeare created many great revenge tragedies one being Titus Andronicus. This revenge tragedy depicts many different schemes characters plot for revenge upon each other. The two main characters, Titus, a Roman general, and Tamora, the queen of the Goths (and later the Empress of Rome), display the true significance of enemies. The revenge against each other becomes a constant conspiracy to harm each other. This eventually leads to the downfall of both these characters but it leaves one question to be answered. Who is the tragic hero in Titus Andronicus, Titus or Tamora?
2.
Time is evidently central to the plot of Shakespeare’s Macbeth from the beginning, with the initial prophecies of the three witches, and Banquo’s subsequent inquiry into his own future: “If you can look into the seeds of time, / And say which grains will grow, and which will not, / Speak, then, to me” (1.3.57). As Scotland descends into a realm of darkness, the land is terrorized by raging storms and “unnatural” happenings. Temporality and nature are paralleled, both reflecting the effects of evil deeds upon the earth and upon the future. Ghostly visits layer past upon present and alter the future by planting seeds that sprout into paranoid delusions inside the villainous minds of Macbeth and the Lady Macbeth at his side. When Macbeth commits murder to obtain the crown, nature and time become disoriented and it is not until the final act that “the time is free” (5.8.55), and the world is restored to order at last.
3.
In modern literature the underdog character is a treasured favourite. Readers love the average man beating the odds and rising above his allotted station in life. In 17th century Britain the opposite is true: the underdog is feared and despised because his attempts for success destabilizes the highly rigid social structure. With this view in mind, the hero is the common man who knows his place and is content with his lot in life. The villain is the disruptive person either with aspirations above his station, or deemed unworthy of his status. In this situation sympathy is developed for the deserving average man, who fulfils his role in society by simply knowing and maintaining his place. Disdain is engendered for the overreaching villain who attempts to disrupt the known social structure and who aspires to a greater status. In The Alchemist by Ben Jonson, The Wonderfull Yeare by Thomas Dekker and “The Learned Wife” by John Dryden, the authors emphasize the belief that those who strive to improve their social stature should not succeed. In order to effectively demonstrate their point, the authors use a variety of literary techniques to manufacture enmity for those characters failing to fit in with approved social standards. The ending for each character, the language used to describe the particular characters and the type of humour used in relation to the characters are exploited by the authors to display a definite opinion on the quality of certain characters in their respective works. These also serve as warnings to the readers of their works on the danger of overreaching their social status.
4.
In the works of both Shakespeare and Jonson, many strong female characters appear. In Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor, and All’s Well that Ends Well, and in Jonson’s Epicene, the female characters are portrayed as the opposite to the ‘silent woman’ type. In both Shakespeare and Jonson, the women are characterized, for the most part positively, as strong women who are rewarded by the end of the plays for their break with the traditional feminine model. This will be made evident through the discussion of the characters of Mistress Page and Mistress Ford, and Anne Page in The Merry Wives of Windsor, Helen and Diana in All’s Well that Ends Well, and Epicene, Mrs. Otter and the Ladies Collegiate in Epicene.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Lecture Notes, Tuesday, June 3: Elizabethan Sonnet and Lyric
3 June 2008
English 3I06 / The Age of Elizabeth
The Elizabethan Sonnet and Lyric
Lecture Outline
*how did poetry circulate?
*lyric as song
*sonnet (“little song”) form (Petrarchan and English / Shakespearean)
*how to read a sonnet (mechanics of reading)
*how to read a sonnet well
*find the sonnet themes
*workshop: essay writing
How did poetry circulate?
*print and manuscript
Lyric as Song
*major themes: love, desire, absence, usually = relationship of the narrator to a woman / women
Come again, sweet love
Come again, sweet love doth now invite,
thy graces that refrain to do me due delight.
To see, to hear, to touch, to kiss, to die
with thee again in sweetest sympathy
Come again, that I may cease to mourn
through thy unkind disdain for now left and forlorn.
I sit, I sigh, I weep, I faint, I die,
in deadly pain and endless misery
Gentle love, draw forth thy wounding dart:
Thou canst not pierce her heart;
For I that do approve. By sighs
and tears more hot than are thy shafts,
did tempt while she for scanty tryumphs laughs
Beauty Is But A Painted Hell
Beauty is but a painted hell;
Aye me, Aye me,
Shee wounds them that admire it,
Shee kils them that desire it.
Give her pride but fuell,
No fire is more cruell.
Pittie from ev'ry heart is fled:
Aye me, aye me,
Since false desire could borrow
Teares of dissembled sorrow,
Constant vows turn truthlesse,
Love cruele, Beauty ruthlesse.
Sorrow can laugh, and Fury sing:
Aye me, aye me,
My raving griefes discover
I liv'd too true a lover:
The first step to madnesse
Is the excesse of sadnesse.
I care not for these ladies
I care not for these ladies
That must be woo'd and pray'd
Give me sweet Amaryllis
The wanton country maid,
Nature Art disdaineth,
Her beauty is her own:
Chorus:
And when we court and kiss
She cries 'Forsooth, let go!'
But when we come where comfort is
She never will say no.
