Alexander Pope: Solitude: An Ode

1. Alexander Pope: Solitude: An Ode I How happy he, who free from care The rage of courts, and noise of towns; Contented breaths his native air, In his own grounds. II Whose herds with milk, whose fields with bread, Whose flocks supply him with attire, Whose trees in summer yield him shade, In winter fire. III Blest! who can unconcern'dly find Hours, days, and years slide swift away, In health of body, peace of mind, Quiet by day,

2. Alexander Pope: Solitude: An Ode IV Sound sleep by night; study and ease Together mix'd; sweet recreation, And innocence, which most does please, With meditation. V Thus let me live, unheard, unknown; Thus unlamented let me dye; Steal from the world, and not a stone Tell where I lye.

3. MEANINGS Free from care: doesn’t have responsibility Rage of courts: angry feelings in court Contented: satisfied Herds: group of animals (in the poem cows) Flocks: group of animals (sheep) Attire: dress Blest: blessed unconcern'dly: without care

4. MEANINGS Slide: move Sound: quiet Ease: comfort Unlamented: without grief Dye: die Steal from the world: leave the world Lye: lie

5. Form This poem is written in the form of an ode. Rhyme scheme: abab cdcd efef ghgh ijij There are five stanzas in every stanza there are four lines. The total number of lines in the poem is 20.

6. Themes Happiness Loneliness

7. Elements of Happiness According to Pope • No responsibility. • No noise or problems. • Satisfaction with life in one’s own land. • Self- sufficient. • Health of body & peace of mind. • Quiet sleep at night. • Study & comfort. • Recreation, Innocence & Meditation.

8. Life in the countryside The poem calls for a life in the countryside away from the noisy life of big cities.

9. John Dryden: Happy the Man Happy the man, and happy he alone, He who can call today his own: He who, secure within, can say, Tomorrow do thy worst, for I have lived today. Be fair or foul or rain or shine The joys I have possessed, in spite of fate, are mine. Not Heaven itself upon the past has power, But what has been, has been, and I have had my hour.

10. Meanings Secure within: having inner peace Fair: beautiful Foul: bad Rain or shine: be rainy or shiny

11. Themes Happiness Carpe Diem

12. Form This is a short poem written in the form of rhyming couplets Aa bb cc dd

13. Elements of Happiness According to Dryden • In possession of the moment. • Inner peace. • No worries about the future. • No worries about the past. • Enjoying the pleasures of the moment.

14. The Concept of Happiness Between Pope and Dryden

15. William Blake: Chimney Sweeper (Songs of Experience) A little black thing among the snow, Crying "weep! 'weep!" in notes of woe! “Where are thy father and mother? say?" “They are both gone up to the church to pray. Because I was happy upon the heath, And smil'd among the winter's snow, They clothed me in the clothes of death, And taught me to sing the notes of woe. And because I am happy and dance and sing, They think they have done me no injury, And are gone to praise God and his Priest and King, Who make up a heaven of our misery."

16. Meanings Woe: sadness Heath: an area of land that is not farmed, where grass and other small plants grow, but where there are few trees or bushes Clothed: dressed

17. Form This poem is a lyric. Rhyme scheme: aabb cdcd efef

18. Themes Experience Exploitation of Children

19. Image of the Child in the Poem Not orphan (parents alive) Experienced Exploited Aware of exploitation Realistic Intelligent Sad Critical

20. Techniques Metaphor A little black thing (exploited child) Contrast Blackness of The exploited child X Whiteness of snow

21. Comparison Between the Images of the Child in the Poems

22. John Donne: Death Be Not Proud (1618) Death be not proud, though some have called theeMighty and dreadful, for, thou art not so,For, those, whom thou think'st, thou dost overthrow,Die not, poor death, nor yet canst thou kill me.From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be,Much pleasure, then from thee, much more must flow,And soonest our best men with thee doe go,Rest of their bones, and souls delivery.Thou art slave to Fate, Chance, kings, and desperate men,And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell,And poppy, or charms can make us sleep as well,And better then thy stroke; why swell'st thou then;One short sleep past, we wake eternally,And death shall be no more, death, thou shalt die.

23. Summary • The voice of the poem is a hero, belittling Death and bringing hope and peace to the readers. He unmasks Death and shows that Death's pride is ill-founded; based on empty accomplishments. The voice is assertive, facing Death staunchly. Immediately, the convention of personification is used. Death obtains the human vice of pride. Death is shown to be a fool.

24. Vocabulary Thee: you Mighty: powerful Dreadful: fearful Thou art: you are Overthrow: destroy Dwell: live Poppy: drug Charm: spell Eternally: forever

25. Themes Death Faith

26. Form • By form this poem is a sonnet (a lyric poem of 14 lines; the first 8 lines are called the octave and the last 6 lines are called the sestet). • It is one of many sonnets that are part of a collection called The Holy Sonnets. This collection is comprised of nineteen sonnets with themes that pertain to Christian philosophy. • The rhyme scheme for this poem is “abbaabbacddcee”.

