January-+Renaissance+Poetry

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//The Nymph's Reply to the Shepard// by Sir Walter Raleigh

//Sonnet 94// by William Shakespeare

//The Dream// by John Donne

//A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning// by John Donne

=__Analysis__= In //The Nymph’s Reply to the Shepard, Sonnet 94, The Dream, and A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning,// Raleigh, Shakespeare, and Donne celebrate love and beauty through relationships.

In //The Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd//, Raleigh writes a satirical response to Marlowe’s The Passionate Shepherd to His Love. The nymph replies to the shepherd's idyllic beliefs by asserting that he is completely unrealistic and detached from reality. She claims that “thy gowns, thy shoes, thy beds of Roses” will all die eventually which enhances the view that beauty, love, and you are all subject to change (15). She is not fooled by his devilish claims, understanding that he is attempting to seduce her. Through the allusion to //Philomel//, Raleigh shows that the shepherd is purposely design the nymph in hopes to seduce her into bed, and if not, he plans to rape her which happened to Philomel in Greek mythology. Raleigh contrasts both the positive and negative aspects of nature, such as the harsh season of winter against the vitality of spring. Raleigh demonstrates the fallacies of many people who are completely idealistic and are unable to see the negative aspects of love and relationships. Furthermore, he touches on the fact that many men attempt to seduce women through false pretenses and hollow promises. In the end, the nymph claims that if love and youth were truly everlasting and the shepard spoke of only truth, she would consider being with him. However, as Raleigh demonstrates through allusion, a critical tone, and deathlike imagery, love often changes and is often abused by individuals in relationships with deceitful hopes. People often promise too much in relationships and to those they love but rarely can keep them.

In //Sonnet 94//, Shakespeare warns young individuals to focus on self control and restraint while cherishing their own selves and beauty. He focuses on the view that people should avoid temptation and seduction which only wastes one’s beauty. He claims that those who are attractive and beautiful but don’t use it to their advantage will earn “heaven’s graces” which highlights his Christian allusions to the idea of personal faith versus good deeds (5). He claims that those who exhibit self control and contain their beauty have a higher moral status than those who use their beauty for their own advantage or waste it on someone else. He highlights the societal implications of women (and men) to remain abstinent until marriage by claiming that sins corrupt the “sweetest things” (13). He asserts that allowing others to “own” and control one’s beauty diminishes the beauty altogether. He celebrates beauty as a personal art form that should be cherished and respected. Furthermore, he enhances the importance of self control in relationships. Shakespeare demonstrates that individuals can ruin their relationship by rushing into temptation or focusing on just the physical aspects of each other. Furthermore, he demonstrates the need for self-love, claiming that people should respect themselves by not using beauty as a tool in life for seduction and manipulation of others. Shakespeare illustrates the message that an individual’s behavior and actions determines their overall worth.

Donne juxtaposes Shakespeare’s ideas of the sins of temptation in //The Dream//. In //The Dream//, the speaker attempts to cajole his lover into getting into bed with him. Donne begins by mentioning that the speaker was having a sensual dream of great love and happiness. He attempts to seduce her by complimenting her as an “angel at first sight” and explaining that she is actually more beautiful and wise than a mere angel (14). Furthermore, he accuses her of knowing his truest desires, claiming that is why she woke him up as he hopes they will “act out the rest”(10). Through Donne’s conceit of comparing lighting and light to the speaker’s lover’s eyes, he claims that he could sense her presence due to her attractive appearance and his desire to show her his love. Furthermore, Donne uses imagery associated with seduction such as lighting, light, and fire. The speaker asserts that in his dream, love was perfect and effortless; however, in reality love includes pain, jealousy, and fears yet is it greater and more meaningful than the idyllic dream love. Donne also touches upon the subject of having sex before marriage and compares the lover’s rejection to a torch due to the fact that “men light and put out”, claiming that she is attempting to quench the speaker’s fire through rejection after the speaker believes that she is going to agree (28). This conceit contributes to the overall desire imagery which enhances his overall goal of seducing a woman into bed. However, she rejects him due to possible shame and guilt. The speaker attempts once more to seduce his beloved by claiming that he is nothing without her and will die without her “love”. Through a suggestive tone, tempting diction, and desire imagery, Donne highlights relationships and love through seduction.

In //A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning,// Donne utilizes the conceit of a compass to express that his lover and he are always connected: their souls are forever intertwined. No earthly death of length of absence can separate them since their spiritual transcend any aspect of life of death; therefore, they are never truly apart. Donne’s central focus of the poem is how the body and soul are two separate aspects, and since the speaker’s love is spiritual, it is a greater and deeper form of love than one of a physical nature. The speaker warns his lover not to shed a tear due to any absence or even death itself because they are forever joined due to the melting of their souls together. Therefore, Donne asserts that there is no need to mourn or fear the future beyond death if love is not tied up in physical senses. Love cannot diminished by absence since physical separation does not change spiritual love. His conceit of a compass focus on the aspect that the compass legs are never truly apart; they are always connected. He focuses on the importance of spiritual love as being a deep, meaningful, and uniting force that will always keep the two lovers together.

All four poems focus on the complex aspects of love, beauty, and relationships. Raleigh uses a satirical commentary to criticize those who lie as a form of manipulation and seduction while highlighting both the negative and positive aspects of love. He demonstrates that love, beauty, and nature are constantly changing forces. Shakespeare agrees with the overall message of temptation as a sin, demonstrating that people should love themselves and exhibit self restraint in relationships. He asserts that one’s behaviors and actions determine their own worth; furthermore, beauty has the power to corrupt the youth. He claims that allowing others to influence and control one’s beauty diminishes the beauty altogether. Donne disagrees with these societal implications on the topic of sex before marriage. In his poem, //The Dream//, his speaker attempts to cajole a woman into bed through promises of temptation, compliments, and seduction. However, in //A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning, Donne juxtaposes this idea by expressing the power of spiritual love over love tied up in the senses. When love is connected through the souls, it// cannot be separated.

=__ Chosen Piece of Art __=

Magnolia and Irises
//Designer:// Designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany (American, New York 1848–1933 New York)

//Maker:// Tiffany Studios (1902–32)

//Date:// ca. 1908