Now that our Renaissance poetry unit is coming to a close, you will need to choose a poem discussed in class for your "holiday gift" assignment -- the AP essay. Take a moment to consider all the poems we have read:
*"The Flea*
*"The Bait"
*"A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning"
*"Sonnet 18" and "Sonnet 130"
*"To His Coy Mistress"
*"To the Virgins: To Make Much of Time"
*"Celia" and "Cecilia"
*"The Passionate Shepherd to His Love"
*"The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd"
Which was your "class favorite"? In writing your response, please explain 1)why the chosen poem is your favorite and 2)what made it a unique experience for you (at least over the other choices).
my maid of honor speech for my sisters wedding!
13 years ago
20 comments:
Valediction was definitely my favorite poem. One: I liked it because I could actually decipher it and understand it. Also, my interpretation was pretty correct, from what we discussed in class. Also the imagery was really awesome with the gold thing. The poem also had awesome symbolism and extended metaphor with the whole compass thing. There were so many factors that made it awesome.
It was also my favorite because, to me, it was the most romantic and true. A lot of the others dealt with sex or material things. But this one seemed to be the most true and deep. I mean, if someone read this to me I would be like holy crap I dont even know what to do. It was that good.
My favorite poem was "To His Coy Mistress" because, as Faith mentioned about her chosen poem, I could understand it. I felt that if I was a woman who was read all of these "invitation to love" poems, this one would win me over ("A Valediction" would have been my second choice--this is the kind of love I would like to be reassured of having). The way I see it, Marvell makes a much more convincing argument than does Donne in "The Flea" or "To The Virgins" because there is that first stanza in which the speaker tells the woman how much he loves her. Of course, this could be deception, but it is very romantic (if not a little boring--admiring someone for that long?).
What made it a unique experience for me was that this poem was structured in a way that was sly and convincing. At first I wanted to dislike it because I don't champion premarital sex in the least, but I put my feelings aside and saw that this boy/man/poet made feasible arguments that, at least for me, were harder to see through than the others. I almost wanted to live this "carpe diem" lifestyle, unlike with the other "invitation to love" poems.
Sonnet 130 Hands Down. It was one of my favorites because first of all, he is not convincing the woman to have sex with him, he is not completely, utterly, blindly in love with this woman that it almost seems impractical, and it speaks for true love. Out of all the other poems, it was the only poem that expressed the physical imperfections of a woman. Reading it at a surface level, it seems like a very harsh and open-minded poem, but if you look deeper, the speaker tries to convey his message that beauty is not what he is concerned with in a woman. He is degrading her beauty to tell her that expressing love is not all about giving her compliments through her looks. I liked how the speaker loves his woman because of her rarity not her beauty and physical features. What makes this poem so unique is that it is very realistic, and for the first time, love does not relate to physicality. It stood out the most because it wasn’t just some ordinary love poem, where feelings, and the comparisons between beauty and nature are just so over exaggerated. I like how the speaker mocks his beloved mistress through her looks, and loves her for her own unique looks, whether her physical features are not as enlightening as a red rose or the sun. He just loves her for who she is. She might not dress like the other women at the time, but wouldn’t you want your woman to stand out for her individuality? One thing I learned from this poem is that people need to understand that flattering someone through compliment is not always the case to express how much you truly love them, sometimes honesty shows that you truly love them. Too much admiration can ruin the trust bond in a relationship because you are hiding your feelings from blurting out the truth. In this poem, the reason why his relationship with the dark lady remains strong is because he doesn’t’ hide his feelings from her; he is very straightforward and truthful towards his feelings about her. I believe honesty is the key to maintaining an everlasting relationship.
I would have to say that “The Bait” was my favorite poem, because as both Faith and Karolina mentioned I could understand it. The way he describes their love in the poem was interesting. He’s describing how beautiful their love would be.
He paints this summery day picture (golden sands, crystal brooks, silken lines etc.), which is what makes it different from the other poems. Also, he uses an extended metaphor comparing the woman with the bait, which was an interesting way to compare her to something.
It was also very different from the other poems because it didn’t include an invitation to sex or didn’t deal with materialistic things or anything like that. It was proper and thoughtful and very romantic.
"The Flea," was my favorite poem because of the unique methods that Donne used to attract the lady. I personally have never encountered such a way to appeal to a woman's affection because the flea is considered a disgusting and dirty animal. He was very persuasive, to me, because of the last stanza. It discusses how if she were to kill the flea her virginity would be destroyed so might as well give in to him. One in their sober mind would most likely think that the poem would be a dumb pick up line, but in the world of poetry it is quite romantic. One may be enticed especially if they were lust-struck and from the Renaissance period by this poem. The symbolism is what made it soooo cool and different, along with the diction. The words like 'sucking' and 'swells' usually imply something else in the everyday vernacular but it is used to describe the flea to the man's advantage. This is why I really like this poem because the poem isn't suppose to be a sexual innuendo but really romantic.
