To me fair friend — seen poetry Flashcards
Describe the structure of the poem.
Four quatrains: Point made in 1 and 2, third quatrain: volta (new direction)
It is an Elizabethan poet + epigramatic: final line/point cannot be argued
What does the repetition of “three” in quatrain 1 imply?
The speaker is reflecting of the 3 years that he has known his fair friend (physical admiring)
What indicates the passing of time in quatrain 1? how is this arranged?
seasonal imagery; summer has been shook by winter. since the glory of summer has already been stripped in stanza 1, his judgement may be
affected.
What does “eye I eye’d” have connotations of?
It is a more furtive/active choice of diction.
What is the significance of summer’s pride being shook?
Personification: beauty taken away/ shaken away. this may be an image of what beautiful people feel when they see they are aging.
Describe how the seasons are personified in stanza 2.
-> yellow for autumn, beauteous for spring (match summer pride): diction to move toward personification
Juxtaposition in Quatrain 2…?
Perfumes for april, burned for June. description of how heat overwhelmed scents of spring. echoes how summer was shaken.
Comment on the choice of diction in the Second quatrain.
Youth: fresh and green. match youth and nature already developed.
connotations of newness and inexperience.
Where is the volta? what comes after it?
Ah, yet doth beauty…
it is a moment of reflection, after which the main message is said
Explain the effect of the simile in the Third quatrain.
Pace of change and time gradual (dial-hand)
What indicates the speaker’s realisation in quatrain 3?
“sweet hue” “still doth stand” to “motion” that “deceives” his eye. here the subjective perception is revealed and the cause as well: he likes his friend.
“sweet hue” echoes q1 and q2
What does the rhyming couplet contain?
The main message/point
What is the couplet afraid of?
the self-deception, as indicated by the colon
What is Shakespeare saying to the young audience?
The best of beauty was already dead (summer has died)
yet in “hear this” hope lies, as the sonnet has lasted centuries so his beauty still lives.
What is the tone of the writer?
Sincere/loving. appreciation linked to seasons
also: sombre reflection of realising his friend must have changed (“shook, burned, turned, steal, deceived”) show the growing realisation through slight disturbing connotations (change and awareness that is deliberate and vigorous)
move away from fair friend (personal) to distanced “summer’s pride” and rhyming couplet general proclamations (change in adress). Less personal = more awareness of self-deception.
