There is a garden in her face - Thomas Campion

Question 1

What kind of poem is this? And what does it explore?

Answer 1

A lyric poem which expresses personal emotions or feelings

Question 2

Introduction

Answer 2

The poem ‘There is a garden in her face’ by Thomas Campion, offers a social commentary on the role of marriage in society, in which virginity and beauty are commodities to be bought with a marriage contract. It does so through depicting a seemingly rare and uniquely beautiful girl which reciprocated all the standards of beauty during Elizabethan times.

Question 3

What is the structure of the poem?

Answer 3

-written in iambic tetrameter
-consists of 3 sestets
-ABABCC repeated rhyme scheme
-the entire poem is an extended metaphor

Question 4

‘Where roses and white lilies grow;’

Answer 4

‘roses’ - noun, love romance, could reflect her rosy cheeks, references to the elizabethan era
‘white lilies’ - noun, adjective ‘white’ connotes purity and innocence, perhaps her personally but also of a sexual nature

Question 5

‘A heav’nly paradise is that place’

Answer 5

‘a heavn’ly paradise’ - noun phrase references to the divine, elevates her beauty, could be a reference to the garden of eden, she is untainted and perfect and therefore desired, but distance between them is suggested through use of demonstrative pronoun ‘that place’

Question 6

‘Wherein all pleasant fruits do flow’

Answer 6

‘fruits…flow’ - fricatives, reinforces garden of eden, also could be what she could bear/ pleasantries she could afford him.
- sweetness of her appearance

Question 7

‘Till ‘Cherry ripe’ themselves do cry’

Answer 7

• antithesis, treatment is far from what a heavenly goddess should be
• ‘Cherry ripe’ inverted commas is direct speech lines to market men, The phrase “till ‘cherry ripe’ themselves do cry” contrasts the divine with the mundane, like a goddess being called out by street vendors, highlighting the gap between ideal beauty and reality.

Question 8

‘Of orient pearl a double row’

Answer 8

teeth, noun wealth
‘pearl’ - rarity, also reemphasises pureness

Question 9

‘They look like rose-buds fill’d with snow;’

Answer 9

‘rose’ typical of petrarchan sonnets, reflects how women were desired to look, and her mirroring those features examplifies her beauty and her suitors desparation to court her

Question 10

‘yet them nor peer nor prince can buy,’

Answer 10

• repeated conjunction ‘nor’
• The phrase emphasizes that no one, regardless of status, can possess her without her consent, highlighting her autonomy and the importance of respect for her virtue.

Question 11

‘Her eyes like angels watch them still’

Answer 11

• simile, her position is elevated beyond earth, she is watching the suitors detached, motionless

Question 12

‘Her brows like bended bows do stand,’

Answer 12

• plosive sounds raise the aggressive hard side to her, immitates her coldness and lack of obectivity.