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intothevoidofnoreturn · 4 years

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Sonnets, Sonnets, and More Sonnets: Not Really, Just #130

My mistress’ eyes are dull and have no spark. Her lips have no color. Unlike white snow, her cleavage is tan. She has the opposite of golden hair; completely black. I have seen pink roses, but her cheeks are bare. I like scented fragrances, then my mistress’ breath. While her voice is pleasant, I know, that I would enjoy music more. I admit that I have never seen a deity, my mistress walks on the ground. However, I think that our love is greater, than any poet who lies about their lover. // Paraphrased

The subject of love, desire, and the beauty of the poem’s target are all common themes of Shakespeare’s vast collection of sonnets. Sonnet 130, “My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun…” as the untitled poem is often called, uses the developed English traditional that was popularized sue to the large number of Shakespearian sonnets, despite being largely unpublished, to display the desire that the speaker has for the mentioned mistress.

The English sonnet, characterized by three quatrains followed by a final couplet in which the volta, the poem’s sudden change or solution, is offered. Stemming from the Italian traditional which was popularized by Petrarch, the couplet has often been used to represent the couple within poems as they are a matching pair. In Sonnet 130, Shakespeare uses “rare” and “compare” as the final rhyme scheme as the speaker declares how despite the mistress’ shortcomings, she, and thus their union, is as worthy as the falsities promoted in other poet’s works of their own significant others (lines 15-16). The choice of “rare” and “compare” highlights the specialty of the mistress and their love, both being a “rare” find. The “compare” has increased importance placed on the “pare,” a reference to the couple once more as it sounds identical to “pair.” As the relationship is offered in the final lines, Shakespeare may have been using the volta to make it appear that the speaker was reassuring the mistress of his desire for her, offering himself as a lone savior.

The poem’s imagery takes heavy inspiration from the natural world’s beauty, despite the mistress’ unfavorable features, with additional references to artificial creations near the of the sonnet. Although far fetched comparisons are a common feature of romantic poetry, there is little offered within the poem that states that the mistress’ is unattractive or malicious. The worst thing that is said about the mistress is that “music hath a far more pleasing sound” and that the mistress has breath that “reeks,” (lines 8 – 10). Both slights can be forgiven as the speaker quite clearly does not find them grave enough to end the relationship. Even as the mistress lacks the classical and idealized beauty traits, such as pale skin, red lips, and golden locks, the speaker provides details as to how she appears, even when he could have simply stated what she lacked. The inclusion of her true attributes hints that the speaker may have enjoyed her unique qualities and instead was displaying his fortune in getting a partner with non-mainstream traits.

Sonnet 130 uses poetic imagery, the literary history, and metaphors based in the natural world to display the admiration the speaker had for the mentioned mistress.

Bibliography

Shakespeare, William. “Sonnet 130.” The Norton Anthology of English Literature: The Sixteenth Century & The Early Seventeenth Century. 10th Edition. Eds. Greenblatt, Stephen, etc. New York: W. W. Norton & Company Inc. 2018. 736.

#british literature #brit lit #original and mine

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intothevoidofnoreturn · 4 years

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How romantic...❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Sir Gawain and The Green Knight is a good example of romantic conventions of the early 15th and 16th century. And I don’t mean those cheesy romantic novels considered romance today. No, this type of romantic story focused less on love and more on adventure, mystery, and magical elements. In Sir Gawain and The Green Knight, magical elements are presented to the main characters and the audience in a way that leaves both groups in awe at the spectacle. Someone’s head gets removed, yet they continue to live! It is this sense of wonderment that really sets the story in motion. There are magical objects and sorcerers present, in order to teach somewhat of a lesson to those in the story and those reading the story. Morgana La Fay wants to prove that King Arthur’s round table is not as mighty as they claim and that any source of power can fall. So, in order to do so, she makes a fool out of Sir Gawain through her use of the Green Knight. Sir Gawain is a proud man, so he does not heed the Green Knight’s warnings about their impending fight. However, this once incident in which the Green Knight loses his head, which is then supposed to happen to Sir Gawain is enough to shake his confidence for the remainder of the story. He relies on a belt to keep him from dying.

Yet later in the story, he still tries to act mighty and does whatever he can in order to save his own skin rather than protect his kingdom. The most important romantic aspect of the story however is the use of magic. This was truly the beginning of stories relying on magic to tell truths and really have an influence on their respective stories. Before this, they were seen in the background and were typically depicted as evil. Yes, there is evil magic in this story, but there is also good magic that keeps Sir Gawain alive.This view on the different uses of magic would continue to be expanded on in works by famous playwrights such as Shakespeare.

#classmates #BritLit class

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intothevoidofnoreturn · 4 years

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Who ever said that Romance is dead?

The romance genre is often associated with the image chivalric behavior by knights working to defend the honor of maiden or house while protecting people from danger, including invading armies and supernatural beings, originating with The Art of Love by Orid of 1st century Rome. As discussed in class, the primary focus of the romantic genre is courtly love, with major traits being humility, concerned with the humbleness of the savior figure, courtesy, being dependent on how well one respected social rules and etiquette. Additionally, literature from the romantic period also focused on the love between the couple, with other party often being already married. The pining portion of the couple, blinded by desire and their heart, would fail to recognize the faults their beloved possessed. In Marie de France’s Lanval, this trope was slightly altered as Lanval was the damsel in distress and the party who needed to be saved, an early example of gender role reversal.

