Poetry: Love Through The Ages

‘Who so list to hount I knowe where is an hynde:’ structure, rhyme scheme, context

• Sir Thomas Wyatt- said to have an affair with Anne Boleyn prior to her marriage with Henry VIII

• Hunting: social sport for upper class men (alludes to love being a battlefield for men). Doesn’t challenge social/gender norms and instead reinforces them (limiting the possibilities of women)

• Petrarchan Sonnet (14lines), likely written in 1530s.

• Rhyme Scheme: Controlled/ordered but in close proximity, repetitive, use of monosyllable words- allows consistency in tone

• Meter: iambic pentameter with metrical ambiguity (tripping motion- stabilisation is temporary)

‘Who so list to hount I knowe where is an hynde:’ Analysis

• The speaker describes love as a desperate & violent sport. This pursuit (of hunting the woman he loves down) has failed, so the speaker spends the poem explaining why he is giving up the hunt (Unrequited love, but not romantic). Extended metaphor to convey the dynamics of their relationship: its like hunting a deer he cannot catch. Can be read as an eloquent expression cv of devotion, with hints of it being threatening/violent to its object

• ‘Hath weried me so sore’- the assonance and verb combination emphasises the ambiguity of his pain- an emotional pain of heartbreak OR a physical pain from ‘hunting’ the woman he is so dedicated to? Chased her to the point of mental&physical exhaustion.

• ‘Drawe from the Deere…Faynting I followe’- Poem constitutes an extended admission of defeat: he knows he cannot catch the woman- other men will end up just as exhausted & dejected. Predatory nature-long ‘D’ sounds reflect a dreamy state Vs the fricatives on following line reflecting her fast pace OR his breathing- he is struggling to keep up with her and maintain a conscious thought about her. It is a testament for the depth of his love- and the extent of his frustration.

• ‘I seke to hold the wynde’- metaphor (&homophone) betrays something darker in the poem. What would happen if he were to capture her? Compares her to the wind (with an archaic word) and him being able to hold it- oxymoronic; it’s impossible. Symbolises the futility of pursuing something unattainable. The wind- like the woman- is elusive&untamable: she is beyond his reach.

• ‘Diamondes’ around her ‘neck’- implies that she is already in possession of someone of high status. Contradictory- something so beautiful is being suppressed and isolated. The diamonds embellish her beauty&draws people to her YET it also warns other men she is already owned - power dynamic. links to daisys pearls

• ‘Nola me tangere for Cesars I ame’= “Touch Me Not, Caesars I am”- possible allusion to Jesus saying ‘touch me not’ to Mary Magdalene after resurrection. Casts the woman as something purer than the men persecuting her (beyond their brute/violent physicality). The woman is not autonomous, she is branded- ownership & objectification. Has no voice in poem, yet her actions speak louder- she is able to outrun & escape the men- but is this enforced by her ‘owner’? Women can never be truly free; any relative freedom they find comes only in the form of protection by men.

‘Song (Ae fond kiss)’: context, rhyme scheme, form etc

• Robert Burns- past national poet of Scotland, incorporated his Scottish heritage (vocab, grammar, stylistic elements). Published towards end of his life.

• Describes two lovers parting, a letter exchanged between the two by Burns.

• Rhyme scheme: highly regular, steady flow, similar consonant sounds

• Form: 3 Octaves , regular, intention for it to be set to the tune of a Scottish folk song

• Meter: Trochaic tetrameter (each line has an unstressed syllable to emphasise certain words)

‘Song (Ae Fond Kiss)’: Analysis

• A separation before leaving one another forever. A heartfelt farewell song, expressions of both regret for the loss & reflection on the past joys they shared. The speaker asks for a final kiss (‘Ae fond kiss, and then we sever’)- the antithesis of ‘fond’/‘sever’ show the emotional turmoil of parting with their lover- acknowledging the intense sorrow of the moment and the permanence of their goodbye (‘Ae farewell, and then for ever!’)

