sonnet 29 - "i think of thee!" Flashcards
elizabeth barret browning
S29 - CONTEXT
- victorian
- father controlled her marraige, he didn’t want her to marry
- very religious
- she had a long distance relationsip and fell in love through letters
- there was genuine love that inspired this poem
S29 - MEANING
- she thinks about him to much but can’t be with him
- her thoughts overcrowd and she lings to see him
- she doesn’t want her thoughts to consume hi or the idea of him she wants to be actually with him
- intense, overpowering feelings of love
S29 - LANGUAGE - archaic language use??
“nought” , “thy” , “thee”
- timeless romance
- echoes to wanting traditional love, marriage but are unable to
S29 - LANGUAGE - imperitive language use???
“put out” , “i will not have”
- demanding, intense, passionate
S29 - LANGUAGE - plosives why???
” burst” , “better”
- outbursts of emotion and passion
S29 - LANGUAGE- why does the poet compare her thoughts to vines
- extended metaphor
- vines are diffciult to control, fast growing like her love for him, consume everything, intertwine
- reflects poets intense and uncotnrolled passion
S29 - LANGUAGE - “nought to see except the straggling green which hides the wood”
- “straggling green” - uncontrollable thouhgts are taking control of the real image of the man
- she wants the real thing
- “nougth to see” - all other thoughts of anything else have been completely erased from her mind, the only thing that matters to her is him
- her thoughts have been subsumed and taken over by her lover
S29 - LANGUAGE - “renew thy presence as a strong tree should”
- complimetnary
- strenght, she needs him he is protective, dependable
- strong relationship
S29 - LANGUAGE - “and breath within thy shadow a new air”
- “they shadow” - shows he is in her presence, he is protecting
-> close, physical contact that she has needed
S29 - LANGUAGE - religious implications
*context - she was relioius, devote at the time for this soceity
- language to show sublime nature of wild romanticism which carries an overtone of religious devotion
- she worships him and he has become like a religious figure to her that is necessary for her and in her beleif system
- (next up “palm tree”)
S29 - LANGUAGE - “ O my palm tree”
- sturdy tree being symbolic of vicotry for the romans
- a religious symbol for christians
- relfects the religious devotion speaker has for her lover, the extremity to how she cannot live without him
S29 - STRUCTURE - petrarchan sonnet form
- at time where shakeseparian sonnet was dominant, she used petrarchan
-> to reflect petrarchs intense feelings - an all consuming love - it also links to archaeic language and shows how her love for him is timeless
S29 - STRUCTURE - volta
- volta comes early
- relfects the speakers emotional urgency and depseration
- the sonnet is breaking perfect love patterns which shows how their love isn’t perfect as they aren’t actually together and arn’t married
-> he sin’t with her and so she has these overwheleming, overpowiering, all consuming thoughts about him
S29 - STRUCTURE - rhyme shceme
- returining sounds
- links to obsession
- she is constantly thinking about him
S29 - LANGUAGE - why does she use the outdated “thee”
- old so shows timelessness of their love
- “thee” shows more close, affectionate and intimate as it specifically implies one person (which can be backed up by other language)
- “thee” also has religious connotations
-> their love is sacred
S29 - tone
- she is in a long distnace relationship and she is frustrated she cannot see him in realtiy
-> the tone is obsessive and her thoughts obscure him - at the end the tone is still heavy and forceful as she refuses to not be with him “i do not think of thee - i am too near thee”
S29 - important quotes
- “they” , “thee”
- “put out” “ i will not have”
- “burst” “better”
- “nought to see except the straggling green which hides the wood”
- “renew thy presence as a strong tree should”
- “and breath within thy shadow a new air”
- ” O my palm tree”
- “i do not think of thee - i am too near thee”
