program pjj - upm edutrain interactive learning · web viewof study took he utmost care and heed....

PROGRAM PJJ SEMESTER SATU 2011/2012

POETRY AND DRAMA IN ENGLISH

BBL 3217

NAMA PENGAJAR: DR. IDA BAIZURA BAHAR

EMEL: [email protected]

POETRY AND DRAMA IN ENGLISH (BBL 3217)__________________________________________________________________

Introduction to Poetry

What is poetry?What is poetry?What is poetry?Poetry is important...Poetry is important... I t reaches inside people and I t reaches inside people and heals their wounds like nothing else can.heals their wounds like nothing else can. I t is an I t is an escape f rom reality and a method of coping with escape f rom reality and a method of coping with reality.reality. I t's a certain f eeling inside." I t's a certain f eeling inside."

AnonymousAnonymous

2


What do the poets say?

• Wordsworth defined poetry as "the spontaneous overflow of powerful f eelings"

• Emily Dickinson said, "I f I read a book and it makes my body so cold no fi re ever can warm me, I know that is poetry"

• Dylan Thomas defined poetry this way: "Poetry is what makes me laugh or cry or yawn, what makes my toenails twinkle, what makes me want to do this or that or nothing."

3


I n brief , according to Mark Flanagan in About.com…

• Poetry is the chiseled marble of language; it's a paint-spattered canvas - but the poet uses words instead of paint, and the canvas is you.

• One of the most definable characteristics of the poetic f orm is economy of language. Poets are miserly and unrelentingly critical in the way they dole out words to a page.

• Defi ning poetry is like grasping at the wind - once you catch it, it's no longer wind.

What poetry is usually about?• Love – central experience in lif e• Death – taboo subject• Religion – mortal vs immortal• Nature – appreciate the beauty• People – f amilies, f riends• Domestic Matters

* Everyday topics = familiar themes

4


LOVEProof – That I did always love thee by Emily

Dickinson

That I did always love,I bring thee proof:That till I lovedI did not love enough.That I shall love alway,I off er theeThat love is life,And life hath immortality.This, dost thou doubt, sweet?Then have INothing to showBut Calvary.

DEATHWake by Langston Hughes

Tell all my mournersTo mourn in red - -Cause there ain't no senseIn my bein' dead.

5


RELI GIONA Child’s Thought of God by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

They say that God lives very high;But if you look above the pines

You cannot see our God; and why?And if you dig down in the mines,You never see Him in the gold,

Though f rom Him all that’s glory shines.God is so good, He wears a foldOf heaven and earth across His f ace,

Like secrets kept, f or love, untold.But still I feel that His embraceSlides down by thrills, through all things made,

Through sight and sound of every place;As if my tender mother laidOn my shut lids her kisses’pressure,

Half waking me at night, and said,“Who kissed you through the dark, dear guesser?”

How to Eat a PoemDon’t be polite.Bite in.Pick it up with your fingers and lick the juice thatmay run down your chin.It is ready and ripe now, whenever you are

You do not need a knife or fork or spoonor plate or napkin or tablecloth

For there is no coreor stem or rindor pitor seedor skin To throw away.

Eve Merriam

6


A Good PoemI like a good poemone with lots of fightingin it. Blood, and theclanging of armour. Poems

against Scotland are good,and poems that defeatthe French with crossbows.I don’t like that

aren’t about anything.Sonnets are wet and a waste of time,Also poems that don’t

know how to rhyme.If I was a poemI’d play football andget picked for England.

Roger McGough

7


AN OVERVIEW OF THE DIFFERENT GENRES

Historical Development

English Poetry

Anglo-Saxon Period (0450-1066)

Middle Ages (1066-1500) The Renaissance (1500-1660) 17th century (1600-1700) 18th century (1700-1800) Romantics (1785-1830) 19th century (1800-1900)

English Drama

Middle Ages to 1642 (1660-1700) (1700-1750) (1750-1800) (1800-1850) (1850-1890)

The Anglo-Saxon Period (0450-1066)

No printing existed – handed down orally Various devices used to facilitate memory, for e.g.

alliteration and rhyme were used to make poetry easy to remember. Most work written in Latin.

Contained themes of battles and religion. Epic is the most famous form = a poem of historic scope.

Famous work: Beowulf (the longest as well as the richest of Old English poems). Found in a manuscript of the early eleventh century but composed 2 centuries earlier.

8


The Middle Ages (1066-1500)

Christian moral poems began to surface Not only in English and Latin but French as well. Epic and elegy gave way to Romance (tales of

adventure and honorable deeds) and lyric. First printed English book appeared in 1476,

language assumed its modern form except for spelling.

Popular poet during this period is Geoffrey Chaucer (narrative poem)

His masterpieces are Canterbury Tales and Troilus and Criseyde

The Renaissance (1500-1660)

Experienced a revival of intellectualism because of renewed interest in ancient Greek and Latin language and literature

Invention of printing press (William Caxton) This revolution encouraged the composition

of poetry by great poets such as Sidney (The Shepheardes Calender), Spencer (FairieQueene), Shakespeare, Marlowe, Lyly and Nashe.

9


The Seventeenth Century (1600-1700)

Two main groups of poets: lyrical poets and metaphysical poets

First group consists of Herrick, Lovelace and Suckling (wrote according to the conventions of Elizabethan lyricists)

Second group consists of Donne, Herbert and Vaughan who produced works by ‘intense feeling combined with ingenious thought; elaborate, witty images; an interest in mathematics, science and geography; an overriding interest in the soul; and direct, colloquial expression even sonnets and lyrics’

The Eighteenth Century (1700-1800)

The rise of the novel and consequently, the beginning of the end of epic poetry

Marked the disappearance of the patronage system

Poetry writing became a less lucrative endeavor.

Poets such as Blake and Pope became aware of the social problems

The emergence of sensibility - Gray

10


The Romantics (1785-1830)

Can be characterized by: A return to nature A shift of focus to the country side A return to a life of senses and feeling Not confined to logic and reason Its appeal to emotions and imagination

The Romantics (II)

Also a revival of interest in the Middle Ages, the medieval, and the supernatural

A common word associated with the Romantics is ‘the Sublime’ which refers to “religious awe, vastness, natural magnificence, and strong emotion”

Overwhelmingly a poetic one Poets of this era are: Wordsworth, Coleridge,

Byron, Shelley and Keats

11


The Nineteenth Century (1800-1900)

Known also as the Victorian Age (1880) Industrial Age and the modern age of science Middle class was brought into power,

reducing the powers of aristocracy Poetries often expressive, mournful,

descriptive, of nature and of domestic and urban life

Poets emerged during this period: Tennyson, Browning and Arnold.

12


NOTES AND TEXT

CANTERBURY TALES

BY

GEOFFREY CHAUCER

13


INTRODUCTION TO NARRATIVE POETRY

GENERAL PROLOGUE TO THE CANTERYBURY TALES (WRITTEN AT THE END OF THE 14TH CENTURY)

BY

GEOFFREY CHAUCER (C.1343-1400)

Middle English version of General Prologue ( http://www.unc.edu/depts/chaucer/zatta/prol.html )

1: Whan that aprill with his shoures soote 2: The droghte of march hath perced to the roote, 3: And bathed every veyne in swich licour 4: Of which vertu engendred is the flour; 5: Whan zephirus eek with his sweete breeth 6: Inspired hath in every holt and heeth 7: Tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne 8: Hath in the ram his halve cours yronne, 9: And smale foweles maken melodye, 10: That slepen al the nyght with open ye 11: (so priketh hem nature in hir corages); 12: Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages, 13: And palmeres for to seken straunge strondes, 14: To ferne halwes, kowthe in sondry londes;

15: And specially from every shires ende 16: Of engelond to caunterbury they wende, 17: The hooly blisful martir for to seke, 18: That hem hath holpen whan that they were seeke. 19: Bifil that in that seson on a day, 20: In southwerk at the tabard as I lay 21: Redy to wenden on my pilgrymage 22: To caunterbury with ful devout corage, 23: At nyght was come into that hostelrye 24: Wel nyne and twenty in a compaignye, 25: Of sondry folk, by aventure yfalle 26: In felaweshipe, and pilgrimes were they alle, 27: That toward caunterbury wolden ryde. 28: The chambres and the stables weren wyde, 29: And wel we weren esed atte beste.

14

http://www.unc.edu/depts/chaucer/zatta/prol.html


General Prologue to The Canterbury Tales

Bifel that in that seson on a day, In Southwerk at the Tabard as I lay Redy to wenden on my pilgrymage To Caunterbury with ful devout corage, At nyght was come into that hostelrye Wel nyne and twenty in a compaignye Of sondry folk, by aventure yfalle In felaweshipe, and pilgrimes were they alle, That toward Caunterbury wolden ryde. GP I.20-27

- The poem opens with a passage about spring, the season when people long

to get out and about after the rigors of winter. Chaucer does not only give

the essence of the season itself, but a vivid realization of its effect on

human beings:

‘When April with his showers sweet with fruitThe drought of March has pierced unto the rootAnd bathed each vein with liquor that has powerTo generate therein and sire the flower;When Zephyr also has, with his sweet breath,Quickened again, in every holt and heath,The tender shoots and buds, and the young sunInto the Ram one half his course has run,And many little birds make melodyThat sleep through all the night with open eye(So Nature pricks them on to ramp and rage)-Then do folk long to go on pilgrimage,And palmers to go seeking out strange strands,To distant shrines well known in sundry lands.And specially from every shire's endOf England they to Canterbury wend,The holy blessed martyr there to seekWho helped them when they lay so ill and weal’

- The company of pilgrims meeting together at the Tabard Inn in Southwark

for the journey to Canterbury. The journey usually took three days, though

it could be done in less. The shrine of St. Thomas, who had been

15


murdered in 1170 and canonized three years later, was a major place of

pilgrimage, must have been a splendid sight in Chaucer’s time, adorned as

it was with great quantities of gold and jewels:

‘Befell that, in that season, on a dayIn Southwark, at the Tabard, as I layReady to start upon my pilgrimageTo Canterbury, full of devout homage,There came at nightfall to that hostelrySome nine and twenty in a companyOf sundry persons who had chanced to fallIn fellowship, and pilgrims were they allThat toward Canterbury town would ride.The rooms and stables spacious were and wide,And well we there were eased, and of the best.And briefly, when the sun had gone to rest,So had I spoken with them, every one,That I was of their fellowship anon,And made agreement that we'd early riseTo take the road, as you I will appriseBut none the less, whilst I have time and space,Before yet farther in this tale I pace,It seems to me accordant with reasonTo inform you of the estate of every oneOf all of these, as it appeared to me,And who they were, and what was their degree,And even how arrayed there at the inn;And with a knight thus will I first begin.’

