ENGL 3543: English Literature I

John M. Mercer, Professor of English

Northeastern State University, Broken Arrow, Oklahoma

Study Guide 9: Herbert, Marvell, Herrick, Suckling, Lovelace, Philips, Milton’s Sonnets

Revised 10-21-09

 

Please note: For extra credit, you may memorize lines marked “extra-credit memorization” in this study guide and/or other lines of your choice in poems from any assignment.  Recite these lines to me in my office or in the classroom before class, during the break, or after class.

 

Overview of Metaphysical Poets

The following poets studied in this unit have traditionally been classified as Metaphysical poets  (see discussion of Metaphysical poetry in Study Guide 8):

 

George Herbert, 1605(m)

A priest of the Church of England, Herbert is the ultimate Anglican poet.  All of Herbert’s poetry is religious, and it is permeated with the theology, sacraments, traditions, and even the architecture of the Anglican Church.  Donne and Herbert both have “saints’ days” on the Anglican church calendar.  Donne’s is March 31; Herbert’s is February 27.

  1. What was Herbert’s occupation before he became an Anglican priest?  What were his skills?
  2. For how many years did Herbert serve as a priest?  When did he die?
  3. What is the title of the volume in which all of Herbert’s poems are published?  When was it first published?

 

In the Renaissance, an “emblem” was a picture with a symbolic meaning, usually accompanied by a “motto” (moral truism) and/or a short poem.  A collection of emblems was called an emblem book.  Some of Herbert’s poems suggest emblems—often through the title, sometimes through the words of the poem, and occasionally also through the shape of the lines on the page.  Poems in which the shape of the lines depicts an emblem (or something else related to the content) are called shaped verses, shaped poems, or pattern poems. 

 

“The Altar,” 1607

  1. In this poem, “altar” (line 1) is the figurative term (or vehicle) of a metaphor.  What is the literal term or tenor of this metaphor?
  2. What are the definitions of “altar” in your college dictionary?  Which definitions apply to this poem?  
  3. In your own words, what is the main point of the poem?
  4. The footnotes identify some of the poem’s biblical allusions.  Extra-credit research:  Look up and explain the biblical allusions in the context of this poem. 
  5. Does this poem contain an emblem?  What techniques (see above) does the poet use to create this emblem?  Is this a shaped poem?

“Redemption,” 1607

  1. According to the first quatrain, who is the speaker of the poem?  What does he want his landlord to do?
  2. In the second quatrain, where does the speaker first look for the landlord?  Why is the landlord not there?   
  3. This poem is an allegory, a story that reveals a second level of meaning beyond the literal level.  Everything in the first quatrain can be accepted on the literal level.  What word or words in the second quatrain, however, are not believable on the literal level and require another interpretation?
  4. In the third quatrain, lines 9-11, where does the speaker next search for the landlord?  On the second level of interpretation (religious allegory), what is meant by the landlord’s “great birth” (line 9)?
  5. In the last three lines of the poem, where does the speaker finally find the landlord, both on the literal level and in the religious allegory?  To what New Testament scene do these lines refer?  What specific phrases evoke this scene?
  6. On the literal level, what is the meaning of the landlord’s last words?  On the level of religious allegory, what is their meaning?  According to Christian theology, what is the Old Covenant between God and mankind?  What is the New Covenant?
  7. What is the basic meter of the poem?  How many lines does the poem have?  What is the rhyme scheme?  Which quatrain’s rhyme scheme is different than you might have expected?  Aside from the unusual rhyme scheme of this one quatrain, what name is given to a poem with this meter, number of lines, and rhyme scheme? 
  8. How does the structure of the poem (created by the rhyme scheme) relate to its content?

 

“Easter Wings,” 1609

  1. In this poem, “wealth” (line 1) and poverty (line 5) are the figurative terms (vehicles) of a metaphor. What are the literal terms (tenors) of these metaphors?   In other words, to what sort of “wealth” and poverty is the speaker referring? 
  2. Why is it appropriate that lines 1-5 and 11-15 get progressively shorter and lines 6-10 and 16-20 get progressively longer?
  3. Although the poem’s title is “Easter Wings,” these words do not appear in the poem itself.  What is the significance of the title?  How does the title function as an emblem?  What else besides the title creates the emblem?  
  4. This is a pattern poem or shaped poem. What shape are the lines intended to create?  How does this shape relate to the meaning of the poem?