• ‘I’ll pledge thee/Warring sighs and groans I’ll wage thee’ - ultimately tor between wistful memories and the anguish that they will never come again. It is waging a war inside of him (onomatopoeia), signifying the deep hurt he feels about her leaving. He will offer all his emotions to her. The only thing he can feel/imagine feeling, is hopelessness.

• (Repeated at end of poem- epiphora. Parallelism of their goodbye)

• ‘I’ll ne’er blame my partial fancy’- despite his suffering, he doesnt criticise himself for having been too easily attracted to his beloved. ‘But to see her, was to love her.’ Just seeing her would be enough to make anyone fall in love- he justifies himself/the depth of his love with her universal attractiveness.

• ‘Had we never’ X2 ‘Never met - or never parted.’- reflection on what would have happened if he never met her- they wouldn’t have had to suffer this devastating loss (bittersweet). Anaphora- repetition shows his love&commitment BUT also his devastation and profound feeling of loss. The poem begins with pronouns ‘I’ but moves to ‘we’ - a sense of blame on her for leaving. Repitition also suggests that the speaker is trying to delay the ‘fare-thee-well’

• ‘Fairest’ ‘Dearest’- superlatives indicate how irreplaceable she is. He will continue to honour her through memories and his grief of their parting. Reminds her that she is the first & only woman he has ever loved; there will be no one to compare her to. He reminds her again of the terrible sorrow he will feel from losing her, with a continuance of honouring her.

‘The Garden of Love:’ context, structure, rhyme scheme

• William Blake: Romantic poet, figure of Enlightenment, was religious yet criticised the Church of England, published within ‘Songs of Experience,’ focus on freedoms&sublimation of nature

• Structure: Ballad Meter, clear point of argument, ominous tone

• Rhyme Scheme: Regular with an internal rhyme (last 2 lines) to convey sense of anger

• Meter: Not entirely regular, expectations are subverted with the last 2 lines in final quatrain (how religion disrupts natural order of things)=amphibrachic tetrameter. A refusal to settle into a regular anapestic meter (conflict)

• Allusion: title itself is an elusion to the Garden of Eden- a place where humans flourished. Reflects an Edenic sense of being. Capitalisation of “Garden” emphasises its importance. It also sets up the expectation of being full with rich imagery about the sublimation of nature- but it is the exact opposite.

‘The Garden of Love:’ Analysis

• Use of Biblical allusions: illustrates his ideas about the oppressiveness of the institution of the Church & organised religion, using it to criticise religion draws attention to his perceived hypocrisy of the church. He represents 2 versions of the garden (one before chapel was built and one after)- could represent Adam&Eve’s experience in the Garden of Eden prior to their fall, where they lived in innocence & without shame. The chapel door is ‘shut,’ perhaps representing the door to Eden being closed after A&E sinned, even when they believe they hadn’t, like the speaker from the garden. What is condemned are the actions of the church (controlling & judgemental)

• ‘Thou shalt not’ alludes to Ten Commandments- highlighting restriction put in place by organised religion; the church prevents people from providing to the community & love that religion is supposed to offer. The negative imperative creates an unwelcoming atmosphere = sense of dismay

• ‘Binding with briars’- plosive alliteration- evokes a violent feeling of constriction & emphasises a punishing image of pain. The polysyndeton used in final line serves to create a cumulative effect (a growing fear of panic). Indirectly alludes to the crown of thorns- using religion against the church creates a sense of irony; they are restricting the promises of Christianity & 10 commandments. Their followers sacrifice themselves to a life of restriction for the church.

• Symbolic nature imagery- flowers are mentioned in absence (‘tomb stones where flowers should be’)- the relation of death & nature symbolises the way the church has oppressed the natural, loving nature of humanity and replaced it with strict ruling- preventing it from flourishing. ‘Sweet flowers bore’- oxymoronic term to contrast freedom & restriction- how organised religion is antithetical to the love it preaches- effectively destroys past joys.

• ‘Priests in black gowns were walking their rounds…joys and desires.’- Religion has become the elusive preserve of the elites- who ‘bind’ up people’s love and happiness. ‘Black’ connotes ominous images of death, whilst essentially patrolling the area and withholding the emotions it could offer.

