The Thread of Life

Question 1

TTOL: Form/Structure

Answer 1

3 sonnet form => allows CR to ponder & pose questions in the 1st sonnet which are answered in the subsequent 2.

Question 2

TTOL: Female identity/human state as restrictive

1.’b w t f b…w b n t’
2.’W f t s-c s s t f’
3.’T I a m o p’

Answer 2

1. ‘bound with the flawless band…we bind not thee’: SF of restriction and bondage, suggestive of a complete lack of mobility which perhaps indicates that the speaker feels wholly trapped by their earthly life of piety
2. ‘who from thy self-chain shall set thee free?’: Self-reflexive allows the speaker to recognise the utter irony of their own suffering and state of miserableness as this suffering has manifested as a direct consequence of the speaker’s own actions ‘self-chain’.
3. ‘Thus i am mine own prison’: transformation of the physical human form into an inescapable fortitude demonstrates the extensive misery of the speaker

Question 3

TTOL: The natural world as reinforcing the solitude of the speaker

1. ‘t i s o t l/i s o t s’
2. ‘A’
3. ‘A i a s p a s m’

Answer 3

1. ‘the irresponsive silence of the land…/irresponsive sounding of the sea’: The personification of the speaker’s surroundings as ‘mute’ or unwilling to communicate suggests a complete lack of connection an communication between the speaker and the natural world, with teh absence of sound reflecting the unfulfilled persona & the subsequent disillusionment with living in an unaccommodating world. Perhaps from an ecotheological perspective this reveals the lack of opportunity to form a meaningful connection with God.
2. Constant repetition of ‘Aloof’ emphasises their utter isolation from indulgence in social connections . Perhaps CR’s speaker is not js self-blaming here as they perceive the natural world as ‘aloof’ and therefore impossible to engage with despite her best efforts.
3. ‘And i am sometimes proud and sometimes meek…’: anaphoric repetition of ‘and…’ reveals a recognition of her own failure & perhaps even an admission of sin which has triggered the speaker’s self-loathing & resulting isolation.
   The speaker’s increasing disconnect and morose isolation is reinforced through their contrasting description of themselves as both ‘proud’ and ‘meek’ reflecting the devolution of the speaker’s personality by ‘bouts of low mood’.

Question 4

TTOL: further melancholy state of the speaker

1. ‘W c i n r w y?…I p t f f b’
2. ‘O d w i t s…O g, w i t v?’

Answer 4

1. ‘Why can I not rejoice with you?…i put the foolish fancy by’: The semi-hopeful self-reflexive reveals the speaker’s true innate desire to participate and revel in the joys of day-to-day living, they clearly question why they cannot achieve the state of bliss that nature seems to easily fall in to. Yet this is quickly dismissed as a ‘foolish fancy’, the fricative quashing of this ‘dream’ of blissful & joyous living adds a bitter quality that suggests that the speaker internalises a sense of self-loathing for ever believing that they could escape their ‘fate’, resigning themselves to a life of misery.
2. ‘Oh death, where is thy sting?…Oh grave, where is thy victory?’: depicts a rather pitiful speaker, mewling and plaintively begging for the calming reprieve from living that manifests as death. The labelling of death as a ‘victory’ connotes a revered achievement or a respected goal that teh speaker has strived to obtain throughout their entire life. = for this speaker, death is the ultimate reward as not only does it salvage them from this sorrowful state of isolation but it provides and opportunity to form perhaps the most meaningful connection: a union with God.