Kearns English Final (Only Age of Enlightenment and Metaphysical Poets)

What did the Enlightenment value?

logic, math, science, and man's ability to understand all

John Donne

Author of "Death, be not proud" and "Meditation 17"

Metaphysical Poets

a group of 17th-century English writers known for their use of complex, intellectual ideas and elaborate metaphors called conceits. They explored deep, often philosophical topics like love, death, religion, and the nature of existence

Conceits

a type of metaphor that is very elaborate or unusual. One of Donne's conceits involves a flea that's used to describe love

Paradox

a seemingly contradictory statement that actually expresses a truth ('in giving we receive')

Apostrophe

a figure of speech where a speaker addresses someone or something that is not present or an abstract concept. (Like, 'O melancholy October')

What kind of poem is "Death, be not proud"?

A sonnet (14 lines)

What is the "apostrophe", or concept that the speaker addresses in "Death, be not proud"?

Death

Why is death not so mighty and dreadful?

Because it cannot kill him (the speaker)

The writer says that death is just like

Rest and sleep

What does the speaker say death is controlled by, or "slave to"

fate, chance, kings, and desperate men

Why, according to the speaker, does death die?

After everyone dies, they wake up and live eternal life, and that is when death dies.

Why does the bell of Donne's meditation ring?

It is a funeral bell that announces the death of someone, and it symbolically shows the connection of everyone and how everyone is subject to death and no one is isolated from the rest of humanity.

"Perchance he for whom this bell tolls may be so ill as that he knows not it tolls for him. And perchance I may think myself so much better than I am."

Why would the bell make the writer think this?

Death is uncertain; someone may be so ill that they might not even realize the bell of death tolls for them, and it makes him pause and wonder, "What if I am closer to death than I think?"

"When she [the Church] baptizes a child . . . and when she buries a man . . . . "

What is the speaker saying about his relationship to the world?

Everyone is connected since the church is the body of Christ. Everyone is connected to every human in the church, from birth to death. We are affected by every baptism and burial.

"No man is an island, entire of itself."

This is an incredibly famous line, still today. What do you think it means?

It means that no one just keeps to themselves and is one person, and that everyone always knows things about other people. Donne argues that no human being exists in complete isolation. Instead, we are each a part of something larger. Our fates are intertwined.

"Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore, never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee."

This last line is also very famous still. "Thee" is an older word for you. What do you think Donne is telling us?

He is telling us that the tolling of church bells, which signified the death of another human life, is a toll for each of us, as we are all bound together.

John Milton

Wrote "How soon hath time" and "paradise lost"

allusion

a reference to a well-known person, event, object, or work from history or literature

Italian/Petrarchan Sonnet

Consists of an octave (8 lines) and a sestet (6 lines)

Paradise Lost

Milton's famous epic poem telling the Christian story of the fall of Adam and Eve, as well as the fall of the angel Lucifer. It is written in blank verse (unrhymed iambic pentameter)

Anti-hero

a central character of an epic who lacks all the qualities of the hero; think Grendel, or Lucifer

How old is the speaker in How Soon Hath Time?

23

What is a major metaphor in the poem?

"Thief of youth" is a metaphor comparing a thief to time. "

Volta: Explain the speaker's attitude in the octave. Then explain the shift in the sestet.

He says in the beginning how he is upset he hasn't bloomed yet or reached manhood, however, he switched into saying that God has a plan for all of us, including him, ad he is willing to wait and trust God's plan for him.

In the first lines of Paradise Lost, who does the speaker allude to (or reference)?

He is refrencing Adam and Eve in the Bible.

Who do you think the "serpent" is that the narrator speaks of in Paradise Lost? And what were his flaws, or sins?

The devil/the serpent in the bible. His flaws were envy, revenge, and pride.

What was the serpent's punishment?

To be cast from heaven into a flaming, bottomless sky where he was forced to dwell in chains and fire forever, or essentially, he had to go to hell.

How does the narrator of Paradise Lost explain Hell?

The narrator describes it as an endless, dismal space with flames, torture, and only feelings of regret and sorrow with no end.

In paradise lost, Lucifer says, "Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven." What do you think this means?

He would rather have enough power to control people in hell rather than have to be lesser than what he is in heaven.

Robert Herrick

wrote "To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time"

Carpe diem

from the Latin for 'seize the day,' it's a famous theme of Cavalier poets

Cavalier Poets

a school of English poets who wrote lightheartedly about the spirit of love, honor, and loyalty to the king

What is the speaker asking of unmarried women in the first line of To Make Much of Time?

He asks them to 'gather rosebuds' while they still can.

What do you think "rosebuds" symbolize?

Youth and Beauty

What advice does Herrick give to women in the last stanza of the poem?

He tells them they should get married and use their time wisely because, after their prime, they have nothing else to do.

How do you think a women (perhaps a poet) should respond to Herrick's poem?

It depends- some women may write a poem about the happiness of being young and free, further supporting Herrick's poem and talking about marriage and youth. However, some may take a more feminist approach and critique his poem for making a woman's value based on their youth and beauty and forcing them into marriage.