‘Remember:’ context, structure, rhyme, meter etc

• Christina Rossetti: exposed to illness & death from a young age, faced own health issues, deeply religious- allegedly never married in devotion to her faith. Written in early Victorian Period- a time known for its enduring customs of mourning, exacerbated by high mortality rates. Romantic poetry- noted for its frequent references to death & dying. Pre-Raphaelite Era.

• Structure: Petrarchan sonnet, iambic pentameter (palpable tone of finality- a heartbeat

• Meter: Iambic pentameter- creates a metrical foot (similar to a heartbeat). The strict meter creates a strained feel to the speakers words (restraint and contemplation due to heartfelt/difficulty of their words).

• Rhyme Scheme: Petrarchan Sonnet- specific & strict rhyme scheme. Volta disrupts structure & a change of the speaker’s mind.

‘Remember:’ Analysis

• A poem on grief, told from the perspective of the person that is to be mourned, begging to her loved one to be remembered after her death (‘Remember me when I am gone away’). But also not to feel guilty if he forgets her- as long as she has made an impressionable & permanent mark on his life. Her poignant realism (accepting her beloved may forget her) engages the finality of death and the persistence of love.

• ‘Gone far away into the silent land’- gentle euphemisms to soften the harsh reality of her death- without avoiding the nature of finality. Anadiplosis (repetition of ‘gone away’) highlights disconnection after death- emphasising finality and a lost connection. Euphemism of the barren land of death (‘silent land’) aligns with religion- the belief of the afterlife and being unreachable. Compares death with the notion of undertaking a journey & eternal life. Fluid, transient and insubstantial.

• ‘You tell me of our future that you planned’- places a sense of blame/guilt. Yet, she implores him to remember the days when they were together, cherishing each memory as she wont be there in her upcoming days after her death when her lover can tell her about their future. There will only be his thoughts that keep her alive. Death is an unplanned destination- it is uncontrollable.

• ‘Yet’- climax of poem/volta- she is fine with being forgotten- it would allow him to be happy. She overcomes her fear of being forgotten to admit that that this would be an ideal situation for them. (‘Forget and smile’) - instructions implying he must go on with his life.

• Final lines: ‘remember’ being a key heart of the poem, the word loses strength upon repetition. It is as though she is fading away with every reiteration of the word. Perhaps she is losing her will to force her lover to remember her.

‘The Flea’: Context, Rhyme scheme, meter etc

• John Donne: 1590s, a peaceful decade under Queen Elizabeth I- the ‘Virgin Queen. Converted to Protestantism, his poetry circulated around group of friends/patrons- scorned the idea of making it public (for graphic reasons, alongside morals of the church)

• Satirising love poetry with paradoxical phrases/puns, alongside religious imagery, colloquial language - considered one of the foremost metaphysical poets.

• Structure: begins with establishing the conceit, 3 stanzas, each 9 lines long, repetition of 3 (Donne possibly focuses on the union of the three)

• Rhyme Scheme: 3 stanzas composed of 3 rhyming couplets & a tercet. Regular & ordered.

• Meter: metrically irregular and indecorous. Iambic pentameter & tetrameter (alternation between the 2)- the discrepancy between the 2 metres suggest friction, mirroring or disease

• Begins with a sponge (2 stressed syllables)- roughness of structure & meter but also the spontaneity of the speech (perhaps an improvisation)

‘The Flea:’ Analysis

• The speaker tries to seduce his mistress through an extended metaphor- both have been bitten by the same flea; their blood now mingles inside the fleas body and having sex is no different/no more dishonourable (‘in this flea our two bloods mingled’) - if his mistress is content to let a flea bite her, she should therefore yield to him.

• Typographical ambiguity- at the time it was written, common text would have made a lowercase ‘s’ look like a lowercase ‘f.’ This adds a humorous effect to ‘it sucked me first, and now sucks thee.’ -implicit substitution of the F- word makes it very explicit what the speaker wants from his mistress

• Allusions to Holy Tinity (union of 3): ‘three lives in one flea.’ -according to the Christian doctrine, god existed in 3 persons and united in the same eternal essence. The speaker applies this to the mingling of their blood- their quasi-sexual notion with the flea is implicitly holy.

