ELERGY VII/ NATURE'S LAY IDIOT (structure/form/context)

Question 1

What is the poetic form of Elegy 7?

Answer 1

• Elegy- in the ovidian style (explores love in a witty, intellectual manner)
• Dramatic monologue

Question 2

Summarise the key structural features of Elegy 7?

Answer 2

1. Enjambment
2. NO strict stanza divisions
3. Iambic pentameter.
4. Rhyming couplets

Question 3

Describe the rhyme scheme of the poem? Effect?

Answer 3

• Rhyming couplets (AABBCCDD)
• Attempt at control/refined speech.

Question 4

Meter? Effect?

Answer 4

• Iambic pentameter.
• Effect= Natural/ flowing speech
• Evokes an intellectual argument rather than emotional outburst.

Iambic pentameter with some variations.

“I planted knowledge and life’s tree in thee,”

Question 5

How does Elegy VII reflect John Donne’s views on love and relationships?

Answer 5

1. Reflects view that love is something to be taught, learned, possessed.
2. Aligns with Renaissance attitudes that viewed women as passive recipeints of male wisdom.
3. Reflects Donne’s anxieties about control, loss, and masculity.

Question 6

Enjambment? effect?

Answer 6

• Unable to fully express himself in neat/contained lines
• Reflecting underlying fustation.