Poetry Anthology Flashcards
Sonnet 116 key quotes
“Let me not to the marriage of true mindes Admit impediments, love is not love which alters when it alteration findes”
“Lov’s not times foole” / “Love alters not with his breefe houres and weekes”
“If this be error and upon me proved, I never writ, nor no man ever loved”
Sonnet 116 context
- Elizabethan Era, Shakespeare was living and working in a time of uncommon peace
- Focus was placed on literature and the arts
- Traditional values of love present
The Flea key quotes
“It sucked me first, and now sucks thee, And in this flea, our two blonds mingled be”
“Thou know’st that this cannot be said A sin not shame, nor loss of maidenhead”
“Just so much honour, when thou yield’s to me, Will waste, as this flea’s death took life from thee”
The Flea key context
- Uncommon peacetime
- Focus on literature, art, feelings
- Metaphysical poetry popular during the time
- Donne studied law, can be seen through arguments presented in his poems
To His Coy Mistress key quotes
“Had we but World enough, and Time” / “Thy Beauty shall no more be found… then Worms shall try that long preserv’d Virginity”
“An hundred years should go to praise Thine eyes, and on thy Forehead Gaze. Two hundred to adore each Breast: But thirty thousand to the rest”
To His Coy Mistress context
- Written during the English Interregnum
- Andrew Marvell known to disappear for long periods of time, perhaps contributes to lack of importance held regarding romantic love and importance of ‘carpe diem’
- Known to create controversial poetry, THCM being one of them, subverted typical social conventions of love in favour of purely sexual approach
The Scrutiny key quotes
“Have I not loved thee much and long, A tedious twelve hours space?”
“But I must search the black and fair Like skilful mineralists that sound for treasure in un-plowed-up ground”
“Then, if when I have loved my round, Thou protest the pleasant she”
The Scrutiny context
- Cavalier poet, focused on pleasures of the moment, ‘carpe diem’ ideology, cavalier poetry often known for strict rhyme schemes, regular meters and clear forms
- Likely performed in humour to Royalist audience
A song (Absent from thee) key quotes
“Absent from thee I languish still, then ask me not, when I return?”
“When wearied with a world of Woe, to thy safe Bosom I retire Where Love and Peace and Truth does flow, May I contented there expire”
“Faithless to thee, False, unforgiv’n, And lose my Everlasting rest”
A song (Absent from thee) context
- Written during the Restoration, period known for freedom in speech and literature
- Wilmot known for his vivacity, freedom of speech, exploits with women and chaotic lifestyle, speaker of the poem widely considered to be Wilmot himself
The Garden of Love key quotes
“A chapel was built in the midst, Where I used to play on the green”
“And thou shalt not writ over the door; so I turned to the Garden of Love, That so many sweet flowers bore.”
“And tomb-stones where flowers should be, And priests in black gowns were walking their rounds”
The Garden of Love context
- English poet of Romantic movement, primary focus on feelings, emotions, nature
- Blake was devoutly religious, though publicly expressed criticism of the Church of England
Song (Ae fond kiss) key quotes
Song (Ae fond kiss) context
- Burns was a Scottish poet and lyricist, national poet of Scotland
- Regarded as a pioneer of the Romantic movement
- Poem inspired by Agnes McLehose who was a married woman he had a personal relationship with, who then left him to rejoin her husband overseas
She Walks in Beauty key quotes
She Walks in Beauty context
- Byron leading figure of the Romantic literary movement
- Considered the ‘first celebrity’ known for his adventurous and unconventional life
- Often subject of scandal in relation to his affairs with women
Remember key quotes
Remember context
- Daughter of Italian-English poet, may explain Rossetti’s penchant for the Petrarchan form
- Exposed to death and illness from a young age
- Deeply religious, allegedly never married due to her devotion to faith
The Ruined Maid key quotes
The Ruined Maid context
- Victorian Era, notorious for large class differences
- Hardy criticises Victorian norm of sexually demonising and exploiting women
- Harsh expectations for women, unable to express sexuality outside the confines of marriage or they would be rejected from respectable society, many women forced into prostitution
At an Inn key quotes
At an Inn context
- Pressure for people to be in established relationships for any romantic action to take place, highly censored and traditional Victorian society
- Hardy considered a Victorian Realist, examined the social constraints on the lives of those working in Victorian Britain
- Strongly suggested that poem is based on the relationship Hardy had with Florence Henniker, longing for fulfillment on Hardy’s side as Florence did not want to pursue anything more than friendship
La Belle Dame sans Merci key quotes
La Belle Dame sans Merci context
- Keats close to death during this period, died 2 years after writing
- Flower imagery used is common for English literature before the Romantic Period
- Time of loss and emotion for Keats, his brother died of TB, peak of his relationship with his neighbour Fanny Brawne