27. Techniques • Apostrophe: “Death be not proud…” • Personification: Death • Paradox (a statement or situation containing apparently contradictory or incompatible elements but upon close inspection might be true). The poem ends with the paradox: “death, thou shalt die”

28. Donne’s the Flea: Analysis Form THE FLEA is a love poem in rhyming couplets AABBCCDDD (there is one triplet at the end of the stanza)

29. The Flea: Setting Literally, the poem is set anywhere you might find fleas, which in 17th-century England included...everywhere. • Imaginatively, the poem begins by zooming in on the woman's smooth, pale arm. • Next we actually go inside the flea, where a marriage is consecrated with the mingling of two bloods. • Then the poem moves outside the flea. The woman's hand comes down – smack – on the bloodsucking flea, coloring one of her nails "purple" with its blood and hers. The speaker looks aghast, as if the world has just ended, but he gets over it a moment later.

30. Themes Seduction Physical Love

31. Symbols The Flea: marriage bed, marriage temple, union between man and woman Blood: life & the soul.

32. Techniques • Apostrophe (address to an imaginary or absent person): Line 1: “Mark but this flea, and mark” • Personification: Line 8: “And pamper’d swells with one blood made of two”. The flea is seen like a pampered person, gorging on a feast of blood. • Metaphor: “O stay, three lives in one flea spare,” (blood is equated with life) • Metaphysical Conceit: the flea, marriage bed, marriage temple, microcosm of love and life.

33. John Donne: The Flea Donne: Biography Born in Bread Street in 1572 to a prosperous Roman Catholic family. 1593 his brother, Henry died of a fever in prison after arrested for giving sanctuary to a proscribed catholic priest. Donne began to have doubts in his faith. 1601 secretly married Lady Egerton’s niece, seventeen-year-old Anne More, daughter of Sir George More. 1611 Donne was invited and joined Sir Robert Drury to the continental trip. It was then Donne composed several of his most prominent poems. “A Valediction: Forbidden Mourning”. 1617 Donne’s wife died. Within 16 years, she gave him 12 children. 1631 Donne died of serious illness.

34. Donne’s Style Donne’s work was famous for the themes of his faith in God and women. Though not writing with conventional glamorous style of verse, Donne successfully and beautifully connect the time and space in his poems with extraordinary images. Donne’s usage of diction and language in composing his work is considered revolutionary of his time. His style is regarded as “metaphysical” in the modern study of poem.

35. The Flea (1633) Mark but this flea, and mark in this, How little that which thou deny'st me is; Me it sucked first, and now sucks thee, And in this flea, our two bloods mingled be; Confess it, this cannot be said A sin, or shame, or loss of maidenhead,       Yet this enjoys before it woo,      And pampered swells with one blood made of two,      And this, alas is more than we would do.

36. The Flea (1633) Oh stay, three lives in one flea spare, Where we almost, nay more than married are. This flea is you and I, and this Our marriage bed, and marriage temple is; Though parents grudge, and you, we're met, And cloistered in these living walls of jet.     Though use make you apt to kill me,      Let not to this, self murder added be,      And sacrilege, three sins in killing three.

37. The Flea (1633) Cruel and sudden, hast thou since Purpled thy nail, in blood of innocence? In what could this flea guilty be, Except in that drop which it sucked from thee? Yet thou triumph'st, and say'st that thou Find'st not thyself, nor me the weaker now;      'Tis true, then learn how false, fears be;     Just so much honour, when thou yield'st to me,     Will waste, as this flea's death took life from thee

38. The Flea: Lines Modernized Mark but this flea, and mark in this, See this flea and see this: How little that which thou deny'st me is; How little the thing that you denied me is Me it sucked first, and now sucks thee, The flea sucked me first and now sucks you And in this flea, our two bloods mingled be; And in this flea our two bloods are mingled Confess it, this cannot be said Admit it that this cannot be called A sin, or shame, or loss of maidenhead, A sin or shame or loss of virginity   Yet this enjoys before it woo, Yet this flea enjoys before it courts  And pampered swells with one blood made of two, And having thus indulged itself    And this, alas is more than we would do. And this after all is more than we would do.

39. The Flea: Lines Modernized Oh stay, three lives in one flea spare, Oh stop, spare three lives in one flea Where we almost, nay more than married are. Where we are almost, no, more, than married. This flea is you and I, and this This flea is you and I and also Our marriage bed, and marriage temple is; Our marriage bed and marriage temple; Though parents grudge, and you, we're met, Despite (your? our?) parents' and your disapproval And cloistered in these living walls of jet. And sheltered in the living body of this flea. Though use make you apt to kill me, Though habit makes you want to kill me Let not to this, self murder added be, Don't add self murder to this    And sacrilege, three sins in killing three. And sacrilege as well in killing three beings.