• The flea is claimed as a ‘marriage bed’ and a ‘marriage temple’- where the speaker & mistress have already consummated their love. There is a spiritual connection, making them ‘more than married’ and free to engage in sexual intercourse. Alludes to the mistress’s fear of sex before wedlock- creating an image of marriage perhaps make her feel more kindly towards it

• Theological undertones of wordplay- ‘self-murder…sacrilege, three sins in killing three’ implies an intimate relationship between sex & death. 17th century: ‘killing’ was a common pun for intercourse and ‘dying’ meant an orgasm. The speaker is teasing his mistress- he counsels her not to destroy their spiritual union within the flea- implying that killing the flea will cause all 3 to ‘die’ together in a moment of sexual ecstasy. The ‘sacrilege’ of killing the flea is tantamount to the sacrilege of premarital sex. Whether she kills it or lets their blood mingle, she’s symbolically bound to him in an amorous union

• Volta: Between stanzas 2-3, she has killed the flea- ‘in blood of innocence’- oxymoronic as spilling blood is supposedly a sin (stated in stanza 2). Also alluding to her remaining innocent if they were to have sex- circling back to his original claim that having sex would be harmless; she has already lost her ‘honour’ by killing the flea.

• ‘Waste’: triple pun of her ‘waist’ yielding towards him, the waste of the fleas death and simultaneously referencing the fluid ‘waste’ of his own semen.

‘At an Inn:’ context, rhyme scheme, meter etc

• Thomas Hardy: Victorian realist, had opposition towards constraints of censorship & strict about sexual relations- there was much moral panic about sex at the time (prostitution).

• Written when divorce was officially legal but considered socially unacceptable & only possible for the wealthy. Hardy was involved in a mutually unhappy marriage to a woman he wanted to cheat on- he also didn’t believe in the ‘eternal’ aspects of marriage dictated by the church. Florence (the addressee) was already married and so refused an affair with Hardy- the consequences of women found having an affair were much worse than men

• Rhyme Scheme & Structure: Manipulative flow, 5 octaves, written in blank verse (slant rhyme-‘care’&’were’), reveals tension. Retrospective glances

• Meter: iambic tetrameter (longer lines) & iambic diameter (shorter lines)- alternating patten to create an enforced separation

‘At an Inn:’ Analysis:

• A poem about forbidden love confined by a society that viewed marriage as eternal- tells the story of of 2 ‘friends’ who visit an inn together and are assumed to be lovers. Suggestive of the relationship being based on lust- they both want more yet know they cannot=love is plagued by ill-timings, lost opportunities & a physical distance between the 2

• The idea of love came down from ‘the spheres above.’ The workers (‘catering care’) see what they want to see and take pleasure from it (appearance v reality). This imagined love moves all in the room-except the two that know the truth. The workers send up a plea to ‘God’ that they too get to experience the ‘bliss’ of love

• Once they escape the doting workers, they are ‘alone’- the feelings of love that were present disintegrate- they were not ‘Love’s own pair’ that they were seen to be. The ‘love-light’ never existed between them- there is a change of tone (no longer light hearted) representing the reality shift. It’s presented in a way that creates a coldness- the ‘afternoon’ is stripped from its ‘light’ and the air has ‘chilled’- there are little emotions. Ironic in comparison to stanza 1.

• Homophone of ‘pane:’ pain & pane- suggests their relationship is futile and as pointless as a fly flying into a windowpane - it doesn’t get anyway. Just an outwards appearance,

• Hardy wonders what it would be like if love didnt ‘linger(ed) numb.’ and things were as the workers assumed. Enjambment is used to make it seem that the 2 are incapable of loving one another- there is a finality towards their ‘love,’ describing it as ‘a bloom not ours.’

• Final stanza recalls what happened at the inn, the relationship has shifted- they are now in love but do not appear to be such (consequence of different factors). ‘Severing sea and land’ implies a physical distance whilst ‘laws of men’ imply that the nature of them would be against views of society.