- At the end of the General Prologue, Chaucer says that he has described the

‘estate’ of all the pilgrims and his prologue is not merely a collection of

portraits, but something that goes much further.

- In the Middle Ages what is now known as ‘estates satire’ was popular:

literature that described the characteristics qualities and failings of the

members of the various ‘estates’, the trades, professions and ways of life

of fourteenth-century people.

- Thus, in describing the pilgrims, Chaucer was not merely inventing a

group of interesting characters, or portraying actual people that he knew,

but drawing upon a well-established but rather stereotyped mode of

writing and transforming it, to give us the highly individualized group of

people who make up the company assembled at the Tabard Inn.

- In order to give a more comprehensive view of his society, Chaucer

presents a very large company of pilgrims, and selected representatives

16


from high up on the social scale (the Knight and his son, the Squire), and

from both religious and secular life.

- He has women as well men, he has poor as well as rich, learned and

ignorant, and simple countrymen as well as sophisticated, worldly

pilgrims.

The Knight

- Given the first place to represent the highest class.

- Though most of his other pilgrims are satirized, Chaucer’s Knight is

presented as an entirely admirable member of his class, a representative of

chivalry.

- He fights for a religious ideal rather than for personal aggrandizement and

has participated in many campaigns in foreign countries.

- His ‘array’, described at the end of the portrait, suggests an unworldly

disregard of outward appearance combined with concern for professional

competence.

- He has participated in no less than fifteen of the great crusades of his era.

- Brave, experienced, and prudent, the narrator greatly admires him.

- As the pilgrimage begins and the tales are told, the Knight’s social

superiority and moral authority are recognized by the rest of the company

including the Host.

‘A knight there was, and he a worthy man,Who, from the moment that he first beganTo ride about the world, loved chivalry,Truth, honour, freedom and all courtesy.Full worthy was he in his liege-lord's war,And therein had he ridden (none more far)As well in Christendom as heathenesse,And honoured everywhere for worthiness.At Alexandria, he, when it was won;Full oft the table's roster he'd begunAbove all nations' knights in Prussia.In Latvia raided he, and Russia,No christened man so oft of his degree.In far Granada at the siege was heOf Algeciras, and in Belmarie.At Ayas was he and at Satalye

17


When they were won; and on the Middle SeaAt many a noble meeting chanced to be.Of mortal battles he had fought fifteen,And he'd fought for our faith at TramisseneThree times in lists, and each time slain his foe.This self-same worthy knight had been alsoAt one time with the lord of PalatyeAgainst another heathen in Turkey:And always won he sovereign fame for prize.Though so illustrious, he was very wiseAnd bore himself as meekly as a maid.He never yet had any vileness said,In all his life, to whatsoever wight.He was a truly perfect, gentle knight.But now, to tell you all of his array,His steeds were good, but yet he was not gay.Of simple fustian wore he a juponSadly discoloured by his habergeon;For he had lately come from his voyageAnd now was going on this pilgrimage.’

The Squire (the Knight’s son) - a country gentleman, especially the

chief landowner in a district – Also a representative of chivalry, but he is above all a young lover, as is

natural for his age (20 years), and his devotion to his lady inspires him to

perform deeds of courage.

– Unlike his father, does not scorn elegant clothes or disregard his

appearance: he is the embodiment of the romantic ideal of the young lover,

with all the accomplishments that were considered appropriate.

- He is accompanied by a Yeoman whose admirable professionalism and

practical abilities qualifies him to be the servant of both Knight and

Squire.

‘With him there was his son, a youthful squire,A lover and a lusty bachelor,With locks well curled, as if they'd laid in press.Some twenty years of age he was, I guess.In stature he was of an average length,Wondrously active, aye, and great of strength.He'd ridden sometime with the cavalryIn Flanders, in Artois, and Picardy,And borne him well within that little spaceIn hope to win thereby his lady's grace.Prinked out he was, as if he were a mead,

18


All full of fresh-cut flowers white and red.Singing he was, or fluting, all the day;He was as fresh as is the month of May.Short was his gown, with sleeves both long and wide.Well could be sit on horse, and fairly ride.He could make songs and words thereto indite,Joust, and dance too, as well as sketch and write.So hot he loved that, while night told her tale,He slept no more than does a nightingale.Courteous he, and humble, willing and able,And carved before his father at the table.’

The Prioress (Madame Eglantine) – the female superior of a religious house or

order/head of her convent

- Chaucer describes in terms of a worldly beauty, as if she were the heroine

of a romance rather than a woman dedicated to a life of religious devotion.

- Chaucer makes his Prioress a beautiful and charming woman whose

courtesy is her dominant characteristics.

- Her table manners are dainty, she knows French (though not French of the

court), she dresses well, and she is charitable and compassionate.

- She wears a brooch which is inscribed “Love Conquers All Things’ but

unsure whether the ‘love’ refers to love for God or earthly love.

- She is the feminine counterpart of the Squire.

‘There was also a nun, a prioress,Who, in her smiling, modest was and coy;Her greatest oath was but "By Saint Eloy!"And she was known as Madam Eglantine.Full well she sang the services divine,Intoning through her nose, becomingly;And fair she spoke her French, and fluently,After the school of Stratford-at-the-Bow,For French of Paris was not hers to know.At table she had been well taught withal,And never from her lips let morsels fall,Nor dipped her fingers deep in sauce, but ateWith so much care the food upon her plateThat never driblet fell upon her breast.In courtesy she had delight and zest.Her upper lip was always wiped so cleanThat in her cup was no iota seenOf grease, when she had drunk her draught of wine.Becomingly she reached for meat to dine.

19


And certainly delighting in good sport,She was right pleasant, amiable- in short.She was at pains to counterfeit the lookOf courtliness, and stately manners took,And would be held worthy of reverence.But, to say something of her moral sense,She was so charitable and piteousThat she would weep if she but saw a mouseCaught in a trap, though it were dead or bled.She had some little dogs, too, that she fedOn roasted flesh, or milk and fine white bread.But sore she'd weep if one of them were dead,Or if men smote it with a rod to smart:For pity ruled her, and her tender heart.Right decorous her pleated wimple was;Her nose was fine; her eyes were blue as glass;Her mouth was small and therewith soft and red;But certainly she had a fair forehead;It was almost a full span broad, I own,For, truth to tell, she was not undergrown.Neat was her cloak, as I was well aware.Of coral small about her arm she'd bearA string of beads and gauded all with green;And therefrom hung a brooch of golden sheenWhereon there was first written a crowned "A,"And under, Amor vincit omnia.’

The Monk – a member of a community of men living apart from the

world under the rules of a religious order.

- Monks were often satirized, particularly for the gluttony and lack of

spirituality traditionally attributed to the monastic orders.

- Chaucer subtly suggests that his Monk his fond of good food, but does not

explicitly state that he is greedy and he makes the monk appear physically

attractive, rather than as gross and bloated.

- He is fond of fine clothes and loves hunting.

‘A monk there was, one made for mastery,An outrider, who loved his venery;A manly man, to be an abbot able.Full many a blooded horse had he in stable:And when he rode men might his bridle hearA-jingling in the whistling wind as clear,

20


Aye, and as loud as does the chapel bellWhere this brave monk was of the cell.The rule of Maurus or Saint Benedict,By reason it was old and somewhat strict,This said monk let such old things slowly paceAnd followed new-world manners in their place.He cared not for that text a clean-plucked henWhich holds that hunters are not holy men;Nor that a monk, when he is cloisterless,Is like unto a fish that's waterless;That is to say, a monk out of his cloister.But this same text he held not worth an oyster;And I said his opinion was right good.What? Should he study as a madman wouldUpon a book in cloister cell? Or yetGo labour with his hands and swink and sweat,As Austin bids? How shall the world be served?Let Austin have his toil to him reserved.Therefore he was a rider day and night;Greyhounds he had, as swift as bird in flight.Since riding and the hunting of the hareWere all his love, for no cost would he spare.I saw his sleeves were purfled at the handWith fur of grey, the finest in the land;Also, to fasten hood beneath his chin,He had of good wrought gold a curious pin:A love-knot in the larger end there was.His head was bald and shone like any glass,And smooth as one anointed was his face.Fat was this lord, he stood in goodly case.His bulging eyes he rolled about, and hotThey gleamed and red, like fire beneath a pot;His boots were soft; his horse of great estate.Now certainly he was a fine prelate:He was not pale as some poor wasted ghost.A fat swan loved he best of any roast.His palfrey was as brown as is a berry.’

The Friar – a member of certain Roman Catholic male religious

orders and works among people in the outside world and not as

enclosed orders.

21


- In Chaucer’s time friars were often criticized for failing to live up to the

ideals to which they were dedicated. Particularly criticized for their over-

persuasive speech and flattery, often leading to the seduction of women.

- Like the Monk, Chaucer’s Friar is an attractive figure, with his pleasant

speech, healthy appearance and musical ability, but he has disagreeable

characteristics too. He is greedy for money, extorting it from poor widows

by his fair speech.

‘A friar there was, a wanton and a merry,A limiter, a very festive man.In all the Orders Four is none that canEqual his gossip and his fair language.He had arranged full many a marriageOf women young, and this at his own cost.Unto his order he was a noble post.Well liked by all and intimate was heWith franklins everywhere in his country,And with the worthy women of the town:For at confessing he'd more power in gown(As he himself said) than it good curate,For of his order he was licentiate.He heard confession gently, it was said,Gently absolved too, leaving naught of dread.He was an easy man to give penanceWhen knowing he should gain a good pittance;For to a begging friar, money givenIs sign that any man has been well shriven.For if one gave (he dared to boast of this),He took the man's repentance not amiss.For many a man there is so hard of heartHe cannot weep however pains may smart.Therefore, instead of weeping and of prayer,Men should give silver to poor friars all bare.His tippet was stuck always full of knivesAnd pins, to give to young and pleasing wives.And certainly he kept a merry note:Well could he sing and play upon the rote.At balladry he bore the prize away.His throat was white as lily of the May;Yet strong he was as ever champion.In towns he knew the taverns, every one,And every good host and each barmaid too-Better than begging lepers, these he knew.For unto no such solid man as heAccorded it, as far as he could see,To have sick lepers for acquaintances.There is no honest advantageousness

22


In dealing with such poverty-stricken curs;It's with the rich and with big victuallers.And so, wherever profit might arise,Courteous he was and humble in men's eyes.There was no other man so virtuous.He was the finest beggar of his house;A certain district being farmed to him,None of his brethren dared approach its rim;For though a widow had no shoes to show,So pleasant was his In principio,He always got a farthing ere he went.He lived by pickings, it is evident.And he could romp as well as any whelp.On love days could he be of mickle help.For there he was not like a cloisterer,With threadbare cope as is the poor scholar,But he was like a lord or like a pope.Of double worsted was his semi-cope,That rounded like a bell, as you may guess.He lisped a little, out of wantonness,To make his English soft upon his tongue;And in his harping, after he had sung,His two eyes twinkled in his head as brightAs do the stars within the frosty night.This worthy limiter was named Hubert.’