I must say that I agree with Faith on this one. Valediction: forbidden mourning was by far my favorite poem, for two reasons. Firstly, it was incredibly realistic, and secondly, Donne's diction and tone is surprisingly hopeful and romantic.
Donne's poem is realistic in the fact that it talks about how love isn't temporary, but rather, true love will always remain as strong and powerful, no matter the distance between lovers. In the Renaissance, I can imagine how many people probably challenged the meaning of true love, because from reading this past few poems, it seems to me that the majority of relationships were based on lust rather than actual love.I enjoyed this poem rather than all the other ones because it was logical, also, I have dealt with enough to agree with Donne when he says that separation doesn't necessarily result in mourning, because everything has an end; even sadness.
Donne's poem was very romantic and pleasing, and it was this fact that was able to entice me so well. His metaphor comparing love to gold was really sweet and reassuring; "Like gold to aery thinness beat". This, along with the comparison of their measure of love to a compass (one that you use to draw circles with, NOT one that points you north, btw), ensures the reader of the poem to trust their lover. It's these types of things that many of us want to hear when we're in a relationship, even more so today. With many spouses in Iraq, and incredibly high divorce rates, I would imagine that many are seeking trust more than ever. For this reason, I loved this poem. As Faith mentioned, the other poems dealt a lot with sex, lust, and material relations, where alas this poem could effectively be summarized as this: an eternal promise.
The Sonnets were my favorite. First of all they were written by William Shakespeare (as most believe) who is arguably one of the greatest poets/playwrights of all time. But the stories behind the poems seem to bring it from a simple love poem to a story. We get a glimpse of his life/struggles/experiences through these poems. I liked both for completely different reasons and to be honest I would be happy to be the one he was writing to in both poems. Even if we didn't know about the fair youth or dark lady, at face value these poems are still excellent. The other poems were good but I felt that the Sonnets were above the rest...
"The Flea" was the poem I enjoyed best. The way that Donne writes about such a delicate topic as persuading a woman to sleep with him is articulate enough that it is possible to really appreciate the meaning of the poem. His use of the flea as an extended metaphor, albeit a disgusting one, was brilliant in that it attracted the reader to the poem through its unusual choice of an object to represent the lovers’ relationship. Donne’s ribald poem was persuasive, although extremely complex in the steps it took to convince the woman whom Donne is speaking to. What made “The Flea” stand out among all other great poems we read in this unit was the complexity of the metaphor and symbolism in it. Despite it being a more confusing poem to read than others, the effort which John Donne put into creating a persuasive argument was remarkable.
My favorite poem of this unit was "the Flea", mostly because of the very bizarre imagery and symbolism that was used for such a familiar topic. Plus, the speaker was a brilliant debater... after all, the flimsy connection that he made between him and this girl was literally crushed, but he still managed to make a good case at the end, and i think that he has a decent shot at the end of the poem. It's his overblown delivery that sells it; i mean, how often do you think that a girl would sleep with a guy who claims that they've already had sex within a flea? I think it kind of shows the ridiculous things that people will do for sex.
I still like "Celia" the most. I'm just not seeing it as a stalkery poem. Maybe it's just me, but I find the guy's determination to win her love endearing. And we're talking about Renaissance England here: women were SUPPOSED to reject them the first time, right? She might have liked him back, but for various unknown reasons she had to reject him. We don't know, and we can't pretend to completely understand the poet's mind 400 years later.
I think it's unique because he's describing an intoxicating love. He's not going to get over the girl anytime soon, and regardless of how many times she rejects him, he's still going to keep on loving her. It's a lot like that one song, "Just the Girl," by the Click 5. He doesn't care how many times the girl rebuffs him, she's still "just the girl he's looking for." Why does such loyal love have to be interpreted in a negative way? I don't see it as creepy at all; in fact, I'd be flattered if I was the one that the poet was talking about.
I loved "The Flea" by John Donne. It was different in that I liked the style of metaphysical poetry. Donne was able to somehow connect two completely different items and make his argument work. The poem was very abstract; in my opinion, Donne was a genius. I liked the fact that the poem itself was like a riddle, and you had to carefully read each word in order to connect it to his meaning. I felt that all the other poems were very direct, and even though Donne's "The Flea" may have not successfully wooed his lover, but if I were his lover, I would definitely be astounded by the amount of work and dedication he put into his reason. Donne's arguments were all very logical, especially the part where he said that when she killed the flea (symbolizing the loss of virginity), did she feel any weaker? It's amazing how Donne, the father of metaphysical poetry, could use a simple household pest to portray a reason and yet still make it work. I think that's what good poetry entails; the use of words has to convey a message cleverly. Even though I also enjoyed Donne's "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning" since its ideas were very sweet and romantic I felt that some of the reasons were cliche such as the use of the circle or the idea of love in comparison to gold. No one would ever expect a relationship to be compared to a flea, because a flea connotes very bad imagery, yet Donne successfully did so.