    

“Prayer (1),” 1611

  1. What is the basic meter of the poem?  (Which lines, however, have more than the usual number of syllables?)  How many lines does this poem have?  What is its rhyme scheme? Which quatrain’s rhyme scheme is different than expected?  Aside from this unusual quatrain, what name is given to a poem with this meter, number of lines, and rhyme scheme?
  2. This poem is punctuated as if it were one complete sentence, but grammatically it is not a complete sentence, just a list of phrases.  What part of speech is missing from the poem that would be necessary to make it a complete sentence?  What one word of this part of speech is implied after the opening word “Prayer”?
  3. Each phrase in the poem is an example of the same figure of speech.  What figure of speech is that?  How do you know?
  4. Select any one phrase that the poem uses to define prayer, and suggest three different possible meanings (denotations) and/or associations (connotations) of this phrase.
  5. “Engine” (line 5) is used in a sense that is unfamiliar today.  In your college dictionary, find the definition of the word that applies.  Then explain in what sense prayer is an “[e]ngine against the Almighty.”
  1. Explain possible interpretations of the last phrase, “something understood” (line 14).

 

“Jordan (1),” 1611(b)

  1. The speaker of this poem is a Christian poet considering how to write poetry that will bring glory to God. Throughout most of the poem, his questions amount to a rejection of the way he perceives much secular poetry to be written.  In the first two stanzas, what poetic techniques does he reject?  (Use the footnotes in the textbook to help you understand his criticisms of secular poetry.)
  2. “Shepherds” (line 11) is the vehicle (figurative term) of a metaphor.  What is the implied tenor (literal term) of this metaphor; that is, to what group of people is the speaker actually referring?
  3. In the last stanza, what does the speaker decide is the best way to write Christian poetry?
  4. How many lines are in this poem? What is the poem=s rhyme scheme?  How does the poem=s structure (rhyme scheme and division into stanzas) relate to its meaning?
  5. This poem is a “sacred parody” of (or at least is closely related to) Sidney’s sonnet 1 from Astrophil and Stella (page 975).  Reread that poem and identify the overall similarities in the content and form of these two poems.

 

“The Pilgrimage,” 1618

  1. This poem is an allegory, a story in which every detail has another meaning beyond the literal.  On the literal level, “the hill” (line 1) is merely a natural elevation that the speaker wants to reach.  On the second level of interpretation, what does the hill represent?
  2. Line 3 is difficult to understand at first because of its unconventional syntax (word order). Reorder the words in line 3 to conform to ordinary English sentence structure.
  3. Identify the specific places the speaker passes on his pilgrimage in the first four stanzas.  On the literal level, these would be actual places, but we know that places with such place names do not exist.  In the religious allegory, then, what aspect of human experience does each of these places represent?
  4. What happens to the speaker in stanza 5?  Who is “my king” (line 27)?
  5. What is the meaning of the words the speaker hears in the last stanza?  State in your own words the conclusion that the speaker reaches at the end of the poem.  (See the footnote.)

 

“The Pulley,” 1620

  1. Stanza 1 introduces a metaphor in which God’s bestowing of blessings on humankind (the tenor or literal term of the comparison) is compared to what vehicle or figurative term?
  2. According to stanza 2, what specific blessings does God give the human race?  What one blessing does God withhold?  According to the footnote, what are two different meanings of “rest”?  Which one of the two could be considered a blessing?  What are some synonyms for this definition of “rest”?
  3. According to stanzas 3 and 4, why does God withhold this one blessing?
  4. What is the meaning of “rest” in line 14?  What is the meaning of “rest” in line 16?
  1. Although the poem is entitled “The Pulley,” a pulley is never mentioned in the poem.  (The pulley in this poem is an emblem.) 
    1. How does the content of the last stanza relate to the action of a pulley?   
    2. What is the rhyme scheme of the poem?  How does this rhyme scheme relate to the action of a pulley?
    3. Within each stanza, which lines are shorter?  Which lines are longer?  How do these variable line lengths relate to a pulley?

