What Is Our Life?
What Is Our Life? Sir Walter Raleigh (1552-1618) Overview I really like this one. Again (as with Spenser’s Sonnet 54) we see the theatre being used as a comparative; however, here it is not just a relationship, but our entire lives. He positions life as being dedicated to passion (love and romance) with joyful moments and […]
Sonnet 54 (Spenser)
Sonnet 54 Edmund Spenser (1609-1642) Overview This is a poem that bemoans a woman being completely unmoved by a man’s actions. The theatre and the different type of plays the wannabe lover claims to be adept in, are really different aspects or spheres of life. He is left feeling confused and frustrated by her lack […]
No Crookèd Leg, No Blearèd Eye
No Crookèd Leg, No Blearèd Eye Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603) Overview This is a little, bitchy rant about how suspicion can corrupt and ruin a good person. To understand it you really need to understand when and why it was written. Queen Lizzy No crookèd leg, no blearèd eye, No part deformèd out of kind, […]
Sonnet 11 (Wroth)
Sonnet 11 Lady Mary Wroth (1587-1652) Overview ‘This girl is sad about a guy’ – a response from one of my Year 12s on initial reading of the poem. I responded with some form of abusive shouting, I really should have gone further and resorted to some form of medieval torture. Understatement of all understatements. […]
What Thing is Love?
What Thing Is Love? George Peele (1556-1594) Overview Well, the good news (if you’re not a poetry lover as of yet) is this is a particularly compact poem. Although it has been edited down by the editors of Songs of Ourselves (see at the bottom of this post if you’re interested). It’s also quite an easy one […]
Why So Pale and Wan, Fond Lover?
Why So Pale and Wan, Fond Lover? Sir John Suckling (1609-1642) Overview The poetic voice (guy talking) is questioning the point of his friend’s love sickness. This lover is making himself sick and going into his shell, which is causing all of his friends embarrassment and the poetic voice is pointing out the pointlessness of […]
Rising from the Depths
Rising from the Depths I’ve had a bad week. Well, sort of. Probably the majority of you reading this, have logged in to find a pretty extensive, but frustratingly organised collection of poetry analysis. Just maybe you noticed a difference over the last two weeks where the site was taken over by an Indonesia betting […]