The Merchant (trades in fur and other cloths) – part of a powerful and wealthy

class in Chaucer’s society

- The Merchant belongs to the secular rather than to the ecclesiastical world.

- Merchants were traditionally associated with fraud and dishonesty.

Chaucer’s choice of words implies that his Merchant’s dealings were

probably shady ones.

- The very respectable and dignified appearance that the Merchant maintains

probably both masks dishonest money-operations and enables him to

conceal any losses that he may make, which might undermine the

confidence of his clients

‘There was a merchant with forked beard, and girtIn motley gown, and high on horse he sat,Upon his head a Flemish beaver hat;His boots were fastened rather elegantly.His spoke his notions out right pompously,

23


Stressing the times when he had won, not lost.He would the sea were held at any costAcross from Middleburgh to Orwell town.At money-changing he could make a crown.This worthy man kept all his wits well set;There was no one could say he was in debt,So well he governed all his trade affairsWith bargains and with borrowings and with shares.Indeed, he was a worthy man withal,But, sooth to say, his name I can't recall.’

The Clerk (a scholar)

- To be regarded as an admirable figure.

- Does not seem as attractive as many of the other pilgrims, with his half-

starved appearance, bony old horse and threadbare clothes.

- He cares nothing for worldly success, and he spends no time trying to

make money.

- He does not waste words, though he finds time to pray for the souls of any

who will enable him to further his studies.

- His devotion to scholarship and his readiness to pass his learning conform

to the contemporary ideal for the scholar.

‘A clerk from Oxford was with us also,Who'd turned to getting knowledge, long ago.As meagre was his horse as is a rake,Nor he himself too fat, I'll undertake,But he looked hollow and went soberly.Right threadbare was his overcoat; for heHad got him yet no churchly benefice,Nor was so worldly as to gain office.For he would rather have at his bed's headSome twenty books, all bound in black and red,Of Aristotle and his philosophyThan rich robes, fiddle, or gay psaltery.Yet, and for all he was philosopher,He had but little gold within his coffer;But all that he might borrow from a friendOn books and learning he would swiftly spend,And then he'd pray right busily for the soulsOf those who gave him wherewithal for schools.Of study took he utmost care and heed.Not one word spoke he more than was his need;And that was said in fullest reverenceAnd short and quick and full of high good sense.

24


Pregnant of moral virtue was his speech;And gladly would he learn and gladly teach.’

The Wife of Bath (Bath is an English town on River Avon, not the

name of the woman’s husband)

- Misogynistic satire which discussed women’s faults and failings and the

appropriate attitudes towards them that men should adopt.

- Such writing often denounced women for pride and bad temper – here we

can see that the Wife is infuriated if she is not allowed to make her

offering in church before other women.

- Chaucer also drew form earlier tradition which portrayed elderly woman

as knowing all about love, and ready to instruct others, even when they

themselves too old for it.

- Chaucer shows his originality by making the Wife a very experience older

woman but one who is still ready for love if anyone will give her a chance.

- Though she is a seamstress by occupation, she seems to be a professional

wife.

- She has been married five times and had many other affairs in her youth,

making her well-practiced in the art of love.

‘There was a housewife come from Bath, or near,Who- sad to say- was deaf in either ear.At making cloth she had so great a bentShe bettered those of Ypres and even of Ghent.In all the parish there was no goodwifeShould offering make before her, on my life;And if one did, indeed, so wroth was sheIt put her out of all her charity.Her kerchiefs were of finest weave and ground;I dare swear that they weighed a full ten poundWhich, of a Sunday, she wore on her head.Her hose were of the choicest scarlet red,Close gartered, and her shoes were soft and new.Bold was her face, and fair, and red of hue.She'd been respectable throughout her life,With five churched husbands bringing joy and strife,Not counting other company in youth;But thereof there's no need to speak, in truth.

25


Three times she'd journeyed to Jerusalem;And many a foreign stream she'd had to stem;At Rome she'd been, and she'd been in Boulogne,In Spain at Santiago, and at Cologne.She could tell much of wandering by the way:Gap-toothed was she, it is no lie to say.Upon an ambler easily she sat,Well wimpled, aye, and over all a hatAs broad as is a buckler or a targe;A rug was tucked around her buttocks large,And on her feet a pair of sharpened spurs.In company well could she laugh her slurs.The remedies of love she knew, perchance,For of that art she'd learned the old, old dance.’

Prologue

- After Chaucer has introduce all the pilgrims, he excuses himself in

advance for any displeasure that he may cause by attempting to report

accurately the uncensored words of his companions, and he also

apologizes for not introducing the pilgrims in exactly the correct order.

- Then he introduces the Host, Harry Bailey, who unlike the other members

of the party, was a real person.

- The Host is both manly and jolly, and a very competent organizer.

- His character is to emerge in the course of the pilgrimage, as he arranges

the story-telling. At this point in the proceedings, he puts forward his

plan: the teller who tells the most memorable and interesting stories will be

rewarded with a free supper at the Tabard Inn on his return.

‘Now have I told you briefly, in a clause,The state, the array, the number, and the causeOf the assembling of this companyIn Southwark, at this noble hostelryKnown as the Tabard Inn, hard by the Bell.But now the time is come wherein to tellHow all we bore ourselves that very nightWhen at the hostelry we did alight.And afterward the story I engageTo tell you of our common pilgrimage.But first, I pray you, of your courtesy,You'll not ascribe it to vulgarityThough I speak plainly of this matter here,Retailing you their words and means of cheer;Nor though I use their very terms, nor lie.

26


For this thing do you know as well as I:When one repeats a tale told by a man,He must report, as nearly as he can,Every least word, if he remember it,However rude it be, or how unfit;Or else he may be telling what's untrue,Embellishing and fictionizing too.He may not spare, although it were his brother;He must as well say one word as another.Christ spoke right broadly out, in holy writ,And, you know well, there's nothing low in it.And Plato says, to those able to read:"The word should be the cousin to the deed."Also, I pray that you'll forgive it meIf I have not set folk, in their degreeHere in this tale, by rank as they should stand.My wits are not the best, you'll understand.Great cheer our host gave to us, every one,And to the supper set us all anon;And served us then with victuals of the best.Strong was the wine and pleasant to each guest.A seemly man our good host was, withal,Fit to have been a marshal in some hall;He was a large man, with protruding eyes,As fine a burgher as in Cheapside lies;Bold in his speech, and wise, and right well taught,And as to manhood, lacking there in naught.Also, he was a very merry man,And after meat, at playing he began,Speaking of mirth among some other things,When all of us had paid our reckonings;And saying thus: "Now masters, verilyYou are all welcome here, and heartily:For by my truth, and telling you no lie,I have not seen, this year, a companyHere in this inn, fitter for sport than now.Fain would I make you happy, knew I how.And of a game have I this moment thoughtTo give you joy, and it shall cost you naught."You go to Canterbury; may God speedAnd the blest martyr soon requite your meed.And well I know, as you go on your way,You'll tell good tales and shape yourselves to play;For truly there's no mirth nor comfort, none,Riding the roads as dumb as is a stone;And therefore will I furnish you a sport,As I just said, to give you some comfort.And if you like it, all, by one assent,And will be ruled by me, of my judgment,And will so do as I'll proceed to say,

27


Tomorrow, when you ride upon your way,Then, by my father's spirit, who is dead,If you're not gay, I'll give you up my head.Hold up your hands, nor more about it speak."Our full assenting was not far to seek;We thought there was no reason to think twice,And granted him his way without advice,And bade him tell his verdict just and wise,"Masters," quoth he, "here now is my advice;But take it not, I pray you, in disdain;This is the point, to put it short and plain,That each of you, beguiling the long day,Shall tell two stories as you wend your wayTo Canterbury town; and each of youOn coming home, shall tell another two,All of adventures he has known befall.And he who plays his part the best of all,That is to say, who tells upon the roadTales of best sense, in most amusing mode,Shall have a supper at the others' costHere in this room and sitting by this post,When we come back again from Canterbury.And now, the more to warrant you'll be merry,I will myself, and gladly, with you rideAt my own cost, and I will be your guide.But whosoever shall my rule gainsayShall pay for all that's bought along the way.And if you are agreed that it be so,Tell me at once, or if not, tell me no,And I will act accordingly. No more."This thing was granted, and our oaths we swore,With right glad hearts, and prayed of him, also,That he would take the office, nor forgoThe place of governor of all of us,Judging our tales; and by his wisdom thusArrange that supper at a certain price,We to be ruled, each one, by his adviceIn things both great and small; by one assent,We stood committed to his government.And thereupon, the wine was fetched anon;We drank, and then to rest went every one,And that without a longer tarrying.Next morning, when the day began to spring,Up rose our host, and acting as our cock,He gathered us together in a flock,And forth we rode, a jog-trot being the pace,Until we reached Saint Thomas' watering-place.And there our host pulled horse up to a walk,And said: "Now, masters, listen while I talk.You know what you agreed at set of sun.

28


If even-song and morning-song are one,Let's here decide who first shall tell a tale.And as I hope to drink more wine and ale,Whoso proves rebel to my governmentShall pay for all that by the way is spent.Come now, draw cuts, before we farther win,And he that draws the shortest shall begin.Sir knight," said he, "my master and my lord,You shall draw first as you have pledged your word.Come near," quoth he, "my lady prioress:And you, sir clerk, put by your bashfulness,Nor ponder more; out hands, flow, every man!"At once to draw a cut each one began,And, to make short the matter, as it was,Whether by chance or whatsoever cause,The truth is, that the cut fell to the knight,At which right happy then was every wight.Thus that his story first of all he'd tell,According to the compact, it befell,As you have heard. Why argue to and fro?And when this good man saw that it was so,Being a wise man and obedientTo plighted word, given by free assent,He slid: "Since I must then begin the game,Why, welcome be the cut, and in God's name!Now let us ride, and hearken what I say."And at that word we rode forth on our way;And he began to speak, with right good cheer,His tale anon, as it is written here.’

29


SONNETS 1, 18, 60, 97 AND 146

BY

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

30


INTRODUCTION TO SONNET

What is a sonnet?• Lyric poem of 14 lines with a f ormal rhyme

scheme, expressing diff erent aspects of a single thought, mood, or f eeling, resolved or summed up in the last lines of the poem.