 

“Love (3),” 1624(b)

  1. What specific evidence in the poem indicates that Love is personified as a girl or young woman who works in an eating place?
  2. Who is the speaker?  According to the first stanza (line 2), why does the speaker hesitate to enter?  What are the connotations of dust (line 2), and how do they help explain the speaker’s reluctance?
  3. What does Love want the reluctant speaker to do (line 17)?  What three (3) different objections does the speaker state (lines 7-15)?  How does Love argue against each of these objections?
  4. What words or phrases indicate that Love actually represents God?
  5. This poem uses allegory, metaphysical conceit, and metaphor.  Justify the application of each of these terms.

 

Marvell’s “To His Coy Mistress,” 1703

  1. “Mistress” here has the archaic meaning of “sweetheart.” What does “coy” mean?
  2. Who is the speaker of the poem?  Who is being addressed?
  3. Each verse paragraph is one step in an argument the speaker is presenting to his mistress.
    1. The first verse paragraph, which begins with “Had we,” meaning “If we had,” asserts that the mistress’s coyness would be acceptable if WHAT were the case?
    2. The second verse paragraph, which begins with “But,” asserts that the hypothetical situation of the first verse paragraph is NOT the case.  Quite the contrary, what does this verse paragraph assert about the human condition?
    3. The third verse paragraph, which begins with “Now therefore,” draws WHAT conclusion?  All along, what has been the speaker’s purpose in presenting this argument?  Explain the meaning of the last six lines.  
  4. “To His Coy Mistress” is a good example of a Metaphysical poem as defined in the previous study guide.  In the speaker’s stated purpose and his use of argumentation, this poem is similar to WHAT poem by Donne?
  5. What application does this poem have to the lives of readers other than the mistress?
  6. Extra-credit exercise: This poem is a treasure trove of figures of speech, including hyperbole (overstatement), metaphor, metonymy, simile, and understatement.   Identify the name of each of the following figures of speech.  For more points, explain how each fits the definition of the figure of speech you have chosen. 
    1. “ten years before the Flood / . . . / Till the conversion of the Jews” (lines 8-10)
    2. “My vegetable love” (line 11)
    3. “Vaster than empires” (line 12), “an hundred years” (13), “two hundred” (15), “thirty thousand” (16)
    4. “Time’s wingèd chariot” (line 22)
    5. “Deserts of vast eternity” (line 24)
    6. “your quaint honor turn to dust, / And into ashes all my lust” (lines 29-30)
    7. “The grave’s a fine and private place, / But none, I think, do there embrace.” (lines 31-32)   

    1. “the youthful hue / Sits on thy skin like morning dew” (lines 33-34)
    2. “thy willing soul transpires / At every pore with instant fires” (lines 35-36)
    3. “like amorous birds of prey” (line 38)
    4. Time=s “slow-chapped power” (line 40)
    5. “roll all our strength and all / Our sweetness up into one ball” (lines 41-42)
    6. “the iron gates of life” (line 44)

 

The Puritan Revolution (ca. 1640-60)

Reign of Charles I (Caroline Period)          1625-49

English Civil War                                          1642-49

Execution of Charles I                                  1649

Interregnum (“between the kings”) with Puritan government     1649-60

Death of Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell 1658

Restoration of Charles II                              1660

 

Cavalier Poets

The English word “cavalier” means “knight”; it comes from the Latin word for “horseman.”  In the English Civil War of the 1640s, the supporters of King Charles I were called Cavaliers (because they were aristocrats and knights); the supporters of the Puritans and Parliament were called Roundheads (because they had short haircuts). 

