RENAISSANCE POETRY PASTORAL POETRY CARPE DIEM SONNETS

PASTORAL POETRY Set in an idealized countryside Inhabited by handsome shepherds and beautiful young women (nymphs) All live in harmony with nature Characters are simple country folk, yet they use sophisticated diction and imagery

PASTORAL POETRY: continued Many express a longing or nostalgia for a simpler, more innocent time Takes its name from the Latin pastor meaning “shepherd” Depict country life in idyllic, idealized terms Characters are naïve and innocent yet express themselves with poetic sophistication

PASTORAL POETRY: continued Christopher Marlowe (1564 – 1593) Contemporary of William Shakespeare His most famous play: The Tragicall History of Dr. Faustus, which is about a man who makes a deal with the devil. Our book tells us that Marlowe’s heroes want to be more than mere men, and only death can put an end to their grand ambitions Marlowe is believed to have died in a bar fight about the amount of a bill (258)

“The Passionate Shepherd to His Love” by Christopher Marlowe (pg. 259) Come live with me, and be my love, And we will all the pleasures prove That valleys, groves, hills, and fields, Woods, or steepy mountains yields. And we will sit upon the rocks, Seeing the shepherds feed their flocks By shallow rivers, to whose falls Melodious birds sing madrigals.

And I will make thee beds of roses, And a thousand fragrant posies, A cap of flowers, and a kirtle, Embroidered all with leaves of myrtle. A gown made of the finest wool Which from our pretty lambs we pull, Fair linèd slippers for the cold, With buckles of the purest gold.

A belt of straw and ivy buds, With coral clasps and amber studs, And if these pleasures may thee move, Come live with me, and be my love. The shepherd swains shall dance and sing For thy delight each May morning. If these delights thy mind may move, Then live with me, and be my love.

CLASSWORK GRADE Write a letter back to the shepherd answering his request: do you accept his offer? Yes or no and why...

PASTORAL POETRY: continued Sir Walter Raleigh (c – 1618) Served as Queen Elizabeth I’s confidential secretary and captain of the guard Devoted to colonizing the Americas Charged with treason (not true) against King James in 1603 Executed in 1618 Lived in Tower of London until execution Did not think of himself as a writer; only 35 of his poems have survived (260) Wrote a reply to C. Marlowe’s pastoral poem

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....Second time: Raleigh, although admired by many, nevertheless, was not without his enemies who in 1603 persuaded James 1st that he was suspected of opposing the King’s succession to the throne. And although not sentenced to death for treason, Raleigh was nevertheless arrested and sent to the Tower of London yet again. On this occasion, however, he was definitely kept here in the Bloody Tower. And an extra floor was added so that his family, who wanted to be with him, could also be accommodated….

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On the first floor of the Bloody Tower, seen here, is Raleigh's private chamber in which you can see the writing desk where he wrote the 'History of the World'. Although it appears he did'nt get very far, as he only reached the second Macedonian War in 130 BC....

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“The Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd” by Sir Walter Raleigh (pg. 261) If all the world and love were young, And truth in every shepherd’s tongue, These pretty pleasures might me move To live with thee and be thy love. But Time drives flocks from field to fold, When rivers rage and rocks grow cold, And Philomel becometh dumb; The rest complains of cares to come.

The flowers do fade, and wanton fields To wayward winter reckoning yields; A honey tongue, a heart of gall Is fancy’s spring, but sorrow’s fall. Thy gowns, thy shoes, thy beds of roses, Thy cap, thy kirtle, and thy posies. Soon break, soon wither, soon forgotten, In folly ripe, in reason rotten.

Thy belt of straw and ivy buds, Thy coral clasps and amber studs, All these in me no means can move To come to thee an be thy love. But could youth last and love still breed, Had joys no date, nor age no need, Then these delights my mind might move To live with thee and be thy love.

CARPE DIEM Literally means “seize the day” Literary theme that urges living and loving in the present moment, since life and earthly pleasures cannot last (263)

“To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time” by Robert Herrick (pg. 265) Gather ye rosebuds while ye may, Old Time is still a-flying; And this same flower that smiles today, Tomorrow will be dying. The glorious lamp of heaven, the sun, The higher he’s a-getting, The sooner will his race be run, And nearer he’s to setting.

That age is best which is the first, When youth and blood are warmer; But being spent, the worse, and worst Times still succeed the former. Then be not coy, but use your time; And while ye may, go marry: For having lost but once your prime, You may forever tarry.

