The Sorrow Of True Love

Question 1

What is the first line of the poem?

Answer 1

‘The sorrow of true love is a great sorrow’ is a paradox

Question 2

What does the first line mean and do to the readers?

Answer 2

It focuses the readers directly on the idea of loss before revealing the true message of the poem, there is contrasting imagery of ‘love’ and ‘sorrow’ showing that the two come hand in hand.

Question 3

What is the message of line 3-5?

Answer 3

The happiness and comfort that ‘true love’ can provide - it is the opposite of the message of lines 1+2 as the first two cemented the theme of loss into the readers’ head

Question 4

A quote from line 5?

Answer 4

‘Above the storm the heavens wait to be seen.’ - there is an end stop at the end of line to show that the next line will have a different focus and mood

Question 5

Personification on line 4:

Answer 5

‘Hope blinded by tears’ - there is hope that you will see each other again (in heaven) and the tears can stop you looking back at all the happy memories from when together

Question 6

What does the second half of sonnet focus on?

Answer 6

Those people who haven’t experienced love and how different their lives are to those who have experienced love

Question 7

Who wrote The Sorrow of True Love?

Answer 7

Edward Thomas

Question 8

Quote from line 7:

Answer 8

‘can mistake lack of despair for hope’ - Thomas is calling it a mistake to think that not falling in love will prevent you from experience feeling hurt and loss

Question 9

What does line 8 to 9 use to show the miserable condition people live in if they haven’t experienced love?

Answer 9

Metaphors of weather, those who have loved are familiar with the ‘tempest and perfect scope of summer’ and the lives of those who haven’t are ‘but a frozen drizzle’. This clearly shows the split between the two groups of people

Question 10

Line 10-12:

Answer 10

‘Perpetual of drops that from remorse and pity’ - ‘pity’ of their own life as they never knew love and ‘remorse’ might be regret of never knowing love

Question 11

Are the tears actual tears in line 10?

Answer 11

They may be actual tears or a metaphor from the internal mourning

Question 12

The person who hasn’t experienced love cannot ‘ever

Answer 12

shine in the sun or thaw’ and is ‘removed eternally’ from feeling any comfort due to the constant loneliness