40. The Flea: Lines Modernized Cruel and sudden, hast thou since Cruel and sudden, have you since Purpled thy nail, in blood of innocence? Purpled your nail, in innocent blood? In what could this flea guilty be, What is this flea guilty of Except in that drop which it sucked from thee? Except in having sucked that drop of blood from you? Yet thou triumph'st, and say'st that thou Yet you won and said that you Find'st not thyself, nor me the weaker now; Did not find neither yourself nor me any weaker 'Tis true, then learn how false, fears be;      Just so much honour, when thou yield'st to me, Such a little honor, when you surrender to me,  Will waste, as this flea's death took life from thee. Will be lost, the same way that none of your life is lost when the flea dies.

41. Vocabulary • Mark: observe, notice. • thou: you • deny'st: deny • our two bloods mingled be: coition was commonly assumed to entail a mingling of bloods. • loss of maidenhead: loss of virginity. • Yet this enjoys before it woo: the flea enjoys this liberty without the effort of wooing the lady. • And pampered swells with one blood made of two: Renaissance medical theory held that blood was mingled during sexual intercourse, leading to conception; thus the image of swelling suggests pregnancy. • stay: stop; don't kill the flea.

42. Vocabulary • jet: black marble; the "living walls of jet" here refer to the body of the flea. • use: custom. • sacrilege: since the flea is a "marriage temple," killing it would be sacrilege. • Hast: Have. • triumph'st: triumph. • say'st: say. • find'st: find. • Thyself: yourself. • now: now that she has killed the flea. • yield'st: yield.

43. Paraphrase Stanza I: Look at this flea and look at how little the thing that you denied me is.  It sucked me first and now sucks you and in this flea our two bloods are mingled.  Admit it that this cannot be called a sin, a shame, or loss of virginity.  Yet the flea enjoys before it courts and having been indulged, swells with one blood made of two, and this, sadly, is more than we would do. Stanza II: Oh, stop, spare three lives in one flea where we are almost, nay more than married.  Stanza III: Cruel and sudden, you have purpled your nail in innocent blood.  What is this flea guilty of, except in that drop (of blood) that it sucked from you?  

44. Metaphysical Poetry The term "metaphysical poetry" is used to designate the work of 17th-century poets who were part of a school of poets using similar methods and who revolted against the romantic conventionalism of Elizabethan love poetry, in particular the Petrarchan conceit. John Donne was the acknowledged leader of these poets. John Donne, George Herbert, Andrew Marvel, Henry Vaughn The Tribe of Donne

45. Poets

46. Metaphysical Conceit A "metaphysical conceit" is a far-fetched and ingenious extended comparison (or "conceit") used by metaphysical poets to explore all areas of knowledge. It finds telling and unusual analogies for the poet's ideas in the startlingly esoteric or the shockingly commonplace -- not the usual stuff of poetic metaphor. Examples: • Crashaw's comparison of Mary Magdalene's tear-filled eyes as "Two walking baths; two weeping motions / Portable and compendious oceans." • Donne's comparison of his union with his lover to the draftsman's compass in "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning."

47. Metaphysical Conceit Typical metaphysical conceits come from a wide variety of areas of knowledge: • Coins (mintage). • Alchemy; medieval philosophy and angelology. • Meteorology (sighs are blasts, tears are floods). • Mythology (the Phoenix's riddle, the river Styx). • Government ("she is the state, he is the Prince" from Donne's "The Sun Rising"). • Travelling (Donne's "Go and Catch a Falling Star"). • Astronomy& metallurgy ("gold to airy thinness beat"). • Geometry (the twin compasses). • Law & geography.

48. Characteristics of Metaphysical Poetry • a tendency to psychological analysis of the emotion of love and religion. • a penchant for imagery that is novel, "unpoetical" and sometimes shocking, drawn from the commonplace (actual life) or the remote (erudite sources), including the extended metaphor of the metaphysical conceit. • simple diction (compared to Elizabethan poetry) which echoes the cadences of everyday speech. • form: frequently an argument (with the poet's lover; with God; with oneself).

49. Characteristics of Metaphysical Poetry meter: often rugged, not "sweet" or smooth like Elizabethan verse. This ruggedness goes naturally with the Metaphysical poets' attitude and purpose: a belief in the perplexity of life, a spirit of revolt, and the putting of an argument in speech rather than song. The best metaphysical poetry is honest, unconventional, and reveals the poet's sense of the complexities and contradictions of life. It is intellectual, analytical, psychological, and bold; frequently it is absorbed in thoughts of death, physical love, and religious devotion.

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