“To His Coy Mistress” by Andrew Marvell (pg ) Had we but world enough, and time, This coyness, Lady, were no crime. We would sit down, and think which way Thou by the Indian Ganges’ side Shouldst rubies find; I by the tide Of Humber would complain. I would Love you ten years before the Flood, And you should, if you please, refuse Till the conversion of the Jews, My vegetable love should grow Vaster than empires and more slow;

An hundred years should go to praise Thine eyes, and on thy forehead gaze; Two hundred to adore each breast, But thirty thousand to the rest; An age at least to every part, And the last age should show your heart. For. Lady, you deserve this state, Nor would I love at lower rate.

But at my back I always hear Time’s wingèd chariot hurrying near; And yonder all before us lie Deserts of vast eternity. Thy beauty shall no more be found, Nor, in thy marble vault, shall sound My echoing song; then worms shall try That long-preserved virginity And your quaint honor turn to dust, And into ashes all my lust: The grave’s a fine and private place But none, I think, do there embrace.

Now therefore while the youthful hue Sits on thy like morning dew, And while thy willing soul transpires At every pore with instant fires, Now let us sport us while we may, And now, like amorous birds of prey, Rather at once our time devour Than languish in his slow-chapped power.

Let us roll all our strength and all Our sweetness up into one ball, And tear our pleasures with rough strife Through the iron gates of life; Thus, though we cannot make our sun Stand still, yet we will make him run.

SONNETS A 14 lined lyric poem Conforms to a specific rhyme scheme You are responsible for knowing three types of sonnets: 1. Spenserian sonnet 2. Petrarchan sonnet 3. Shakespearean sonnet

Spenserian sonnet: taken from: Literature: timeless voices, timeless themes Named for the poet Edmund Spenser (1552 – 1599) Born into a working-class family, but later became one of the few poets who depended on his writing money for his lively hood. He is most famous for his sonnet sequence called Amoretti, which is addressed to his own wife. He dedicated The Faerie Queene to Elizabeth I. Sonnet sequence: a group of sonnets linked by theme or subject. (206 – 07)

SPENSERIAN SONNET: continued TAKEN FROM: LITERATURE: TIMELESS VOICES, TUIMELESS THEMES Rhyme scheme ababbcbc cdcdee The sonnet is divided into two sections: the octave and the sestet “The octave raises a question or presents a situation and the sestet gives a response.”

SONNET 75 BY EDMUND SPENSER One day I wrote her name upon the strand, But came the waves and washèd it away: Again I wrote it with a second hand, But came the tide, and made my pains his prey. “Vain man,” said she, “that dost in vain assay, A mortal thing so to immortalize, For I myself shall like to this decay, And eek my name be wipèd out likewise.” “Not so,” quod I, “let baser things devise. To die in dust, but you shall live by fame:

SONNET 75: continued My verse your virtues rare shall eternize, And in the heavens write your glorious name. Where whenas shall all the world subdue, Our love shall live, and later life renew.”

SIR PHILIP SIDNEY: ANOTHER SONNETEER TAKEN FROM: LITERATURE: TIMELESS VOICES, TIMELESS THEMES Sir Philip Sidney: (1554 – 1586) Famous for his sonnet sequence Astrophel and Stella, which was “inspired by Penelope Devereux- Stella – to whom Sir Philip- Astrophel –had been engaged.” She later married someone else.

Sir philip sidney: died at age 32 during a military engagement. (206) Taken from: Literature: timeless voices, timeless themes The funeral procession of Sir Philip Sidney, February An illustration from the contemporary Westminster Tournament Roll.

Sonnet 39 by sir philip sindney Come sleep, O sleep, the certain knot of peace The baiting place of wit, the balm of woe, The poor man’s wealth, the prisoner’s release, The indifferent judge between the high and low; With shield of proof shield me from out the prease O make in me those civil wars to cease; I will good tribute pay, if thou do so. Take thou of me smooth pillows, sweetest bed, A chamber deaf to noise, and blind to light,

Sonnet 39: continued A rose garland, and a weary head: And if these things, as being thine by right, Move not thy heavy grace, thou shalt in me, Livelier than elsewhere, Stella’s image see.

Petrarchan sonnet Also called the Italian sonnet Rhyme scheme abbaabba ccdeed Divided into two parts the octave and the sestet The volta is the transition or turn of the sonnet usually found in the ninth line (276)

Shakespearean sonnet Also called Elizabethan sonnet or English sonnet Rhyme scheme abab cdcd efef gg This kind of sonnet is divided into four parts three quatrains and one couplet which is indented The quatrains (4 lines) express related ideas The couplet (2 lines) sums up the poet’s message This sonnet also has a volta Many of Shakespeare’s sonnets are sad because of “unrequited love” (276 – 78)

Open your text to page 279 in order to read some Shakespearean sonnets: