Poetry

Question 1

Methods for she walks in beauty

Answer 1

1. CL blazon and physiognomy - uses it in opposition to intention. Portrays her as ideal and divine inside and out. Modern readers might say it is objectifying
2. Simile of night and alliteration shows image of balance. Opposes CL
3. Personification of heaven backs up the idea of her as divine. Associated with light, a CL belief

Question 2

Methods for non sum qualis

Answer 2

1. Courtly love tradition ‘desolate and sick’ shows obsession and how he makes himself sick with her memory
2. Alexandrine structure - she invades physically and mentally. Shows obsession and is highlighted by sexualised images of Cynara ‘red lips’
3. Decadent imagery shows self indulgence and obsession. ‘Cried for madder music’. Self destructive

Question 3

Methods for la belle dams sons merci

Answer 3

1. Chivalric/CL tradition presents love as powerful. A lack of this love causes death and decay ‘knight at arms so haggard’
2. Literary figure of woman with no mercy - sexuality viewed as male weakness stanza IV. Drunk in love ‘meads’
3. Repetition and archaic language in stanza IX shows anxiety of it being a dream ‘starved lips’

Question 4

Methods for the Garden of love

Answer 4

1. prelapsarian imagery of time before sin represents innocence ‘I went to the garden of love… I used to play on the Green’ nature presents innocence which echoes his songs on innocence
2. Metaphor of church as exclusive ‘gates of chapel were shut’. Reflects how institution controls love
3. Metaphor of joys and desires. Things like love made immoral

Question 5

Methods for song (are find kiss)

Answer 5

1. Repetition of first and last stanza. Both in present tense and cyclical structure shows strength of pain. Also hyperbole of ‘sever’ CL image
2. Metaphor of Cupid in stanza 3. Blind in love, lack of regret or responsibility
3. Metaphor of ‘star of hope’. Idea of darkness without her, suggests virginity. Extended metaphor of light and dark is CL imagery

Question 6

Methods in the flea

Answer 6

1. Conceit of flea mixing blood ‘it’s sucked me first and now sucks thee’. Erotic undertones , Renaissance writing, personification
2. Metaphor of identities ‘our two bloods mingled be’ procreation and mixing of bloodlines
3. Religious wit - marriage bed compared to temple. Audacious, blasphemous language criticising how love is controlled by religion.

Question 7

Methods in sonnet 116

Answer 7

1. Criticises CofE and marriage vows to explore platonic love ‘true mindes’. The ceremony stops the connection highlighted by enjambment
2. Personification of time to it isn’t affected by barriers of time and death - immortal
3. Rhyming couplets at end shows love as an unchanging state.
4. Uses CL imagery to criticise idealised portrayal of love ‘though Rosie lips and cheeks’
5. Natural imagery of the storm and use of religion ‘tempests’ love as divine, metaphor for hardship. ‘Ever fixed marke’

Question 8

Methods for to his coy mistress

Answer 8

1. Carpe diem to explore infidelity. Biblical imagery exaggerates start and end of time. Mocking society
2. CL blazon used to mock the tradition. Anatomising a woman and hyperbole criticises admiration from afar - comic and wit
3. Personification of time - having sex will outrun death ‘times winged chariot hurrying near’. Time remains undefeated almost like God
4. Dramatic monologue love as joyous and sensual. Alludes to idea of sex

Question 9

Methods in remember

Answer 9

1. Adapts Petrarchan sonnet form to portray her anxiety. Iambic pentameter restrains her thoughts and fears. Octave is focus on fear. Sestet focuses on loved one and becomes more selfless as it loses rigidity
2. Euphemistic language at beginning is comforting reassuring and shows her fear
3. Use of imperatives degraded through poem and loses their strength

Question 10

Methods in who so list to hunt

Answer 10

1. Conceit of woman as deer. Love as possessive but affectionate at the time ‘faier neck’
2. Pertrechan sonnet form. Octave shows obsession and when a change is expected after Volta, he continues to think about her. Shows rigidity of obsession
3. Animalistic languages with collar shows ownership and wealth
4. CL tradition shows unrequited love. Attraction as she is owned by someone else. Enjambment adds to the sense of unattainable love

Question 11

Methods in the scrutiny

Answer 11

1. Simile and metaphor of women as passive treasure. Male infidelity, taking virginity is his moral duty. Masculine metaphor of ownership. Colonies are feminine image
2. Use of rhetoric - patronising voice
3. Dramatic monologue creates a voice and gives the woman no identity. Comic element, exaggeration

Question 12

Methods in a song (absent from thee)

Answer 12

1. Use of satire and wit to criticise CL ‘straying fool…’ pathway of infidelity shows he is weak with women
2. ‘Torments’ is sadomasochistic, cheating, woman imprisoning him, aggressive action
3. Religious imagery to blame for his infidelity ‘test once more wandering from that heaven…’ they are to blame. Eve falls from grace first an religion makes him seem sinful. CENTRAL METAPHOR OF PATHWAY

Question 13

Methods in at an inn

Answer 13

1. Retrospective narrator criticises society’s impact on love. Metaphor of ‘veiled smiles’
2. Natural imagery shows society’s controlling force over love ‘severing sea…’ violent and destructive
3. Alliteration and personification ‘love lingered numb’ shows morality meant that they had to act cold and not show passions of love

Question 14

Methods in the ruined maid

Answer 14

1. Use of dialect of 2 characters shows morality imposed on society. Stanza division emphasises physical division
2. Colloquial language at end highlights facade of living in the city. Feelings of superiority
3. Juxtaposition of accents and lifestyles adds satire and critique of society