If I love Amaryllis
She brings me fruit and flowers
But if we love these ladies
We must bring golden showers
Give them gold that sell love
Give me the nut-brown lass
Chorus
These ladies must have pillows
And beds by strangers wrought
Give me a bow'r of willows
Of moss and leaves unbought,
And fresh Amaryllis
On milk and honey fed
Chorus
Sonnet (“little song”) form (Petrarchan and English / Shakespearean)
*Petrarchan: octave (8) + sestet (6)
*English: 3 quatrains (groups of 4 lines) + couplet
*So what?
*Knowing which form you’re dealing with will help you know what expect from the content
e.g.:
*pg 123, Petrarch’s Sonnet 134 in the Italian
*pg. 123 Wyatt’s version of 134 – close to the Petrarchan form
*pg 108 Wyatt’s sonnet 11 Whoso list to hunt
*pg. 126, Samuel Daniel’s Sonnet 6 from Delia
*pg 123, Surrey’s translation of Petrarch’s sonnet 140 – a weird mix of the two forms?
How to read a sonnet (mechanics of reading)
*identify what kind of sonnet you’re dealing with
*Look for repetition and expansion of the same themes from section to section
*Or track changes / introduction of new elements from section to section
*Questions to ask: ~what is the overall message of the sonnet?
~what is the overall impact of the sonnet?
(not necessarily the same as message)
e.g.:
*pg. 127, Daniel’s sonnet 33 (When men shall find thy flower)
*pg. 127, Drayton’s sonnet 61 from Idea (Since there’s no help)
How to read a sonnet well
*pg. 128-129 Barnfield, sonnet 14 from Cynthia
Find the sonnet themes
*retracing the sonnets we’ve gone over today (maybe also Surrey’s Love the Doth Reign, 118)
English 3I06 / The Age of Elizabeth
The Elizabethan Sonnet and Lyric
Lecture Outline
*how did poetry circulate?
*lyric as song
*sonnet (“little song”) form (Petrarchan and English / Shakespearean)
*how to read a sonnet (mechanics of reading)
*how to read a sonnet well
*find the sonnet themes
*workshop: essay writing
How did poetry circulate?
*print and manuscript
Lyric as Song
*major themes: love, desire, absence, usually = relationship of the narrator to a woman / women
Come again, sweet love
Come again, sweet love doth now invite,
thy graces that refrain to do me due delight.
To see, to hear, to touch, to kiss, to die
with thee again in sweetest sympathy
Come again, that I may cease to mourn
through thy unkind disdain for now left and forlorn.
I sit, I sigh, I weep, I faint, I die,
in deadly pain and endless misery
Gentle love, draw forth thy wounding dart:
Thou canst not pierce her heart;
For I that do approve. By sighs
and tears more hot than are thy shafts,
did tempt while she for scanty tryumphs laughs
Beauty Is But A Painted Hell
Beauty is but a painted hell;
Aye me, Aye me,
Shee wounds them that admire it,
Shee kils them that desire it.
Give her pride but fuell,
No fire is more cruell.
Pittie from ev'ry heart is fled:
Aye me, aye me,
Since false desire could borrow
Teares of dissembled sorrow,
Constant vows turn truthlesse,
Love cruele, Beauty ruthlesse.
Sorrow can laugh, and Fury sing:
Aye me, aye me,
My raving griefes discover
I liv'd too true a lover:
The first step to madnesse
Is the excesse of sadnesse.
I care not for these ladies
I care not for these ladies
That must be woo'd and pray'd
Give me sweet Amaryllis
The wanton country maid,
Nature Art disdaineth,
Her beauty is her own:
Chorus:
And when we court and kiss
She cries 'Forsooth, let go!'
But when we come where comfort is
She never will say no.
If I love Amaryllis
She brings me fruit and flowers
But if we love these ladies
We must bring golden showers
Give them gold that sell love
Give me the nut-brown lass
Chorus
These ladies must have pillows
And beds by strangers wrought
Give me a bow'r of willows
Of moss and leaves unbought,
And fresh Amaryllis
On milk and honey fed
Chorus
Sonnet (“little song”) form (Petrarchan and English / Shakespearean)
*Petrarchan: octave (8) + sestet (6)
*English: 3 quatrains (groups of 4 lines) + couplet
*So what?
*Knowing which form you’re dealing with will help you know what expect from the content
e.g.:
*pg 123, Petrarch’s Sonnet 134 in the Italian
*pg. 123 Wyatt’s version of 134 – close to the Petrarchan form
*pg 108 Wyatt’s sonnet 11 Whoso list to hunt
*pg. 126, Samuel Daniel’s Sonnet 6 from Delia
*pg 123, Surrey’s translation of Petrarch’s sonnet 140 – a weird mix of the two forms?
How to read a sonnet (mechanics of reading)
*identify what kind of sonnet you’re dealing with
*Look for repetition and expansion of the same themes from section to section
*Or track changes / introduction of new elements from section to section
*Questions to ask: ~what is the overall message of the sonnet?
~what is the overall impact of the sonnet?
(not necessarily the same as message)
e.g.:
*pg. 127, Daniel’s sonnet 33 (When men shall find thy flower)
*pg. 127, Drayton’s sonnet 61 from Idea (Since there’s no help)
How to read a sonnet well
*pg. 128-129 Barnfield, sonnet 14 from Cynthia
Find the sonnet themes
*retracing the sonnets we’ve gone over today (maybe also Surrey’s Love the Doth Reign, 118)
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