• Originally short poems accompanied by mandolin or lute music, sonnets are generally composed in the standard metreof the language in which they were written—iambic pentameter in English, the Alexandrine in French, f or example.

The term• The term sonnet is derived f rom the

provencal word sonet and the I talian word sonetto, both meaning little song. By the thirteenth century, it had come to signif y a poem of f ourteen lines f ollowing a strict rhyme scheme and logical structure. The conventions associated with the sonnet have changed during its history.

31


Form• The two main f orms of the sonnet are the

Petrarchan (I talian), and the English (Shakespearean).

• The former probably developed f rom the stanza form of the canzone or f rom I talian folk song.

• The form reached its peak with the I talian poet Petrarch, whose Canzoniere(c. 1327) includes 317 sonnets addressed to his beloved Laura.

The convention of a sonnet• The Petrarchan sonnet consists of an octave (8

line stanza), and a sestet(6 line stanza). • The octave has two quatrains, rhyming a b b a, a b

b a; the fi rst quatrain presents the theme, the second develops it.

• The sestet is built on two or three diff erent rhymes, arranged either c d e c d e, or c d c d c d,or c d e d c e; the fi rst three lines exemplif y or reflect on the theme, and the last three lines bring the whole poem to a unifi ed close.

• Among great examples of the Petrarchan sonnet in the English language are Sir Philip Sidney's sonnet sequence Astrophel and Stella (1591), which established the form in England. There, in the Elizabethan age, it reached the peak of its popularity.

32


Petrarchan styleHow soon hath Time, the subtle thief of youth, (a)Stolen on his wing my three and twentieth year! (b)My hasting days fl y on with f ull career, (b)But my late spring no bud or blossom shew'th. (a)

Perhaps my semblance might deceive the truth, (a)That I to manhood am arrived so near, (b)And inward ripeness doth much less appear, (b)That some more timely-happy spirits indu'th. (a)

Yet be it less or more, or soon or slow, (c)I t shall be still in strictest measure even (d)To that same lot, however mean or high, (e)Toward which Time leads me, and the will of Heaven. (d)All is, if I have grace to use it so, (c)As ever in my great Task-master's eye. (e)

English Sonnets

• Sir Thomas Wyatt and Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, are credited with introducing the sonnet into England with translations of I talian sonnets as well as with sonnets of their own.

• Though English sonnet is always identifi ed as Shakespeare sonnet, he is not the fi rst to introduce this f rom. Nonetheless the poet is the f amous practitioner.

33


Shakespeare Sonnets• The English sonnet, exemplified by the

work of Shakespeare, developed as an adaptation to a language less rich in rhymes than I talian.

• This f orm diff ers f rom the Petrarchan in being divided into three quatrains, each rhymed diff erently, with a final, independently rhymed couplet that makes an eff ective, unif ying climax to the whole. The rhyme scheme is a b a b, c d c d, e f e f , g g.

Shakespeare Sonnet 116Let me not to the marriage of true minds (a)Admit impediments. Love is not love (b)Which alters when it alteration finds, (a)Or bends with the remover to remove. (b)

O no, it is an ever fi xed mark (c)That looks on tempests and is never shaken; (d)I t is the star to every wand'ring barque, (c)Whose worth's unknown although his height be taken. (d)

Love's not time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks (e)Within his bending sickle's compass come; (f )Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, (e)But bears it out even to the edge of doom. (f )

I f this be error and upon me proved, (g)I never writ, nor no man ever loved. (g)

34


Life and Times of William ShakespeareLikely the most influential writer in all of English literature and certainly the most important playwright of the English Renaissance, William Shakespeare was born in 1564 in the town of Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire, England. The son of a successful middle-class glove-maker, Shakespeare attended grammar school, but his formal education proceeded no further. In 1582, he married an older woman, Anne Hathaway, and had three children with her. Around 1590 he left his family behind and traveled to London to work as an actor and playwright. Public and critical success quickly followed, and Shakespeare eventually became the most popular playwright in England and part owner of the Globe Theater. His career bridged the reigns of Elizabeth I (ruled 1558-1603) and James I (ruled 1603-1625); he was a favorite of both monarchs. Indeed, James granted Shakespeare’s company the greatest possible compliment by endowing them with the status of king’s players. Wealthy and renowned, Shakespeare retired to Stratford, and died in 1616 at the age of fifty-two. At the time of Shakespeare’s death, such luminaries as Ben Jonson hailed him as the apogee of Renaissance theatre.Shakespeare’s works were collected and printed in various editions in the century following his death, and by the early eighteenth century his reputation as the greatest poet ever to write in English was well established. The unprecedented admiration garnered by his works led to a fierce curiosity about Shakespeare’s life; but the paucity of surviving biographical information has left many details of Shakespeare’s personal history shrouded in mystery. Some people have concluded from this fact that Shakespeare’s plays in reality were written by someone else—Francis Bacon and the Earl of Oxford are the two most popular candidates—but the evidence for this claim is overwhelmingly circumstantial, and the theory is not taken seriously by many scholars.In the absence of definitive proof to the contrary, Shakespeare must be viewed as the author of the 37 plays and 154 sonnets that bear his name. The legacy of this body of work is immense. A number of Shakespeare’s plays seem to have transcended even the category of brilliance, becoming so influential as to affect profoundly the course of Western literature and culture ever after.

35


The SonnetsShakespeare’s sonnets are very different from Shakespeare’s plays, but they do contain dramatic elements and an overall sense of story. Each of the poems deals with a highly personal theme, and each can be taken on its own or in relation to the poems around it. The sonnets have the feel of autobiographical poems, but we don’t know whether they deal with real events or not, because no one knows enough about Shakespeare’s life to say whether or not they deal with real events and feelings, so we tend to refer to the voice of the sonnets as “the speaker”—as though he were a dramatic creation like Hamlet or King Lear.There are certainly a number of intriguing continuities throughout the poems. The first 126 of the sonnets seem to be addressed to an unnamed young nobleman, whom the speaker loves very much; the rest of the poems (except for the last two, which seem generally unconnected to the rest of the sequence) seem to be addressed to a mysterious woman, whom the speaker loves, hates, and lusts for simultaneously. The two addressees of the sonnets are usually referred to as the “young man” and the “dark lady”; in summaries of individual poems, I have also called the young man the “beloved” and the dark lady the “lover,” especially in cases where their identity can only be surmised. Within the two mini-sequences, there are a number of other discernible elements of “plot”: the speaker urges the young man to have children; he is forced to endure a separation from him; he competes with a rival poet for the young man’s patronage and affection. At two points in the sequence, it seems that the young man and the dark lady are actually lovers themselves—a state of affairs with which the speaker is none too happy. But while these continuities give the poems a narrative flow and a helpful frame of reference, they have been frustratingly hard for scholars and biographers to pin down. In Shakespeare’s life, who were the young man and the dark lady?

Historical MysteriesOf all the questions surrounding Shakespeare’s life, the sonnets are perhaps the most intriguing. At the time of their publication in 1609 (after having been written most likely in the 1590s and shown only

36


to a small circle of literary admirers), they were dedicated to a “Mr. W.H,” who is described as the “onlie begetter” of the poems. Like those of the young man and the dark lady, the identity of this Mr. W.H. remains an alluring mystery. Because he is described as “begetting” the sonnets, and because the young man seems to be the speaker’s financial patron, some people have speculated that the young man is Mr. W.H. If his initials were reversed, he might even be Henry Wriothesley, the Earl of Southampton, who has often been linked to Shakespeare in theories of his history. But all of this is simply speculation: ultimately, the circumstances surrounding the sonnets, their cast of characters and their relations to Shakespeare himself, are destined to remain a mystery.

The Shakespearean Sonnet: Overview

........William Shakespeare wrote one hundred fifty-four sonnets. A sonnet is a form of lyric poetry with fourteen lines and a specific rhyme scheme. (Lyric poetry presents the deep feelings and emotions of the poet as opposed to poetry that tells a story or presents a witty observation.) .The topic of most sonnets written in Shakespeare's time is love–or a theme related to love. ........Poets usually wrote their sonnets as part of a series, with each sonnet a sequel to the previous one, although many sonnets could stand alone as separate poems. Sonnets afforded their author an opportunity to show off his ability to write memorable lines. In other words, sonnets enabled a poet to demonstrate the power of his genius in the same way that an art exhibition gave a painter a way to show off his special techniques. .......Shakespeare addresses Sonnets 1 through 126 to an unidentified young man with outstanding physical and intellectual attributes. The first seventeen of these urge the young man to marry so that he can pass on his superior qualities to a child, thereby allowing future generations to enjoy and appreciate these qualities when the child becomes a man. In Sonnet 18, Shakespeare alters his viewpoint, saying his own poetry may be all that is necessary to immortalize the young man and his qualities. .......In Sonnets 127 through 154, Shakespeare devotes most of his attention to addressing a mysterious "dark lady"–a sensuous, irresistible woman of questionable morals who captivates the poet. References to the dark lady also appear in previous sonnets (35, 40, 41, 42), in which Shakespeare reproaches the young man for an apparent liaison with the dark lady. The first two lines of Sonnet 41 chide the young man for "those petty wrongs that liberty commits / when I am sometime absent from thy heart," a reference to the young man's wrongful wooing of the dark lady. The last two lines, the rhyming couplet, further impugn the young man for using his good looks to attract the dark lady. In Sonnet 42, the poet charges,

37


"thou dost love her, because thou knowst I love her." .......Shakespeare wrote his sonnets in London in the 1590's during an outbreak of plague that closed theaters and prevented playwrights from staging their dramas. .......Generally, Shakespeare's sonnets receive high praise for their exquisite wording and imagery and for their refusal to stoop to sentimentality. Readers of his sonnets in his time got a taste of the greatness that Shakespeare exhibited later in such plays as Hamlet, Macbeth, King Lear, Othello, and The Tempest. Sonnets 138 and 144 were published in 1599 in a poetry collection entitled The Passionate Pilgrime [Pilgrim]. The other sonnets were published in 1609 in Shake-speares [Shakespeare's] Sonnets. It is possible that the 1609 sequence of sonnets is out of its original order .......The Shakespearean sonnet (also called the English sonnet) has three four-line stanzas (quatrains) and a two-line unit called a couplet. A couplet is always indented; both lines rhyme at the end. The meter of Shakespeare's sonnets is iambic pentameter (except in Sonnet 145). The rhyming lines in each stanza are the first and third and the second and fourth. In the couplet ending the poem, both lines rhyme. All of Shakespeare's sonnets follow the same rhyming pattern.

Iambic Pentameter

.......Shakespeare wrote his sonnets (and many of the lines in his plays) in iambic pentameter, a technical term for a poetry pattern in which each line has 10 syllables, beginning with an unstressed syllable and a stressed syllable, followed by another pair of unstressed and stressed syllables, and so on–until there are five pairs of syllables (or ten syllables in all) . .......To understand iambic pentameter, you first need to understand the term ''iamb.'' An iamb is a unit of rhythm consisting of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. The words ''annoy,'' ''fulfill,'' ''pretend,'' ''regard,'' and ''serene'' are all iambs because the first syllable of each word is unstressed (or unaccented) and the second syllable is stressed (or accented). Iambs may consist of a final unstressed syllable of one word followed by an initial stressed syllable of the next word. The following line from Romeo and Juliet demonstrates the use of iambs. The unstressed syllables are green and the stressed syllables are underlined in red:

...............But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks?

38

http://www.cummingsstudyguides.net/xfacts.html#Blank%20Verse


Here are two more lines from Romeo and Juliet that also demonstrate the use of iambs:

...............I will not fail: 'tis twenty years till then.

...............I have forgot why I did call thee back.

When a line has five iambs, it is in iambic pentameter. The prefix ''pent'' means ''five.'' (A figure with five sides is called a ''pentagon''; an athletic competition with five track-and-field events is called a ''pentathlon.'') The suffix ''meter'' (in ''pentameter'') refers to the recurrence of a rhythmic unit (also called a ''foot''). Thus, because the above lines contain iambs, they are ''iambic.'' Because they contain five iambs (five feet) they are said to be in iambic pentameter.

Origin and Development of the Sonnet

.......The sonnet originated in Sicily in the 13th Century with Giacomo da Lentino (1188-1240), a lawyer. The poetic traditions of the Provençal region of France apparently influenced him, but he wrote his poems in the Sicilian dialect of Italian. Some authorities credit another Italian, Guittone d'Arezzo (1230-1294), with originating the sonnet. The English word "sonnet" comes from the Italian word "sonetto," meaning "little song." Some early sonnets were set to music, with accompaniment provided by a lute. .......The Italian poet Petrarch (1304-1374), a Roman Catholic priest, popularized the sonnet more than two centuries before Shakespeare was born. Other popular Italian sonneteers were Dante Alighieri (1265-1321), Italy's most famous and most accomplished writer, and Guido Cavalcante (1255-1300). The format of Petrarch's sonnets differs from that of Shakespeare. Petrarch's sonnets each consist of an eight-line stanza (octave) and a six-line stanza (sestet). The first stanza presents a theme, and the second stanza develops it. The rhyme scheme is as follows: (1) first stanza (octave): ABBA, ABBA; (2) second stanza (sestet): CDE, CDE (or CDC, CDC; or CDE, DCE). .......The sonnet form was introduced in England by Sir Thomas Wyatt (1503-1542) and Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey (1517-1547). They translated Italian sonnets into English and wrote sonnets of their own. Surrey introduced blank verse into the English language in his translation of the Aeneid of Vergil. Wyatt and Surrey sometimes replaced Petrarch's scheme of an eight-line stanza and a six-line stanza with three four-line stanzas and a two-line conclusion known as a couplet. Shakespeare adopted the latter scheme in his sonnets.

39

http://www.cummingsstudyguides.net/xfacts.html#Blank%20Verse

http://www.cummingsstudyguides.net/Dante.html


.......Besides Shakespeare, well known English sonneteers in the late 1500's included Sir Philip Sydney, Samuel Daniel, and Michael Drayton. .......In Italy, England, and elsewhere between the 13th and early 16th Centuries, the most common theme of sonnets was love. Sonnets in later times also focused on religion, politics, and other concerns of the reading public.

Sonnet 1 (Addressed to the Unidentified Young Man) From fairest creatures we desire increase, That thereby beauty’s rose might never die, But as the riper should by time decease, His tender heir might bear his memory: But thou, contracted to thine own bright eyes, Feed’st thy light’st flame with self-substantial fuel, Making a famine where abundance lies, Thyself thy foe, to thy sweet self too cruel. Thou that art now the world’s fresh ornament And only herald to the gaudy spring, Within thine own bud buriest thy content And, tender churl, makest waste in niggarding. Pity the world, or else this glutton be, To eat the world’s due, by the grave and thee.

From fairest creatures we desire increase,

increase: reproduction, offspring, children

That thereby beauty's rose might never die,

so that your beauty will live on in your children

But as the riper should by time decease,

riper: riper person--that is, older person or aging person

His tender heir might bear his memory: tender: youngBut thou, contracted to thine own bright eyes,

contracted to . . . eyes: married to yourself, in love with yourself

Feed'st thy light'st flame with burn with love for yourself

40


self-substantial fuel,Making a famine where abundance lies,

famine . . . lies: depleting your own abundant beauty

Thyself thy foe, to thy sweet self too cruel. You are your own worst enemyThou that art now the world's fresh ornament ornament: young personAnd only herald to the gaudy spring, gaudy: shining brilliant, gleamingWithin thine own bud buriest thy content

bud . . . content: seed, source of new life

And, tender churl, makest waste in niggarding.

tender churl: young miser; niggarding: being stingy

Pity the world, or else this glutton be,

Share yourself or your gluttony will consume potential offspring

To eat the world's due, by the grave and thee.Sonnet 1 Meaning

......We want beautiful people and things to reproduce themselves so that their good qualities will be passed on to their offspring (children, plants, etc.) It's true that an aging person or thing will eventually die, but the memory of that person or thing will continue to live if offspring are produced. But you, who are in love with yourself, seem to devote all of your attention to yourself. You're like the flame of a candle that burns only for itself instead of providing light for others.You are your own enemy. Right now, you are young and new to the world. But instead of procreating and sharing yourself by marrying, you keep your procreative seed inside yourself, unused (thine own bud buriest thy content). ......Thus, young miser, you waste your good qualities by refusing to spend them on others In the end, by thinking only of yourself and not mingling with others, you will consume your ability to procreate and go to your grave without any children or memories to immortalize you.

41


Sonnet 18

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate: Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer’s lease hath all too short a date: Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, And often is his gold complexion dimm’d; And every fair from fair sometime declines, By chance or nature’s changing course untrimm’d; But thy eternal summer shall not fade Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest; Nor shall Death brag thou wander’st in his shade, When in eternal lines to time thou growest: So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

The following presentation of Sonnet 18, one of Shakespeare's most famous, will help you visualize the rhyming pattern of the sonnets. I capitalized the last part of each line and typed a letter to the left of the line to indicate the pattern. The meaning of each line appears at right.

Sonnet XVIII (18) Addressed to the Young Man

Quatrain 1 (four-line stanza)

A Shall I compare thee to a If I compared you to a

42


summer's DAY? summer dayB Thou art more lovely and more temperATE:

I'd have to say you are more beautiful and serene:

A Rough winds do shake the darling buds of MAY,

By comparison, summer is rough on budding life,

B And summer's lease hath all too short a DATE:

And doesn't last long either:

Comment: In Shakespeare's time, May (Line 3) was considered a summer month.


C Sometime too hot the eye of heaven SHINES,

At times the summer sun [heaven's eye] is too hot,

D And often is his gold complexion DIMM'D;

And at other times clouds dim its brilliance;

C And every fair from fair sometime deCLINES,

Everything fair in nature becomes less fair from time to time,

D By chance or nature's changing course unTRIMM'D;

No one can change [trim] nature or chance;

Comment:."Every fair" may also refer to every fair woman, who "declines" because of aging or bodily changes.


E But thy eternal summer shall not FADE

However, you yourself will not fade

F Nor lose possession of that fair thou OWEST;

Nor lose ownership of your fairness;

E Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his SHADE,

Not even death will claim you,

F When in eternal lines to time thou GROWEST:

Because these lines I write will immortalize you:

43


Couplet (two rhyming lines)

G So long as men can breathe or eyes can SEE,

Your beauty will last as long as men breathe and see,

G So long lives this and this gives life to THEE.

As Long as this sonnet lives and gives you life.

As you can see, the rhyme scheme of the sonnet is as follows: First stanza, ABAB; second stanza, CDCD; third stanza, EFEF; and the couplet, GG. .......Notice that Shakespeare introduces the main point of the sonnet in the first two lines of Stanza 1: that the young man's radiance is greater than the sun's. He then devotes the second two lines of Stanza 1 and all of Stanza 2 to the inferior qualities of the sun. In Stanza 3, he says the young man's brilliance will never fade because Sonnet XVIII will keep it alive. He then sums up his thoughts in the ending couplet.

Sonnet 18 Meaning

The speaker opens the poem with a question addressed to the beloved: “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” The next eleven lines are devoted to such a comparison. In line 2, the speaker stipulates what mainly differentiates the young man from the summer’s day: he is “more lovely and more temperate.” Summer’s days tend toward extremes: they are shaken by “rough winds”; in them, the sun (“the eye of heaven”) often shines “too hot,” or too dim. And summer is fleeting: its date is too short, and it leads to the withering of autumn, as “every fair from fair sometime declines.” The final quatrain of the sonnet tells how the beloved differs from the summer in that respect: his beauty will last forever (“Thy eternal summer shall not fade...”) and never die. In the couplet, the speaker explains how the beloved’s beauty will accomplish this feat, and not perish because it is preserved in the poem, which will last forever; it will live “as long as men can breathe or eyes can see.”

44


Sonnet 60 (Addressed to the Young Man) Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore, So do our minutes hasten to their end; Each changing place with that which goes before, In sequent toil all forwards do contend. Nativity, once in the main of light, Crawls to maturity, wherewith being crown’d, Crooked elipses ’gainst his glory fight, And Time that gave doth now his gift confound. Time doth transfix the flourish set on youth And delves the parallels in beauty’s brow, Feeds on the rarities of nature’s truth, And nothing stands but for his scythe to mow: And yet to times in hope my verse shall stand, Praising thy worth, despite his cruel hand. Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore,

Like . . . end: Simile comparing the speed of the passage of time to

So do our minutes hasten to their end;

to the speed of waves moving toward a shore

Each changing place with that which goes before,

One wave takes the place of the wave that was there moments before.

In sequent toil all forward do contend. This action is repeated without end.Nativity, once in the main of light,

Nativity: early life; main of light: morning light without shadows

Crawls to maturity, wherewith being crown'd,

Crawls to maturity: Young people crawl figuratively, like a baby

45


Crooked eclipses 'gainst his glory fight,

Crooked eclipses: effects of aging (metaphor: aging dims the light)

And Time that gave doth now his gift confound. Time now becomes an enemyTime doth transfix the flourish set on youth

transfix: paralyze, stop (the ability to bloom and flourish)

And delves the parallels in beauty's brow,

delves the parallels: carves wrinkles in the brow

Feeds on the rarities of nature's truth, And consumes youthfulness And nothing stands but for his scythe to mow:

Eventually death (scythe) cuts down the aging man

.....And yet to times in hope my verse shall stand,

However, I hope my verse will remain (continued on next line)

.....Praising thy worth, despite his cruel hand. to praise all of your worthy qualitiesSonnet 60 Meaning

.......This sonnet says time passes swiftly, just as swiftly as ocean waves rushing toward a shore. The word minutes in Line 2 and the number of the sonnet, 60, suggest that life passes like the 60 minutes in an hour. Although a young man stands for a while in the bright sunlight of youth, advancing age will all-too-soon appear as a cloud that hides the sun. Wrinkles will appear and infirmities will develop. Eventually, death–with its scythe–will come to reap its harvest. However, the poet’s verse will live on to extol the qualities of the man as he was in his youth.

46


Sonnet 97

How like a winter hath my absence been From thee, the pleasure of the fleeting year! What freezings have I felt, what dark days seen! What old December’s bareness every where! And yet this time removed was summer’s time, The teeming autumn, big with rich increase, Bearing the wanton burden of the prime, Like widow’d wombs after their lords’ decease: Yet this abundant issue seem’d to me But hope of orphans and unfather’d fruit; For summer and his pleasures wait on thee, And, thou away, the very birds are mute; Or, if they sing, ’tis with so dull a cheer That leaves look pale, dreading the winter’s near.

Sonnet 97 Meaning

The speaker has been forced to endure a separation from the beloved, and in this poem he compares that absence to the desolation of winter. In the first quatrain, the speaker simply exclaims the comparison, painting a picture of the winter: “How like a winter hath my absence been / From thee, the pleasure of the fleeting year! / What freezings have I felt, what dark days seen! / What old December’s bareness everywhere!” In the second quatrain, however, he says that, in reality, the season was that of late summer or early autumn, when all of nature was bearing the

47


fruits of summer’s blooming. In the third quatrain, he dismisses the “wanton burthen of the prime”—that is, the bounty of the summer—as unreal, as the “hope of orphans.” It could not have been fathered by summer, because “summer and his pleasures” wait on the beloved, and when he is gone, even the birds are silent. In the couplet, the speaker says that the birds may sing when the beloved is gone, but it is with “so dull a cheer” that the leaves, listening, become fearful that winter is upon them.

CommentaryThe seasons, so often invoked as a metaphor for the passage of time in the sonnets, are here metaphorized, and function as a kind of delusional indication of how deeply the speaker misses the company of the beloved. As the second quatrain reveals, the speaker spends some time apart from the beloved in “summer’s time,” in late summer, when the natural world is heavy with the fruits of the summer. But without the young man’s presence, the world of abundance and plenty instead resembles “old December’s bareness,” not the pleasures of summer attendant upon the young man’s presence.The linguistic richness of this poem is the cause of its prominence and popularity among the sonnets. With an economy of imagery, the speaker manages to evoke the “freezings” and “dark days” of winter, the warmth and luxury of the “teeming autumn, big with rich increase,” and, in the third quatrain, the uneasy coexistence of the two in the lonely speaker’s mind. The poem makes use of its strong alliteration (“fleeting” and “freezings”, “dark days” and “December”, “time” and “teeming”, “widowed wombs”, “orphans” and “unfathered fruit”) to give it linguistic weight and pacing, and its lines seem stuffed full with of evocative words.Probably because of this sensory and imagistic luxury, Sonnet 73 has become the ancestor of a great many other important poems, most notably Keats’s ode “To Autumn.” Its sense and its images are also present in Keats’s sonnet “When I have fears that I may cease to be,” Wallace Stevens’s “The Snow Man” and “No Possum, No Sop,

48


No Taters,” many of Robert Frost’s autumn lyrics, and other important poems.

Sonnet 146

Poor soul, the centre of my sinful earth, [...] these rebel powers that thee array; Why dost thou pine within and suffer dearth, Painting thy outward walls so costly gay? Why so large cost, having so short a lease, Dost thou upon thy fading mansion spend? Shall worms, inheritors of this excess, Eat up thy charge? is this thy body’s end? Then soul, live thou upon thy servant’s loss, And let that pine to aggravate thy store; Buy terms divine in selling hours of dross; Within be fed, without be rich no more: So shalt thou feed on Death, that feeds on men, And Death once dead, there’s no more dying then.

Sonnet 146 Meaning

The speaker addresses this poem to his soul, asking it in the first stanza why it, the center of his “sinful earth” (that is, his body), endures misery within his body while he is so concerned with maintaining its “paint[ed]” outward appearance—that is, why his

49


soul allows his exterior vanity to wound its interior life. He asks his soul why, since it will not spend long in the body (“having so short a lease” in the “fading mansion”), it spends “so large cost” to decorate it, and he asks whether worms shall be allowed to eat the soul’s “charge” after the body is dead. In the third quatrain, the speaker exhorts his soul to concentrate on its own inward well-being at the expense of the body’s outward walls (“Let that [i.e., the body] pine to aggravate [i.e., increase] thy store”). He says that the body’s hours of “dross” will buy the soul “terms divine”; and admonishes the soul to be fed within, and not to be rich without. In the couplet, the speaker tells the soul that by following his advice, it will feed on death, which feeds on men and their bodies; and once it has fed on death, it will enjoy eternal life: “And death once dead, there’s no more dying then.”

Commentary

Sonnet 146, an austerely moralizing self-exhortation to privilege the inner enrichment of the soul over the outer decoration of the body, is also the site of the most virulent textual controversy of any of Shakespeare’s poem in the sequence. The way the poem is printed in its first edition, its first two lines read: Poor soule, the center of my sinfull earth, My sinfull earth these rebbel poweres that thee array.... The repetition of the phrase “my sinful earth” at the start of the second line has long been chalked up to a printer’s mistake; it almost certainly could not have been Shakespeare’s intention to break his meter so egregiously for the sake of such a heavy-handed repetition. (In the 1590s, any text that was to be printed had to be set into the printing press letter by letter, a painstaking and often mind-numbing process that resulted in many mistakes of this nature.) As a result, critics have debated for what seems the better part of four centuries over what the “missing” text might have been. “Trapp’d by these rebel powers”? “Ring’d” by them? “Fenced”? “Foil’d”? “Pressed with”? Possible alternatives are literally endless; most recent editors of the sonnets have avoided conjecture for that very reason.

50


Apart from the textual controversy, Sonnet 146 presents the relatively simple idea that the body exists at the expense of the soul, so that decorating or adorning the body, or even worrying about its beauty, can only be accomplished at the soul’s expense. The speaker of this sonnet feels trapped by his preoccupation with his outward appearance, and urges himself—by addressing his neglected soul, which he concedes has the decision-making power over the body—to neglect the body as a way to enrich the soul and help it toward heaven (“Buy terms divine in selling hours of dross”). In this sense, Sonnet 146 is one of comparatively few sonnets to strike a piously religious tone: in its overt concern with heaven, asceticism, and the progress of the soul, it is quite at odds with many of the other sonnets, which yearn for and celebrate sensory beauty and aesthetic pleasure.

ELEGY WRITTEN IN A

51


COUNTRY CHURCHYARD

BY

THOMAS GRAY

INTRODUCTION TO ELEGY

THE ELEGY :

Elegy means “a lament” in Greek . In classical Literature an Elegy was any poem composed of couplets of dactylic hexameters and pentameters. The subjects were various death, war, love and similar things. The elegy was also used for epitaphs. Many touching poems of personal loss have been written in English though the formal elegy demands a dignity and solemnity without a sense of strained effort or artificiality. Of such personal elegies of note are Shelley’s “Adonais” mourning the death of Keats.

52


THE PASTRORAL ELEGY:

The major elegies belong to a sub – species known as Pastoral elegy , the origin of which are traceable to the pastoral laments of Theocritus of Sicily and his successors Moschus and Bion. It was Theocritus who set an example for Milton’s Lycidas, Shelley’s Adoais and Arnold’s Thyrsis.

Features:

1. The scene is pastoral. 2. The poem begins with an invocation. 3. Diverse mythological characters are referred to. 4. Nature is involved in mourning – Nature feels the wound. 5. There is a procession of mourners.6. There is a flower passage. 7. The elegy ends on a note of hope and joy.

“ELEGY WRITTEN IN A COUNTRY CHURCHYARD” (1751)

BY THOMAS GRAY

1 The curfew tolls the knell of parting day, 2 The lowing herd wind slowly o'er the lea, 3 The plowman homeward plods his weary way, 4 And leaves the world to darkness and to me.

5 Now fades the glimm'ring landscape on the sight, 6 And all the air a solemn stillness holds, 7 Save where the beetle wheels his droning flight, 8 And drowsy tinklings lull the distant folds;

9 Save that from yonder ivy-mantled tow'r

53


10 The moping owl does to the moon complain 11 Of such, as wand'ring near her secret bow'r, 12 Molest her ancient solitary reign.

13 Beneath those rugged elms, that yew-tree's shade, 14 Where heaves the turf in many a mould'ring heap, 15 Each in his narrow cell for ever laid, 16 The rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep.

17 The breezy call of incense-breathing Morn, 18 The swallow twitt'ring from the straw-built shed, 19 The cock's shrill clarion, or the echoing horn, 20 No more shall rouse them from their lowly bed.

21 For them no more the blazing hearth shall burn, 22 Or busy housewife ply her evening care: 23 No children run to lisp their sire's return, 24 Or climb his knees the envied kiss to share.

25 Oft did the harvest to their sickle yield, 26 Their furrow oft the stubborn glebe has broke; 27 How jocund did they drive their team afield! 28 How bow'd the woods beneath their sturdy stroke! 29 Let not Ambition mock their useful toil, 30 Their homely joys, and destiny obscure; 31 Nor Grandeur hear with a disdainful smile 32 The short and simple annals of the poor.

33 The boast of heraldry, the pomp of pow'r, 34 And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave, 35 Awaits alike th' inevitable hour. 36 The paths of glory lead but to the grave. 37 Nor you, ye proud, impute to these the fault, 38 If Mem'ry o'er their tomb no trophies raise, 39 Where thro' the long-drawn aisle and fretted vault 40 The pealing anthem swells the note of praise.

41 Can storied urn or animated bust 42 Back to its mansion call the fleeting breath? 43 Can Honour's voice provoke the silent dust, 44 Or Flatt'ry soothe the dull cold ear of Death?

45 Perhaps in this neglected spot is laid 46 Some heart once pregnant with celestial fire; 47 Hands, that the rod of empire might have sway'd, 48 Or wak'd to ecstasy the living lyre.

49 But Knowledge to their eyes her ample page 50 Rich with the spoils of time did ne'er unroll; 51 Chill Penury repress'd their noble rage,

54


52 And froze the genial current of the soul.

53 Full many a gem of purest ray serene, 54 The dark unfathom'd caves of ocean bear: 55 Full many a flow'r is born to blush unseen, 56 And waste its sweetness on the desert air.

57 Some village-Hampden, that with dauntless breast 58 The little tyrant of his fields withstood; 59 Some mute inglorious Milton here may rest, 60 Some Cromwell guiltless of his country's blood.

61 Th' applause of list'ning senates to command, 62 The threats of pain and ruin to despise, 63 To scatter plenty o'er a smiling land, 64 And read their hist'ry in a nation's eyes,

65 Their lot forbade: nor circumscrib'd alone 66 Their growing virtues, but their crimes confin'd; 67 Forbade to wade through slaughter to a throne, 68 And shut the gates of mercy on mankind,

69 The struggling pangs of conscious truth to hide, 70 To quench the blushes of ingenuous shame, 71 Or heap the shrine of Luxury and Pride 72 With incense kindled at the Muse's flame.

73 Far from the madding crowd's ignoble strife, 74 Their sober wishes never learn'd to stray; 75 Along the cool sequester'd vale of life 76 They kept the noiseless tenor of their way.

77 Yet ev'n these bones from insult to protect, 78 Some frail memorial still erected nigh, 79 With uncouth rhymes and shapeless sculpture deck'd, 80 Implores the passing tribute of a sigh.

81 Their name, their years, spelt by th' unletter'd muse, 82 The place of fame and elegy supply: 83 And many a holy text around she strews, 84 That teach the rustic moralist to die.

85 For who to dumb Forgetfulness a prey, 86 This pleasing anxious being e'er resign'd, 87 Left the warm precincts of the cheerful day, 88 Nor cast one longing, ling'ring look behind?

89 On some fond breast the parting soul relies, 90 Some pious drops the closing eye requires; 91 Ev'n from the tomb the voice of Nature cries,

55


92 Ev'n in our ashes live their wonted fires.

93 For thee, who mindful of th' unhonour'd Dead 94 Dost in these lines their artless tale relate; 95 If chance, by lonely contemplation led, 96 Some kindred spirit shall inquire thy fate,

97 Haply some hoary-headed swain may say, 98 "Oft have we seen him at the peep of dawn 99 Brushing with hasty steps the dews away 100 To meet the sun upon the upland lawn.

101 "There at the foot of yonder nodding beech 102 That wreathes its old fantastic roots so high, 103 His listless length at noontide would he stretch, 104 And pore upon the brook that babbles by.

105 "Hard by yon wood, now smiling as in scorn, 106 Mutt'ring his wayward fancies he would rove, 107 Now drooping, woeful wan, like one forlorn, 108 Or craz'd with care, or cross'd in hopeless love.

109 "One morn I miss'd him on the custom'd hill, 110 Along the heath and near his fav'rite tree; 111 Another came; nor yet beside the rill, 112 Nor up the lawn, nor at the wood was he;

113 "The next with dirges due in sad array 114 Slow thro' the church-way path we saw him borne. 115 Approach and read (for thou canst read) the lay, 116 Grav'd on the stone beneath yon aged thorn."

THE EPITAPH 117 Here rests his head upon the lap of Earth 118 A youth to Fortune and to Fame unknown. 119 Fair Science frown'd not on his humble birth, 120 And Melancholy mark'd him for her own.

121 Large was his bounty, and his soul sincere, 122 Heav'n did a recompense as largely send: 123 He gave to Mis'ry all he had, a tear, 124 He gain'd from Heav'n ('twas all he wish'd) a friend.

125 No farther seek his merits to disclose, 126 Or draw his frailties from their dread abode, 127 (There they alike in trembling hope repose) 128 The bosom of his Father and his God.

56


Notes

1] First published, anonymously, 1751, under the title "An Elegy wrote in a Country Churchyard." The date of composition of the Elegy, apart from the concluding stanzas, cannot be exactly determined. The sole authority for the frequently repeated statement that Gray began the poem in 1742 is Mason's conjecture in the memoir prefixed to his edition of The Poems of Mr. Gray, 1775. The Elegy was concluded at Stoke Poges in June, 1750. (See letter to Walpole, June 12, 1750.) The churchyard as described by Gray is typical rather than particular; of the five disputed "originals" Stoke Poges bears the least resemblance to the graveyard in the Elegy. Five candidate churchyards for Gray's setting include Stoke Poges (unlikely), Upton (near Slough), Grantchester and Madingley (near Cambridge), and Thanington (near Canterbury), but the features might as readily be non-specific. curfew: originally rung at eight o'clock as a signal for extinguishing fires; after this practice had ceased, the word was applied to an evening bell. In his note to this first line Gray refers to Dante, Purgatorio, VIII, 5-6: "Squilla di lontano / Che paia 'l giorno pianger, che si muore."

8] tinklings: made by sheep-bells.

9] Cf. Robert Colvill's "Britain, a Poem," II, 45-57:

Even thus, the keen ey'd falcon swift descends On Pallas' bird victorious; long he watch'd The tempting spoil, and she his rage defy'd, Close shelter'd in her ivy mantl'd tower; Compell'd abroad, while circling slow she wheels In quest of food, and least expects the snare, Strait from his airy flight the victor stoops, As lightning-swift, and bears the captive prey. (450-57)

16] rude: unlearned.

17] incense-breathing: cf. Paradise Lost, IX, 193-4. Also Pope, Messiah, 24: "With all the incense of the breathing spring."

19] The cock's shrill clarion: cf. Paradise Lost, VII, 443-44: "the crested cock, whose clarion sounds/The silent hours." Cf. Paul Whitehead's "The State of Rome" (1739), lines 173-74:

But hold, War's Rumour! mark the loud Alarms! Hark the shrill Clarion sounds to Arms, to Arms!

26] broke: old `strong' form of the past participle, `broken.'

30] homely: domestic.

57


32] short and simple annals: parish registers of births, christenings, marriages, and deaths (Richard Leighton Greene, "Gray's Elegy written in a Country Churchyard," The Explicator 24.6 [Feb. 1966].)

35] Cf. Henry Needler's "Horace. Book IV. Ode VII. Paraphras'd," lines 30-34:

When once th' inevitable Hour is come, At which thou must receive thy final Doom; Thy Noble Birth, thy Eloquence Divine, And shining Piety shall nought encline The stubborn Will of unrelenting Fate ...and Richard West's "A Monody on the Death of Queen Caroline" (Dodsley's Collection of Poems [1748]: II, 273): Ah me! What boots us all our boasted power,Our golden treasure, and our purpled state? They cannot ward the inevitable hour, Nor stay the fearful violence of Fate. A collective (singular) subject is possible, though the word `hour' might also be the subject of the word `awaits.'

36] Cf. Pope's "The First Book of the Odyssey," lines 391-92:

O greatly bless'd with ev'ry blooming grace! With equal steps the paths of glory trace ..

38] Trophies: memorials.

39] fretted: adorned with carved or embossed work. Cf. Hamlet, II, ii: "this majestical roof fretted with golden fire."

41] Cf. Samuel Whyte's "Elegy II" (1722), lines 119-20:

No breathing Marble o'er his Dust shall stand; No storied Urn shall celebrate his Name ...

43] provoke: in its original sense, to call forth, to challenge.

51] rage: as often in the poetry of the eighteenth century, poetic fire (furor poeticus).

57] Hampden: John Hampden (ca. 1595-1643), one of the noblest of English Parliamentary statesmen; a central figure of the English revolution in its earlier stages.

59] Cf. Joseph Trapp's "Virgil's Aeneis," IV, 512-14:

He, to protract his aged Father's Life, Chose Skill in Med'cine, and the Pow'rs of Herbs; And exercis'd a mute inglorious Art.

58


69] conscious truth: truthful awareness of inward guilt.

72] In the Eton MS. this line was followed by four stanzas which were omitted in the published text. Here, according to Mason, the poem was intended to close; the "hoary-headed swain" and the epitaph were after-thoughts.pious: dutiful.

73] Cf. Henry Jones' "On seeing a Picture of his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, which was presented to the University of Dublin" (1749), lines 61-64:

Her favour'd Sons from 'midst the madding Crowd,Her Sons select with gentle Hand she drew, Secreted timely from th'austere and proud, Their Fame wide-spreading, tho' their Numbers few.

madding: outraged.

92] Gray's note refers to Petrarch's sonnet 169:

Ch 'i veggio nel pensier, dolce mio fuoco,Fredda una lingua, et due begli occhi chiusiRimaner doppo noi pien di faville.

100] lawn: meadow. In the Eton MS. after l ne 100 there is the following stanza: �"Him have we seen the greenwood side along, /While o'er the heath we hied, our labours done, /Oft as the woodlark pip'd her farewell song,/With wistful eyes pursue the setting sun." Mason is puzzled by Gray's rejection of this stanza for the published text.Sometimes compared to another elegy, John Milton's "Lycidas," lines 25-31:

Together both, ere the high lawns appear'd Under the opening eyelids of the morn,We drove afield, and both together heardWhat time the gray-fly winds her sultry horn,Batt'ning our flocks with the fresh dews of night,Oft till the star that rose at ev'ning bright Toward heav'n's descent had slop'd his westering wheel.

113] next: following morning. sad: serious.

116] In some of the first editions of the poem, the following stanza preceded the epitaph: "There scatter'd oft, the earliest of the year,/By hands unseen are show'rs of violets found;/The redbreast loves to build and warble there,/And little footsteps lightly print the ground." According to a marginal note of Gray, it was "omitted in 1753." Mason explains the omission by saying that Gray found it formed "too long a parenthesis in this place." The epitaph is not in the early Eton manuscript of the poem.

59


117] Here lies: the Latin "hic jacet."

118] Cf. John Oldmixon's "Epistle V: Queen Elizabeth to the Earl of Essex" (1703), lines 37-40:

Warm'd by my Smiles, and kindled into Man, Thy Soul to feel Heroick Flames began: Till then to Fortune, and to Fame, unknown, Who since defended, and adorn'd the Throne.

119] Science: knowledge in the general sense. Cf. Ode on Eton College, 3, and note.

127] Gray's note to this line refers to Petrarch, Sonnet 114: "paventosa speme."

Commentary by Ian Lancashire(2002/9/9)

Critics have spent entire books interpreting Gray's "Elegy." Is it ironic, as Cleanth Brooks would have us believe, or is it sentimental, as Samuel Johnson might say? Does it express Gray's melancholic democratic feelings about the oneness of human experience from the perspective of death, or does Gray discuss the life and death of another elegist, one who, in his youth, suffered the same obscurity as the "rude forefathers" in the country graveyard? Should Gray have added the final "Epitaph" to his work?

Readers whose memories have made Gray's "Elegy" one of the most loved poems in English -- nearly three-quarters of its 128 lines appear in the Oxford Book of Quotations -- seem unfazed by these questions. What matters to readers, over time, is the power of "Elegy" to console. Its title describes its function: lamenting someone's death, and affirming the life that preceded it so that we can be comforted. One may die after decades of anonymous labour, uneducated, unknown or scarcely remembered, one's potential unrealized, Gray's poem says, but that life will have as

60


many joys, and far fewer ill effects on others, than lives of the rich, the powerful, the famous. Also, the great memorials that money can buy do no more for the deceased than a common grave marker. In the end, what counts is friendship, being mourned, being cried for by someone who was close. "He gave to Mis'ry all he had, a tear, / He gain'd from Heav'n ('twas all he wish'd) a friend" (123-24). This sentiment, found in the controversial epitaph, affirms what the graveyard's lonely visitor says earlier: "On some fond breast the parting soul relies, / Some pious drops the closing eye requires" (89-90). Gray's restraint, his habit of speaking in universals rather than particulars, and his shifting from one speaker to another, control the powerful feelings these lines call up. They frame everything at some distance from the viewer.

The poem opens with a death-bell sounding, a knell. The lowing of cattle, the droning of a beetle in flight, the tinkling of sheep-bells, and the owl's hooting (stanzas 1-3) mourn the passing of a day, described metaphorically as if it were a person, and then suitably the narrator's eye shifts to a human graveyard. From creatures that wind, plod, wheel, and wander, he looks on still, silent "mould'ring" heaps, and on turf under a moonlit tower where "The rude forefathers" "sleep" in a "lowly bed." Gray makes his sunset a truly human death-knell. No morning bird-song, evening family life, or farming duties (stanzas 5-7) will wake, welcome, or occupy them. They have fallen literally under the sickle, the ploughshare, and the axe that they once wielded. They once tilled glebe land, fields owned by the church, but now lie under another church property, the parish graveyard.

This scene remains in memory as the narrator contrasts it with allegorical figures who represent general traits of eighteenth-century humanity: Ambition (29), Grandeur (31), Memory (38), Honour (43), Flattery and Death (44), Knowledge (49), Penury (51), Luxury and Pride (71), Forgetfulness (85), and Nature (91). In shifting from individuals to universal types that characterize the world at large, the poem exchanges country "darkness" for civic and national life. Yet, against expectations, the narrator defends the dead in his remote churchyward cemetery from the contempt of abstractions like Ambition and Grandeur. He makes four arguments. First, the goals of the great, which include aristocratic lineage, beauty, power, wealth, and glory, share the same end as the "rude forefathers," the grave. Human achievements diminish from the viewpoint of the eternal. The monuments that Memory erects for them ("storied urn or animated bust"), the church anthems sung at their funeral, and the praise of Honour or Flattery before or after death also cannot ameliorate that fate. The narrator reduces the important, living and deceased, to the level of the village dead. Secondly, he asks pointedly why, were circumstances different, were they to have been educated with Knowledge's "roll" and released from "Chill Penury," would they not have achieved as much in poetry and politics as did figures like Hampden, Milton, and Cromwell? Thirdly, the narrator suggests that his unimportant, out-of-power country dead lived morally better lives by being untempted to commit murder or act cruelly. Last, "uncouth rhymes," "shapeless sculpture," and "many a holy text" that characterize their "frail" cemetery memorials, and even those markers with only a simple name and age at death, "spelt by th' unlettered muse" (81), serve the important universal human needs: to prompt "the passing tribute of a sigh" (80) and to "teach the rustic moralist to die" (84).

In the next three stanzas, the narrator -- the "me" who with darkness takes over the world at sunset (4) -- finally reveals why he is in the cemetery, telling the "artless

61


tale" of the "unhonour'd Dead" (93). He is one of them. Like the "rude Forefathers" among whom he is found, the narrator ghost is "to Fortune and to Fame unknown" (118). Like anyone who "This pleasing anxious being e'er resigned," he -- in this narrative itself -- casts "one longing, ling'ring look behind" to life (86-88). As he says, "Ev'n from the tomb the voice of Nature cries" (91). He tells us the literal truth in saying, "Ev'n in our ashes live their wonted fires" (92). These fires appear in his ashes, which speak this elegy. He anticipates this astounding confession earlier in saying:

Perhaps in this neglected spot is laid Some heart once pregnant with celestial fire;Hands, that the rod of empire might have sway'd,or wak'd to ecstasy the living lyre. As Nature's voice from the dead, the "living lyre," he addresses himself in the past tense as having passed on, as of course he did. Should some "kindred spirit" ask about his "fate," that of the one who describes the dead "in these lines," an old "swain" (shepherd) might describe his last days. If so, he would have seen, with "another" person, the narrator's bier carried towards the church and his epitaph "Grav'd on the stone" (116). Only a ghost would know, with certainty, that "The paths of glory lead but to the grave" (36). Little wonder that the poem ends with the swain's invitation to the "kindred spirit" to read the text of the narrator's own epitaph. The narrator ghost gave "all he had, a tear," and did get the only good he wished for, "a friend." He affirms the value of friendship above all other goods in life. His wish is granted by the kindred spirit who seeks out his lost companion.

Critics have gone to some lengths to explain the narrator's address to himself as "thee" (93). Some believe Gray slipped and meant "me" instead (despite "thy" at 96). Others argue that the dead narrator is "the' unlettered muse," the so-called "stonecutter-poet" who wrote simple epitaphs with "uncouth rhymes" (79-81), although the dead youth's knowledge of "Fair Science" (119) clearly rules that out. Still others believe that Gray himself is the narrator, but his age at the poem's completion was 35, hardly a youth. The "Elegy" is spoken, not by Gray but by a dramatic persona. The simplest explanation is that the poem is a ghost's monologue with the living about death. "Elegy" belongs to the so-called "graveyard" school of poetry. It follows Churchill's "The Ghost" and anticipates the gothic movement.

Gray adopts and refines a regular poetics typical of his period. His iambic pentameter quatrains are self-contained and end-stopped. They do not enjamb with the next stanza but close with terminal punctuation, except for two passionate sequences. Stanzas 16-18 express the narrator's crescendo of anger at the empowered proud whose virtues go hand-in-hand with crimes: slaughter, mercilessness, and lying. Stanzas 24-25 introduce the dead youth who, I suggest, narrates the poem. Quatrains also regularly consist of end-stopped lines, equally self-contained and even interchangeable. For example, in the first stanza, lines 1-3 could be in any order, and lines 2 and 4 could change places. Gray builds his lines, internally, of units just as regular. Often lines are miniature clauses with balanced subject and predicate, such as "The curfew" (subject) and "tolls the knell of parting day" (predicate; 1), or "No children" (subject) and "run to lisp their sire's return" (predicate; 23). Within both subject and predicate units, Gray inserts adjective-noun pairs like "parting day," "lowing herd," "weary way," "glimm'ring landscape," "solemn stillness," "droning

62


flight," "drowsy tinklings," and "distant fold" (1-8). By assembling larger blocks from these smaller ones, Gray builds symmetry at all levels.

He also links sequences of these regular blocks. Alliteration, unobtrusively, ties successive lines together: for example, "herd wind" and "homeward" (2-3), "droning flight" and "distant folds" (7-8), and "mantl'd tow'r" and "moping owl" (9-10). Gray rhymes internally in "slowly o'er the lea" (2) or "And all the air ... / Save where" (6-7), or he exploits an inconspicuous initial assonance or consonance in "Beneath ... / Where heaves" (12-14), and "The cock's shrill ... / No more shall" (19-20). Parallel syntactic construction across line and stanza boundaries links sequences of such larger units. For example, twinned clauses appear with "Save" (7, 9), "How" (27-28), "Can" (41, 43), "Full many a" (53, 55), "forbade" (65, 67), and "For who" and "For thee" (85, 93), among others.

Semantically, Gray's "Elegy" reads like a collage of remembered experiences. Some are realized in both image and sound. "The swallow twitt'ring from the straw-built shed" (18) vividly and sharply conveys one instant in the awakening process on a farm. At other times, the five senses blur, as in "the madding crowd's ignoble strife" (73), or "This pleasing anxious being" (86), but these remain snapshots, though of feelings, not images. They flow from a lived life remembering its keenest moments in tranquillity. Some of these moments are literary. In 1768, Gray added three notes to "Elegy" that identify where he adopts lines in by Dante and Petrarch. "Elegy" is rife with other, unacknowledged echoes of poems by contemporaries, famous and obscure: Robert Colvill, Paul Whitehead, Henry Needler, Richard West, Alexander Pope, Samuel Whyte, Joseph Trapp, Henry Jones, John Oldmixon, and doubtless many others contributed phrases to Gray's poem.

These formal elements in Gray's poetics beautifully strengthen the poem's content. "Elegy" gives us a ghost's perspective on his life, and ours. The old swain describes him as a melancholic loner who loved walking by hill, heath, trees, and stream. The epitaph also reveals that he was well-educated, a youth who died unknown. These are the very qualities we might predict in the writer, from the style of his verse. "Elegy" streams with memories of the countryside where the youth walked. The firm, mirrored linguistic structures with which he conveys those recalled moments belong to someone well-educated in Latin, "Fair Science," and well-read in English poetry. Gray did not just give his readers succinct aphorisms about what Isaac Watt would term, "Man Frail, God Eternal," but recreated a lost human being. In reading "Elegy," we recreate a person, only to find out that he died, too young, too kind, and too true to a melancholy so many share.

Bibliography

Jones, W. P., "Imitations of Gray's Elegy, 1751-1800," Bulletin of Bibliography 23 (1963): 230-32.

Online text copyright © 2003, Ian Lancashire for the Department of English, University of Toronto.

63


Published by the Web Development Group, Information Technology Services, University of Toronto Libraries.

Original text: Thomas Gray, An Elegy Wrote in a Country Church Yard, 1751; and The Eton College Manuscript (Los Angeles, CA: William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, 1951). PR 3502 E5 1751a. VICT PamFirst publication date: 1751 RPO poem editor: G. G. FalleRP edition: 3RP 2.219.Recent editing: 4:2002/4/20*1:2002/9/9

Composition date: 1742 - 1750 Form: Sicilian QuatrainsRhyme: abab

64

program pjj - upm edutrain interactive learning · web viewof study took he utmost care and heed....

Documents