 

The Cavalier Poets are among those known as the “Tribe of Ben” or “Sons of Ben” because they claim inspiration from Ben Jonson.   We are studying the following Cavalier Poets:

·         Robert Herrick, an Anglican priest, the best poet of this group

·         Sir John Suckling, a courtier to King Charles I; Suckling died in the first year of the English Civil War (1642)

·         Richard Lovelace, a courtier to King Charles I

 

 In contrast with Metaphysical poetry, Cavalier poetry

 

Robert Herrick, 1653(m)

  1. What was Herrick’s occupation?  Where did his sympathies lie in the Civil War between King and Parliament?  How did the Puritan Revolution affect his ability to practice his occupation?  his place of residence?
  2. Where was Herrick living when he wrote most of his poems?  How is this environment reflected in the assigned poems?
  3. Extra-credit reading:  Herrick’s poems are light and delightful.  Read unassigned poems by Herrick (or any unassigned works in the textbook), and write a response.  (See syllabus.)

 

 “The Argument of His Book,” 1654(b)

  1. What definition of the word “argument” applies here?
  2. Presumably the first poem in Herrick’s collection entitled Hesperides, “The Argument of His Book” lists many of the subjects of the poems.  What are the main types or categories of these subjects?  To what extent do the other assigned poems actually address these subjects?

 

“Upon the Loss of His Mistresses,” 1655

  1. Robert Herrick was a bachelor Anglican priest; he had no mistresses. How does “To His Book’s End” (page 1665) support the idea that Herrick’s mistresses are imaginary?   
  2. Using the footnote in the textbook and your own observation (and, if you wish, extra-credit research), what principles govern Herrick’s choice of the names of the seven imaginary mistresses in this poem?
  3. The meter of the poem is extremely regular.  How many syllables are in each line?  What is the pattern of accented and unaccented syllables?
  4. What is the rhyme scheme of the poem?
  5. What effect do the meter and rhyme have on you? Why would the poet deliberately choose this meter and rhyme scheme?
  6. This poem is known especially for its euphony.  What sounds do you find particularly euphonious?
  7. Given that the reader understands that the mistresses are imaginary, what is the tone of this poem?

 

“Corrina’s Going A-Maying,” 1658

  1. The speaker of the poem is not clearly identified.  What clues, however, does the poem reveal about the speaker?  Who do you think it is?
  2. To whom is the entire poem addressed?  What information does the poem reveal about the listener?
  3. In your own words, what is the main point the speaker makes to the listener?  How does this poem relate to the theme of carpe diem (“seize the day”)?  What specific lines relate to this theme?
  4. What May Day customs are described in the poem?  What details does the poem reveal about these customs?  Extra-credit research:  What more can you learn about these customs, especially as they were practiced in England in the seventeenth century?
  5. What is the tone of this poem?
  6. Extra-credit memorization:  Memorize the last two lines of this poem, or, better yet, the last stanza.

 

“To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time,” 1659(b)

1.      Which definition of “virgin” is intended in the title of this poem?  Extra-credit research: According to the OED (Oxford English Dictionary, available online through the NSU Library Web page), what definitions of “virgin” were in use in the 17th century?  Which definition applies here?

2.      In the first stanza and in the last stanza, what specific advice does the speaker give to the virgins?  Can this advice be interpreted literally?  If so, what else does it suggest beyond what it literally says? What name is given to the figure of speech in which something means more than what it literally is?

3.      How does the speaker’s advice create a frame for the poem?

4.      In each stanza of the poem, what evidence does the speaker offer to support the advice he gives in the first and last stanzas?

5.      Explain the similarities between the speaker, listener, and theme in this poem and in “Corrina’s Going A-Maying.”

6.      Extra-credit memorization:  Memorize the last stanza of this poem, or, better yet, the entire poem.

   

“Upon Julia’s Clothes,” 1664(b)

  1. “Julia” is one of the imaginary mistresses mentioned in “Upon the Loss of His Mistresses.”  In your own words, what does the speaker say in the first stanza?  in the second stanza?
  2. How many syllables are in each line of this poem?  What is the pattern of accented and unaccented syllables?  What is this meter called?  How does line 4 depart from the basic meter?  What is the effect of this departure?
  3. What is the poem’s rhyme scheme?  What sound is repeated in all the rhymes in the first stanza?  What sound is repeated in all the rhymes in the second stanza?  How is each of these sounds appropriate to the content of the stanza in which it appears?
  4. Besides these rhymes, what other sounds are repeated in each stanza?  What are the names of the sound devices they employ?  Are these sounds euphonious or cacophonous?

 

Suckling’s “Song,” 1676(m)

  1. Who is the speaker of this poem?
  2. Who is the listener?
  3. In the first stanza, why is the listener “pale and wan” rather than “looking well” as he used to?  In the second stanza, why is the listener “so dull and mute” rather than “speaking well” as he used to?  (The same answer applies to both questions.)
  4. In the third stanza, what advice does the speaker give the listener?  In lines 11 and 12, to what antecedent does the pronoun “this” refer?
  5. What is the tone of the last line of the poem?  How does it differ from the tone of the rest of the poem?

 

 Suckling’s “Out upon It!” 1681(t)

  1. Apparently “out upon it” was a common idiomatic expression in the seventeenth century. In the context of this poem it appears to mean something like “I can’t believe it!”  Extra-credit research: What can you learn about the meaning of the expression “out upon it”?  How does this information relate to the use of the phrase in this poem?
  2. In the first stanza, the speaker reports a situation that he implies is unusual for him.  What is this situation?
  3. In the second stanza, what comment does the speaker make about this situation?
  4. In the third and fourth stanzas, the speaker explains the cause of this unusual situation.  What is the cause?  
  5. What is the speaker’s tone in the first two stanzas? the last two stanzas?  What explains the abrupt shift in tone?
  6. Compare “Out upon it!” with Donne’s “Song” (1264m).

a.       What subjects do these two poems have in common?

b.      How is the speaker’s tone similar in the two poems?

  1. Using the three criteria identified under “Cavalier Poetry” (and also listed below), contrast “Out upon it!” (a typical Cavalier poem) with Donne’s “Song” (a typical Metaphysical poem).  Support your answers.
    1. Which of the two poems is more traditional and regular in stanzaic form and meter?  Which is more unusual and irregular?
    2. Which of the two poems is more intellectual in content and concentration?  Which poem is harder to understand?
    3. Which of the two poems uses diction and figurative language that is more conventional, pretty, decorative, and light?  Which one uses diction and figurative language that is more unusual, strained, intellectual, and difficult?

 

Lovelace’s “To Lucasta, Going to the Wars,” 1682

  1. In the title, the phrase “Going to the Wars” is a dangling modifier.  According to the ungrammatical wording of the title, who is going to the wars (the English Civil War of the 1640s)?  Who, however, is actually going to the wars?
  2. According to the first stanza, what decision has the speaker made?  How does Lucasta feel about this decision?
  3. In the second stanza, lines 5 and 7, what extended metaphor does the speaker use for war?
  4. In the third stanza, how does the speaker justify his decision?  Explain this paradox.
  5. This poem captures the two highest values of the Cavalier poets.  What are they? 
  6. Look up the dictionary definitions of “cavalier” as an adjective.  Does one of these definitions describe the speaker’s attitude about war?  Does this Cavalier poet have a cavalier attitude?  Do any other assigned Cavalier poems reveal a cavalier attitude?

 

Lovelace’s “To Althea, from Prison,” 1683(b)

  1. Each stanza of this poem presents a paradox based on the apparent contradiction that the speaker feels free while writing in prison. Why would the speaker, a Cavalier poet, be in prison? (See the brief introduction to the life of Lovelace on page 1681b.)
  2. Each of the first three stanzas states a value that the poet holds dear.
    1. In the first stanza, who is Althea?  What is the nature of the speaker’s relationship with her?  What value does this stanza describe?
    2. In the second stanza, what scene does the speaker describe?  What specific words relate to this activity?  What value does this stanza describe?
    3. Who is “my king”?  What value does this stanza describe?  Extra-credit research, if necessary:  In 1649, the year of this poem’s publication, what important event occurred in the life of this king? 
  3. Lines 25-26 are frequently quoted: “Stone walls do not a prison make, / Nor iron bars a cage.”  Explain the truth behind this paradox.  Extra-credit memorization: Memorize these two lines, or, better yet, the entire stanza that they begin.   

