Semester Poetry Essay Example

to the courtly love tradition during the Renaissance. Thus, the sonnet was ideal for articulating this dominant conception of love in poetry.In the 16th century, Sir Thomas Wyatt and the Earl of Surrey translated Patriarch's work into English, which had a significant impact. Their sonnets initiated a new way of thinking and writing about love in English poetry that was based on chivalric ideals, feudal concepts, and focused on the beloved mistress of the poet. This concept of love was first established in the troubadour poetry of southern France in the late 11th century, which then spread to other parts of Europe. The ideology of love celebrated adultery, deified the mistress, portrayed the lover as often suffering in love, and paradoxically celebrated faithful service to the beloved. This particular ideology of love emerged for several reasons, including the feudal system in medieval Europe that was controlled by feuding lords. These lords formed alliances through marriages between their houses, which often meant that the lady of the castle was neglected by her husband and not very close to him.The castle dwellers were often the subjects of attention for many knights and courtiers who were filled with passion. However, this passion often conflicted with their loyalty to their lord and their desire for their beloved. The Catholic idea of the Virgin Mary and the pre-Christian belief in powerful beings also influenced the representation of the beloved as quasi-divine due to her social inaccessibility in poetry. This resulted in paradoxical discourses of adultery and fidelity as well as intense physical passion depicted in an idealized and spiritual manner in courtly love poetry. Poets had few precedents to guide

them in charting this new mixture of emotions, with Ovid's Ears Alienator being a significant influence. The emergence of this type of poetry spread quickly throughout medieval Europe. However, when it reached England in the 16th century, different factors came into play that altered its characteristics significantly.During the reign of Elizabeth I, poets such as Sidney and Surrey continued to write in the style of courtly love poetry. Elizabeth herself embodied this ideal of unattainable love even more completely than the beloveds in earlier poetry, inspiring a paradoxical fervor. In courtier poetry, the beloveds were frequently compared to Elizabeth in terms of their inaccessibility. However, unlike the beloveds, Elizabeth was not only an unattainable "lady," but also a "lord" - the queen who demanded both allegiance and fidelity. This intensified the poet's passion. It was only in Spender's work that a new language of deification was fused with earthly love, freeing both from their conflicting demands. The rise of strict Protestantism during Spender's time contributed to the making of his poetry. This code broke with the deification of the beloved and rendered her more this-worldly, increasing her desirability while insisting on maintaining sexuality and desire within conjugal bounds.

It is important to note that the language of restraint in love, as found in the minor Platonic concept of love in Patriarch, was already in existence. However, Spender's brilliance lies in connecting this language with a minor Protestant emphasis on the power of natural sexuality. Thus, the language of love seen in the Lorelei sonnets and later in Patriarch displays a shift from previous codes of courtly love to a more celebratory love that is achievable

in this world but still upholds the sanctity of love itself. When examining the three Amaretto sonnets chosen for study, it becomes apparent that they possess many characteristics common in court poetry during Spencer's time. This includes incorporating classical and Biblical references as well as promoting the intention of unoriginality towards their subject, Elizabeth Bayle.

Spencer's sonnets derive some imagery from continental writers such as Cot Toast and Ronald, but overall they are variations of the Patriarchal sonnet which was popular in Elizabethan England. This type of sonnet has fourteen lines divided into an octave with the rhyme scene?e baobab and a sestet with the rhyme ceded or variants like CDC. The Patriarchal sonnet typically features an unresponsive and distant beloved, which was a conceit picked up by Elizabethan poets through translations of Patriarch and original poems. However, Spencer's version differs in that his mistress is presented as a more accessible and responsive figure compared to the earlier Patriarchal or Elizabethan types.

The sonnet sequence is divided into three distinct movements that portray varying levels of passion. The first movement (sonnets 1-36) consists mostly of complaints from the lover about the oppressive nature of his mistress and their relationship. In the second movement (sonnets 37-69), the lover and his mistress are explored in a more exploratory and intimate way, with the lover expressing greater awareness of his mistress and their emotions. The final movement (sonnets 70-154) is a reversal of the first, with the poet-lover succeeding in his amorous enterprise, leading to a change in power dynamics and submission from the mistress to the will of the lover. It is important to note that these movements

