BREAK OF DAY- ‘Tis true, ‘tis day, what though it be? Flashcards
What is the poem ‘Break of Day’ about?
- The poem presents an intimate scene between lovers
- wherein the speaker laments the departure of her beloved, as he leaves to fulfil his worldly obligations.
What is the speaker’s view on buisness and love?
- The speaker criticises the prioritization of ‘buisness’ over love.
- Viewing such obligations as unnatural disruptions to romantic devotion. ‘the worst disease of love’
How does the poem personify ‘light’?
- The ultimate interloper, encroaching on the lovers private union as its ‘all eye’ (unflinchingly present)
allusion to eye of providence
What are the key theme’s in Break of Day?
1) light as an interloper
2) Love vs duty
3) Love as definace
4) Platonic love
How does Donne explore the theme of ‘light as an interloper’?
- Light is reframed as the ultimate interloper, that encroaches on and distrupts the lovers connection.
- It is an unwelcomed force in the poem that is denegrated by the speaker.
- Subtext- symbolic of broader criticism that the couple recieve due to the nature of their affair.
How does Donne present the theme of ‘Love vs Duty’?
- Primary tension= platonic love vs duty
- the speaker utilises rhetorical questions to build a logical argument for the pioritisation of love over trivial matters.
- Thus, the reader becomes the ‘busied’ lover fixating on meaningless pursuits and the lover is Donne himself attempting to convince readers to rank love over matters of duty, work or honour.
How does Donne explore the theme of ‘Platonic love’?
- Love trancends beyond societal, earthly, and corporeal contraints.
- It has survived ‘in spite of darkness’ (barriers) and will continue to persist.
How does Donne explore the idea of love as defiance?
- The speaker represents love as being resillent against societal norms and external constraints.
- She vows to cast away her only form of social capital and power (honour) for her lover. (deeply unorthdox, non-conforming)
“And that I loved my heart and honour so”
What is meant by the line “The poor, the foul, the false, love can admit, but not the busied man”?
- Love cannot co-exist with buisness and inattenion.
- Irony= these other men can give themselves complety to love as they feel no compunction about dodging responsbilities.
- Irony of loving a honest, industrious man is that he must fulfil his responsbility.
What is meant by the line “He which hath business, and makes love, doth do
Such wrong, as when a married man doth woo”?
- Neglecting love for work is portrayed as a moral failing/ ethical transgression akin to infidelity
What is meant by the line ““Did we lie down because it was night?”
- highlights the other way in which the couple resist expectations
- They’ve used the privacy of night to sheild themselves (private sphere/ cacoon of safety)
- Nighttime imagey= hints at a secret clandestine relationship.
- implict argument= why should he conform to arbitrary temporal concepts if their love is inherently non-conforming and atypical.
Describe the form of the poem?
- An aubade poem
- Dramatic monologue
Dramatic monologue- signficance?
- Dramatic monologue= intimate, passionate, persuasive
Tone?
- Agitated- at the idea that anything could take precedence over love
Features of metaphorical poetry?
- Conciets (buisness as love’s disease)
- Intellectual reasoning + existential ideas (love and its importance in human life)
- Unusual comparisons (neglect of love to adultery)
Context?
- 17th centuary women could not go work as men did.
- Is the speaker’s viewpoint dogmatic or definiant? blinkered or brave?
A05-NUTT
‘Donne’s poems are not riddles to be solved but invitations to think’
* Though, the arguments may seem hyperbolic/ contrived , The readers are invited to conisder the ways in which they have downplayed, neglected something as sacred as love