 

Katherine Philips’s “A Married State,” 1691(t)

  1. According to the footnote, for whom did Philips write this poem?
  2. What is the main point of the poem?  What evidence does the speaker give to support this main point?
  3. The last line of the poem alludes to a folk saying that I have heard as follows: “It is an old saying and you know it well: / She who dies a virgin will lead apes in hell.”  What is the speaker’s attitude toward this idea?  Extra-credit research: What more can you learn about this odd saying about leading apes in hell?

 

“To Mrs. M. A. at Parting,” 1693(m)

1.      According to the footnote, what is Mrs. M. A.’s relationship to Katherine Philips?  (Note also that in the seventeenth century “Mrs.,” meaning “mistress,” was a title used for unmarried as well as married women.)

2.      How is this poem similar to Donne’s “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning”?  How is it different from Donne’s poem?

3.      This poem uses the language of Platonic love to express one woman’s feelings for another?  What lines particularly relate to Platonic love?  In Study Guide 5, what other assigned poem relates to Platonic love?

           

“On the Death of My First and Dearest Child, Hector Philips,” 1695

  1. According to the poem, why is the loss of this child particularly sad for the speaker, his mother?
  2. How does the speaker grieve the loss of her son?
  3. What is an “elegy” (line 12)?  Is this poem as a whole an elegy?  What elegies have we previously studied in this class?

 

John Milton, 1785(b)

  1. In-class discussion:  Like Edmund Spenser and other writers in this unit, Milton is a  Renaissance Christian humanist.  How does this label apply?   
  2. Which side did Milton take in the English Civil War (Puritan Revolution)?
  3. What important position did Milton hold in the English government?  During what years?
  4. In the seventeenth century, it was virtually impossible to get a divorce.  What personal experience prompted Milton to write a series of pamphlets arguing that it should be easier to divorce? 
  5. From what physical disability did Milton suffer from age 43 until his death at 66?  How did he manage to write poetry with this disability?
  6. Which sonnet form does Milton use?  (See the discussion of sonnet forms in Study Guide 5.)

 

“How Soon Hath Time,” 1826

  1. What problem does the speaker identify in the first eight lines?
  2. What solution or answer does the speaker state in the last six lines?
  3. What is the rhyme scheme of this poem?  What two-word name is given to a poem in this form?
  4. What is the relationship between the form and content of this poem?  In other words, how does the division of lines created by the rhyme scheme correspond to the poem's meaning?

 

“When I Consider How My Light Is Spent,” 1828

  1. The speaker of the poem is a Christian poet who has lost his eyesight. What problem related to this situation does the speaker identify in the first seven and one-half lines?
  2. How is the problem the speaker faces in this poem similar to that of the speaker in Herbert’s “Jordan (1)”?
  3. The speaker alludes to the Parable of the Talents from Matthew 25 (lines 3-6).  How does this parable relate to the speaker’s situation?
  4. What solution to his problem does the speaker hear in the last six and one-half lines?  What does the last line of the poem mean, and how does it relate to the speaker=s own situation?
  5. What is the rhyme scheme of this poem?  How does the poem=s form relate to its content?
  6. To what New Testament verse does “his mild yoke” (line 11) allude?
  7. Who are the “[t]housands” who at God=s “bidding speed / And post o’er land and ocean without rest” (lines 12-13)?
  8. The last line, “They also serve who only stand and wait,” is a paradox, a contradictory statement with an underlying truth.  What is the contradiction?  What is the underlying truth?  How does this truth apply especially to the situation of the blind poet?

 

“On the Late Massacre in Piedmont,” 1828(b)

1.      To whom does the speaker address this poem?

2.      According to the footnote, who are “thy slaughtered saints” (line 1), and why is the speaker so outraged by their deaths?  What is the problem identified in the first eight lines or octave of this sonnet?

3.      Explain the underlined phrases in line 4: “When all our fathers worshiped stocks and stones.”

4.      What solution to the problem is presented in the last six lines or sestet of this sonnet?

5.      How does the form of this sonnet relate to its content?

6.      According to the footnotes, who is the “triple tyrant” (line 12)?  What is “the Babylonian woe” (line 14)?  What is Milton’s own religious position, and how is it reflected in this poem?