are not strictly divided, and there are overlaps and seepage between them. However, this framework allows for easier analysis of the themes and attitudes expressed. Spencer also experiments with the structure of the sonnet by dividing it into three quatrains and a couplet. The effects of this will be studied further in the analysis of three chosen sonnets.The tone of complaint, sense of condonesion, and despondency in Spec-Seer's Poetry-I 10.2.1 sonnet 34, depicts the beloved as an almost inaccessible Inca in overall lucubration. The sonnet essentially follows the Patriarchal trope, popularized by Wyatt, of the lover as a tossed ship in the grip of his passions. Spencer introduces the title of the beloved as a star that guides him thoroughly through the seas of life. Her light is hidden from him by clouds, leaving him wandering in darkness and dismay. Unlike other Elizabethan versions of this trope, Spencer does not attribute the storm to his beloved but hopes that it will pass and she will shine again as his guiding star. The sonnet follows a thematic structure of an octave and a sestet with a quatrain and couplet. The first eight lines present the poet's current situation of feeling lost in a sea of trouble without abidance or solace, with the first quatrain laying out the analogy while the second applies it to the poet himself.The following six lines reverse the previous mood of negativity, and instead anticipate relief from the perils and a renewed connection with the poet's beloved. The sestets are divided into squat lines and a couplet, with the latter addressing the poet's sense of grief and anxiety. This sonnet follows the

typical Spenserian form, with an ABA Bcc CDC e rhyme scheme. The effect of this structure is a continuity between the quatrains and a discontinuity with the couplet. When reading the poem, this has the potential to create a sense that the three quatrains reflect an entire experience that involves trouble and care, and that hope and anticipation of relief from this experience becomes part of that experience. The final couplet serves as a reflecting colorimeter that distinguishes itself from the experience. In Sonnet 67, Spenser also employs a common trope found in Elizabethan sonnets, setting a scene where the poet is a huntsman chasing after his beloved who is like a deer. Unlike traditional Elizabethan sonnets, Spenser's version has the huntsman catch his prey.Spender's poem "In Filch" goes against tradition by presenting HCI as the one who wins the chase and chooses to be victorious over the beloved or prey (11.11-12). Line 9 is ambiguous regarding who makes the conclusion possible by becoming milder, but line 11 suggests that the beloved still hesitates about marriage, contradictory to the poem's ending. This is different from Stride and Spencer's "Whoso list to hunt..." which follows traditional patriarchal views and ends with the line "Noli me tangere." Unlike in Stride and Spencer's poem, Spender's beloved is not bound to a competing lord and becomes the subject of a discourse of love and desire, implying mutuality and reciprocity.This particular Monet uses the same ABA Bcc CDC e rhyme scheme as sonnet 34, with three quatrains and a couplet, but it differs in that it doesn't have a clear thematic split between octave and sestets. Instead, it is focused

on an event rather than a condition and outlines the steps of that event in three quatrains followed by a contenting couplet. The second quatrain already has a reversal with the 'deer' returning and ultimately being captured. Sonnet 77 is not borrowed from Patriarch but from another poet, Torque Toast, who was inspired by Patriarch and his sonnet 'Non son is fluids belle'. Toast uses two analogies to describe his beloved's breasts, but Spencer picks up on only one in this sonnet and devotes another sonnet (76) to the other analogy. In both 76 and 77, Spencer's intention is not simply to describe physical beauty for the sake of it or for sexual arousal purposes, but to connect physical beauty with spiritual virtue, linking the erotic and sacred elements together.In his sonnet, Spencer describes the beloved as being so virtuous and pure that even the sight of her breasts does not arouse simple physical desire, but rather an appreciation for her positive qualities. He describes her breasts as sweet, yet devoid of sinful vice and compares them to a fruit from paradise. The reference to "particles" is multi-leveled, referencing both the original sin and the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, while also suggesting that his beloved embodies Paradise itself. Spencer fuses Platonic ideals with Christian myths and values, allowing the perception of ultimate beauty in the physical world by those who are sufficiently spiritual to not be swayed by its sensual seductions. He uses Reformation celebrations of conjugal sexuality as superior to celibacy to frame sensuality within a less strictly marriage-oriented Patriarchal context. The reference in the final couplet to "thoughts as guests at

errors in sensuality" resembles the other two sonnets.The sonnet sometimes follows the rhyme scheme ABA Bcc CDC e, including a false rhyme between lines 4 and 5 with "worry" and "royalty" not being true rhymes for "lay" and "by". However, this does not suggest any dissonance between the quatrains. The overwhelming theme of the sonnet pre-empts any such dissonance, as the poem compares the remembrance of a loved one to a table laden with delicacies. False rhymes were permitted poetic liberty and based on spelling rather than sound. We may therefore treat the rhymes as true essences, rather than as disconnected parts. Like sonnet 34, this one also describes a condition rather than an event. However, unlike sonnet 67, it cannot be split into an octave and a sestet. This unit discusses important aspects of sonnet form and courtly love poetry that influenced Spencer's writing. The sonnet is an apt literary vehicle for expressing a new conception of love influenced by Italian courtly love poets.The discussions centered on the stoutly love tradition and its changes in Spender's poetry due to historical factors. Additionally, we analyzed Spender's brief poems with regards to this subject, observing their departure from previous love poetry traditions, particularly the Patriarchal form.