A Song Thomas Carew

Thomas Carew  A Cambridge graduate, Carew traveled as a private secretary until he eventually returned to England.  During the 1620s, Carew’s reputation as a poet grew. He associated with scholars and became known for A Rapture, the most erotic poem of the century. Though censured, it cemented Carew’s reputation as a poet.  Carew was appointed Charles I’s “sewer [food taster] in ordinary.” He kept this position for the remainder of his life while strengthening his position as a poet.  Carew eventually achieved the status of Caroline arbiter elegantiae, the man who set the standard for poetic elegance at court.  A Cavalier poet, he devoted most of his work to song and love lyrics in which he complimented real or imaginary ladies.

A Song by Thomas Carew Ask me no more where Jove bestows, When June is past, the fading rose; For in your beauty’s orient deep These flowers, as in their causes, sleep. Ask me no more whither do stray The golden atoms of the day; For in pure love heaven did prepare Those powders to enrich your hair. Ask me no more whither doth haste The nightingale, when May is past; For in your sweet dividing throat She winters, and keeps warm her note. Ask me no more where those stars ’light, That downwards fall in dead of night; For in your eyes they sit, and there Fixed become, as in their sphere. Ask me no more if east or west The phoenix builds her spicy nest; For unto you at last she flies, And in your fragrant bosom dies. sadlove.com

Content The speaker addresses the types of fading beauty that have come to rest in his lover. These images—a fading rose, golden atoms, and the phoenix—are traditional in Renaissance poetry. feminya.comlasenengalaise.com salsaid.deviantart.com sonsation.com

Structure  Anaphora is used at the beginning of each stanza with the repetition of “Ask me no more….”  The predominant meter is iambic tetrameter.  The nature of the poem is Petrarchan as he compares his love to an unreal ideal thereby creating a series of hyperboles.  The poem is comprised of five stanzas that each consist of compound, contradictory sentence.  The entire poem is written in couplets that link similar ideas together. goodfon.su.com howtogetbackmylove.com

Ask me no more where Jove bestows, When June is past, the fading rose; For in your beauty’s orient deep These flowers, as in their causes, sleep. Poem begins with an imperative that reinforces confidence of speaker. Allusion to Jove, the Roman equivalent to Zeus, establishes the supreme god’s control over the seasons. The “fading rose” symbolizes the end of beauty as the summer ends. The implied metaphor of the rose is developed in lines 3 and 4 when the speaker explains that Jove has “bestowed” the roses (beauty) onto the speaker’s lover where it “sleeps.” This hyperbole adds to the romantic tone of the poem and reinforces the love the speaker has for the woman. lovepanky.com The use of caesura in lines 2 and 4 add to the song-like quality of the lyric and reinforce the speaker’s proclamation.

Ask me no more whither do stray The golden atoms of the day; For in pure love heaven did prepare Those powders to enrich your hair. Anaphora repeats at the beginning of each stanza to reinforce the speaker’s love. ashadeofpen.wordpress.com The “golden atoms” of the sun also symbolize beauty, and those rays now rest in her “hair.” Hyperbole asserts that “heaven” created the “atoms” out of love for “her.” The use of personal pro- nouns creates a very personal poem. fanpop.com The use of enjambment separates the two declarative parts of the sentence to reflect the contrast of both images.

Ask me no more whither doth haste The nightingale, when May is past; For in your sweet dividing throat She winters, and keeps warm her note. The nightingale’s song has inspired many poets, and in this poem, it becomes the voice (note) of the woman to whom the speaker addresses this poem. Caesura stresses two important ideas—the nightingale and where it “winters.” 8tracks.com Again, the use of enjambment separates the two declarative parts of the sentence to reflect the contrast of both images. Inverted syntax in line one places emphasis on the nightingale in line two.

Ask me no more where those stars ’light, That downwards fall in dead of night; For in your eyes they sit, and there Fixed become, as in their sphere. dlwall.com hecticparents.co m To become a star meant that a person was favored by the ancient gods, just as the speaker favors the woman to whom he speaks. The enjambment in the third and fourth lines includes caesura to emphasize the permanence of her beauty. The simplicity of diction strengthens the images in the poem.

Ask me no more if east or west The phoenix builds her spicy nest; For unto you at last she flies, And in your fragrant bosom dies. singleblackmale.org 1healing-village.com The phoeinix was a symbol of immortality, idealism, and hope—all ideals that speaker imbues into the woman he loves. Inverted syntax highlights adverbial phrase to show that the ideals of the phoenix are reborn in her thereby providing her with immortal beauty. Diction reflects heat of the phoenix’s rebirth and perhaps the heat of their relationship.

Final Notes  The simplicity of Carew’s diction and traditional Renaissance images increase the sphere of his tribute from a single woman to beauty itself.  Similar to Ben Jonson (mentor to Cavalier poets), Carew employs images and themes from Greek and Roman poets. Some of these are variations of the “carpe diem theme of Horace.  The simplicity of Carew’s lyrics and verses reflect the fact that most of his poems were sung. dia/Roses/Roses-roses-virag-WOMAN- MAN_large.jpg.html

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