• ‘Death:’ shows a longing to return to her & the experience of love. He wishes for another chance before death- creates a bittersweet nature. They are emotionally connected, but at such a distance and only realise their profound love for on another after separation- forms a paradox & a sense of wasted time.

‘Non Sum Qualis Eram Bonae sub Regno Cynarae:’ context, rhyme scheme, meter etc

• Ernest Dowson: written in the period of the Decadent movement & follows the radical themes expected from this period. The speaker engages with self-indulgence and rebellion in his attempts to rid Cynara from his mind. Supposedly in love with a girl half his age (perversity & love in excess) - his love was never reciprocal.

• Perhaps took inspiration from the pre-Raphaelite movement, pining for simpler times & longing or an idealised golden age. Presents ideas of hedonism/egotism & love of beauty- aestheticism (echoes of Gatsby)

• Victorians believes poetry should display virtuousness & promote ethics & morality. Coventry Patmore’s ‘Angel in the House’ Theory. Additionally concerns itself with eroticism in the way it controversially talks of prostitution & the speaker’s ambiguous definition of faithfulness. The Decadence Movement horrified the traditional nation.

• Structure: Uniformity is satisfying, regular, cyclical & predictable, 4 stanzas of 6 lines, each made of a sestet (6 lines)- 5th line shorter than rest.

• Meter & Rhyme Scheme: Unconventional meter (loose iambic hexameter), the iambic rhythm is lost- many kinds of feet are used, but it is regular and continuous, rhythmically diverse/unusual. Comes across as intrusive- just like the speaker on Cynara.

‘Non Sum Qualis Eram Bonae sub Regno Cynarae:’ Analysis

• ‘I am not as I was in the reign of good Cynara’: a quotation from the work of Horace- an Ancient Roman Poet. Title establishes the speakers feelings of loss & change; he isn’t the same person he was during his time with Cynara. Throughout, he recounts attempts to forget his past love through pleasures of the flesh & company of other women, but to no avail. The memory of Cynara haunts / taunts at him- his passion for her remains undiminished.

• The speaker begins by reflecting on ‘Yesternight’ -it becomes clear that this was more than just ‘last night’- it represents a different period of his life from which he has grown separated from.

• ‘Betwixt her lips and mine…shadow, Cynara!’ - a slow revelation of his erotic image of her. The metaphor makes Cynara appear as a ‘shadow’ (someone from the past)- connotations of darkness/a figure that haunts him. Cynara infiltrates his mind and even comes between the kiss of him and another woman.

• he becomes ‘desolate and sick’ with memories of ‘an old passion’- he admits that the past relationship is still very much a part of him as it was then- he (emotionally&mentally) remains ‘faithful to…Cynara!’ - the exclamative marks the pain he has her in- Ironic as he was physically with another woman at that time, (‘in my fashion’). → Repeated in all following sections as a refrain (epinome & anaphora)

• Although his thoughts should have been with his current lover, he is kept haunted by the ‘old passion’- she cannot offer what Cynara offered & he cannot love her like he does Cynara. - He suffers from the constant thoughts of Cynara- the day is ‘gray;’ he was unable to fin happiness/beauty because he was trapped in the past. Pathetic fallacy- clouded perception of love. Slight allusion to excessive drinking & sleeping around to cope (decadence movement)

• Prostitution: ‘the kisses of her bought red mouth were sweet’- metonymy to depict his current lover. Reduces the woman (through a synecdoche) to just her mouth- dehumanising. Prostitutes weren’t uncommon for the time, but writing about them was ~ No matter how many woman he turned to or how long it had been, he could not gather her ‘lost lilies out of mind.’

• Hyperbolic state: concludes how he sought for ‘madder music’ & ‘stronger wine’ (decadence confirmation)- he ‘cried’ for such pleasures but after engaging with them for a time, her ‘shadow’ always fell over him. ‘M’ alliteration exacerbates the frustration in his voice- he tries to drown out his love of Cynara through music etc but doesn’t happen.- it begins to consume all & take all he enjoys away

• Tense Shift: the final lines repeat the refrain for the last time but is changed to ‘I am’ to show his current state and the everlasting effect she has on him-the importance of compulsion. His desire for her in insatiable, provides a sense of pleading. The epimone draws out a strong sense of grief- emphasises his presence mental turmoil persecuted by her absence.

‘The Scrutiny:’ Context, Rhyme Scheme, Meter etc

• Richard Lovelace: Cavalier Poet & Royalist, strong beliefs & allegiances to the monarchy during the Civil War (imprisoned as a result of). Focused on pleasures of the moment (eg drinking & sensuality), as well as expressing a ‘carpe diem’ philosophy & motive. Celebrated beauty, nature, honour, social life → takes on a boisterous & triumphant tone

• Form: Epitome of Cavalier poetry- imposed a tight, logical structure & allegorical references. Written as a dramatic monologue with an intended listener, divided into quintains (5 lines)

• Rhyme Scheme: Regular & ordered specifically, (no deviations) alternating end sounds from stanza to stanza

• Meter: Iambic tetrameter & iambic trimeter - maintains a bouncy, playful, song like tone but also sways the trustiness of it. Gives a faster pace&keeps it comical (carpe diem)

• The Title: ‘Scrutiny’ refers to being critically examined/being subject to a kind of interrogation. It comes across almost as mocking & therefore ironic- the speaker is dismissive/doesnt care for her scrutiny or disappointment. Perhaps Lovelaces aims were to make the poem relatable to his courtiers?

The Scrutiny: Ananlysis

• He swore to his lover 12 hours ago, but now longer does- the commitment was not a real one, only something he said in passing (on a whim). She, however, believed he was genuine and now he spends the rest of the poem trying to explain his position: he is choosing to leave her, not because a lack of beauty but instead because he wants to see more women- he may return if he becomes bored with the variety society has to offer

• Begins with a rhetorical question- reader is thrust into the middle of an argument & introduced to the narrator through his cold distancing/ cruel address. Although he ‘vowed’ to her previously, it shouldn’t have provided her any promises- he brushes aside any mentions of it made in the past and addresses the woman as if it is her fault. It is an ‘impossibility.’ due only to his own inability to remain faithful/devote himself entirely. The end stop line also represents the finality of his argument- wanting to draw attention to it

• Neither are given names- but he refers to her as ‘Lady’- she isn’t important enough to maintain an individuality in his mind (she is one of many women). The absence of her voice represents the female oppression & quashing of voices.

• ‘A tedious twelve hours’- alliteration to bring about the tedious nature of the line itself. Whilst attempting to appease her, reminding her how faithful he as been over the last 12 hours, it also comes across as a chore, something that he became quickly bored of. This embodies the principles of a Cavalier Poet- twelve hours of monogamy is substantial.

• He sees himself as an ultimate prize for women- coming from a place of pride- it would be ‘wrong’ if he only remained loyal to one, rather than being of service to other women left wanting (‘Beauties’). She wouldn’t be able to embrace other men if she were stuck with him- ‘rob thee of a new embrace; could I still dote upon thy face’: tries to display his abandonment has a charity. He claims to have expressed (‘dote’) his affection excessively- which suggests he had actually mimicked & faked it. Condescending tone- unable to consider anyone but himself.

• Metonymy: ‘brown hair’- reduces her, the colour of her hair represents her as a whole. Whilst she is still beautiful, she is not the virgin he once had; ‘others may be found.’ He will search for ‘black and fair’- looking for other gems, like a ‘mineralist’ searching for ‘treasure’ He has a homogenous view of women (seeing them as a collective) and would rather find women who have not yet been discovered by other men (‘unplowed). Reflects cultural values of virginity.

• By he end of his ‘round(s),’ he may ‘return.’ He sees it almost as a mission to conquer and have as many women as he can-he sees it as a right of passage. ‘Spoils’ & ‘Crowned’ suggest that he will take their purities and hold them on a pedi stool for a likely of 12 hours. Images of greed, gluttony, selfishness- the praise for women is largely absent and instead full of derogative language- presents a rakish argument (Cavalier)