essence of the poems Flashcards
who so list to hount
Whoso list to hunt focuses on the theme of love as a despairing and unattainable pursuit, using an extending metaphor of hunting to convey the dynamics of their relationship: it’s like hunting a deer he can’t catch.
sonnet 116
Shakespeare’s sonnet 116 is a parody of Petrarch, inverting conventional gender roles to create a more complex depiction of true, human love.
the flea
Erotic, carpe diem poem where speaker attempts to seduce a woman into bed through witty
argument of their blood already being mingled in a flea (conceit).
to his coy mistress
/
the scrutiny
Dramatic monologue in a carpe diem style aimed at his male coterie, convincing his lover that pursuing other beauties will strengthen their own relationship “if” he returns.
song (absent from thee)
the speaker satirises his unfaithfulness towards a woman, subverting conventions of traditional love poetry
the garden of love
The poem recounts a man visiting a garden from his childhood where a chapel has been built. The Garden is now something dispiriting and loveless and argues that religion should have a focus on love and joy, as it once did, not rules and restriction.
song (ae fond kiss)
/
she walks in beauty
‘She walks in beauty’ describes a speakers feelings of infatuation and love-struck awe at his subjects etheral, enchanting aura yet unusual beauty. The poem does not depict a romantic relationship, but comprises and illustrative display of obsessive love and wonder, exploring the depth of her beauty. The subject of the poem is said to be his cousin’s wife, Anna Beatrix Wilmot.
remember
Speaker fast approaching death clearly states a dying wish to their lover. The volta changes the speakers opinion, wanting the lover to forget and be happy rather than remember and be sad.
the ruined maid
Hardy satirises the idea of the ‘fallen woman’ by dramaticising a chance meeting of 2 women from the same village. One impresses by clothes, jewellery, vernacular etc. The other wants what she has but is not ruined.
at an inn
/
la belle dame
/
non sum qualis
A poem of hopeless longing, the languishing speaker laments that, no matter how hard he tries to distract himself with sex and partying, thoughts of his former lover, Cynara, always intrude on his fun.