I know. I am cutting it kind of close. Anyway, hands down my favorite poem (or poems actually) is the two Shakespeare poems "Sonnet 18" and "Sonnet 130".
These poems are my favorite frankly because I am a sucker for Shakespeare. I enjoy the contrast between the two about the subject of love. In addition, I am able to identify what kind of love I would prefer and relate to William Shakespeare in some way.
These poems are so unique from the rest because they present the two sides to a story. In Sonnet 18, love for Shakespeare is physical, young, and beauty. In Sonnet 130, love is something coarse and realistic. It is not all butterflies and unicorns. Love can be cruel and hurtful. Thus, Shakespeare presents to his reader to way on how he would woo a woman. What makes these poems different from the rest is the way Shakespeare is saying: "Now my dear reader, which one would you prefer me to say?"
Personally, I pick Sonnet 130. But that is a different blog.
If I had to chose a favorite poem it would be the ‘Flea.” This poem was my favorite because of the uniqueness of how it was written. I have never before read a poem in which a flea is used to make a sexual reference. This brought my all of my intention to the poem. The poem was written in such a clever way that the man was trying to trick the women into thinking that they had already had sex inside of the flea, so it was ok to do it outside of the flea. Then, after most men would have given up when the flea idea was squished, he keeps going and in my opinion still convinces the woman to sleep with him.
This poem gave me a unique experience in the fact that it showed me that you could make anything symbolize anything else, if you set your mind to connecting the two. This poem has given me new ideas in ways to explain myself, now I can make more pointless similes in class that start more tangents. The flea was just astonishingly well written to make the authors wish of premarital sex clear. The simpleness, yet cleverness of the poem drew me toward it, making it my favorite poem.
i'd have to say that "the flea" was my fav mostly because of the the symbolism expressed. i never knew that the flea meant much more than what i thought. it was actually a representation of the two lovers' relationship. if it was killed, it meant their love would be killed as well since they are pretty much the flea.
it's different compared to other poems. donne took something we find insignificant and used it as a symbol for the poem. it wasn't like he just wrote out that "this flea represents this and that". it's not really the type of poem that people can understand instantly. you really need to comprehend what the whole symbolism is first in order to understand the message.
Of all the poems we have read, I liked "To His Coy Mistress" by Andrew Marvell the best.
He is being very realistic and reasonable in his poem, but at the same time, he is equally romantic. This is what makes his poem so convincing. He has this logic that John Donne also has; John Donne is probably my favorite poets now :). Both he and John are rational when trying to convince their lover and that is what belittles the seriousness of the idea of premarital sex. Marvell manages to convey that their relationship is more than just physical love, even though he is trying to convince his mistress to have sex with him. In the second stanza, he offers the mistress two choices of which she must choose at one point in time and that is to either make love to him now, or worms will take her virginity away when she is dead. This was very clever of him because it also helped him convince his mistress because he uses negative words to downplay the option that is not in his favor. He also has a great use of figurative language, especially in the part where he says "like am'rous birds of prey"; it is so clever. He uses the birds to describe their love but, he describes it as something that is aggressive yet passionate at the same time. Marvell also makes many worldly connections in his poem so when you picture the imagery, you do not just see the man talking to the women, you also see different parts of the world. Marvell had mentioned India (finding rubies by the Ganges) and Israel (Jews' Conversion), which makes the poem very secular and gives the love between the narrator and his mistress seem exotic, rare, and eternal. Lastly, his use of syntax and diction is amazing. Marvell organized his three stanzas into a very logical fashion. They were in an "if..., but..., therefore..." which played to his advantage because that is a very good way to convince some while showing both sides but amplifying the side that he wants to amplify.
Although it was a pretty odd poem I would have to say that The Flea was my favorite. The whole idea in comparing love to a flea bite was pretty interesting and unique. Usually, you get poems talking only about love and it seems corny but this one puts it in a completely different perspective and a different way to think about love. It's a very convincing or persuasive poem and really manipulative which you don't usually find in love poems. I like how the poem rejects the usual.
“The Flea” was hands down my favorite poem that we read. I usually despise reading poetry, but I was amazed by this poem. I was like OMG HES USING A BUG TO MAKE HER HAVE SEX WITH HIM??!…lol it was a shocking experience. I loved how unique it was. I’ve never read another poem like this one before. The imagery was so vivid, and the man in the poem was such a great speaker. He was able to use something so insignificant to represent something really important. This poem is my favorite because it made me realize two things 1) Men will really say anything to get a girl in bed with them and 2) I might actually like poetry =0
I would probably have to say that the Sonnets were my favorites. I love the way they were written and the contradiction they posed towards each other. Both poems of admiration, they declare their love superior to the other’s. What is also intriguing is that they were both written by Shakespeare, yet they hold such opposing viewpoints. He almost insults Sonnet 18 with Sonnet 130 in the last one.
(P.S. I LOVE Shakespeare XDD)
Post a Comment