As seen in Arthurian-based legends, the supernatural beings of Britannia play an important part in the story and help to avoid negative feedback to female empowerment. It is the fay who approaches Lanval through her two female servants, declaring that her affection belongs to him alone due to his noble character. Lanval, as if he was given a quest, agrees that he would “do all that [she] require” in order to remain with her, including keeping their romance a secret (line 127). Here Lanval displays his humble nature as he has been given a beautiful lover yet must not reveal his wealth to anyone. Later on, in order to protect his reputation from Queen Guinevere, Lanval is forced to admit the existence of his lover, breaking his oath, and her radiance, threatening his chivalric image. At his trial, two other beings appear, dazzling the count, yet Lanval refuses to admit that either one of the maidens is his lover, claiming that he “know them not; I love them not,” (526). Remaining true to his honest personality is remnant of a damsel to abandon the hope of rescue by her lover, and is essentially what saves him. The fay appears on horseback and greets the court, where is calls out their treatment of Lanval, stating that he “must not be here abused,” shaming those who had refused to defend the knight and those who had put him on trial (618). The couple then literally rides off and away from the count, presumably to live happily in Avalon.

Although the romantic genre has little to do with romance itself, Lanval contributes to the eventual development of the Arthurian legends and Middle Age ideals that layer societies associated with the period. It is because Lanval suffers that makes his transgressions forgivable, allowing him to keep his lover and honor.

#british literature #romance genre #original and mine #brit lit

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intothevoidofnoreturn · 4 years

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When life, in her glorious, apathetic march toward the inevitable void past existence, gives you lemons, make the crème de la crème of pies. However, when you use the wrong attachment and overwhip your meringue, call it a lemon tart and flaunt that impressive pastry after topping it with powdered sugar. In this house we don’t waste food.

#lemon #lemon meringue #I spent far to long waiting for my dough to firm up to waste such a beautiful crust #original and mine

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intothevoidofnoreturn · 4 years

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Only people who read my Beowulf and Anglo-Saxon Poetic Conventions will understand.

#beowulf #britishliterature #original and mine

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intothevoidofnoreturn · 4 years

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Let’s Talk About Beowulf and Anglo-Saxon Poetry Conventions

The main issue when dealing with texts as old as Beowulf is that English has evolved too a point where the average speaker would neither be able to talk to diverse group of English a millennium ago or be able to read any documents presented to them. Nevertheless, alliteration is still present in the translated versions, reminiscent of the story’s oral origins. Heavy letters and sounds, specifically e, h, and g, and to a lesser extent s and d, are present in the majority of the lines, often overlapping with one another. Part of the reason behind this is because may of the names mentioned within the story start with these letters. One of the densest areas that is sound heavy is the decree that Beowulf and company are coming to save Heorot and her inhabitants from Grendel, stating that “Now Holy God/ has, in His goodness, guided him here/ to the West-Danes, to defend us from Grendel,” (Beowulf, lines 381 – 383). When said out loud, the sentence becomes a type of song, all that is missing is an appropriate beat.

As music is a universal trait found across time and cultures, the beat would have had to been simple enough that it could be repeated without complex orchestras, but still catching enough that the audience would be inclined to listen to the full performance. Using the same lines presented before, 382 and 383 can be given a basic template to demonstrate the presence of the four-beat line and a caesura. The first part of the line should be said in a tone that gets higher in pitch, while the ending of the line decreased in pitch. Since each line is roughly eight syllables, there is an extremely minor pause after the fourth syllable, followed by the lower pitch, and finally another break at the end of the sentence or line, depending on how the story is being recited. The rests allow the speaker to breath and the beat allows the audience to join along if desired, tapping their feat or hands to keep the rhythm.

Since the Cotton manuscript is the only surviving copy of Beowulf, it is difficult to determine what portions of the larger myth and performance are missing. The translations that we do have now, however, all lack end rhymes. The primary story, the Volsung Saga, and the Finnsburg Episode, would appear to be a long-winded folk tale to those unfamiliar with Beowulf. A vital thing to note is that it is a folk tale, but chances are that because it was written down when so few were, it must have been a major, and possibly overlapping, myth to a past society. Without end rhymes to assist the speaker in retelling the story, the plot points that appear in Beowulf must have been central to the narrative. The periods between the major events may have been more prone to oral editing. Without end-line rhymes, modern readers face the same problem when trying to recount the story when analyzing said story.

As mentioned previously, Beowulf is a story that has been translated for modern readers. Modern authors have the privilege of instant thesauruses to heighten their creations. Oral traditions have a different set of standards for the use of words, largely because many come from a period before modern language and spelling standards. Beowulf’s audience must constantly be aware of sections and phrases that wouldn’t be found in modern English. The most famous example of these kennings is the whale-road and “swan-road,” both named for bodies of water, as well as ring-giver and a various assortment for the act of dying and death (line 200). Kennings are essential tool and theme of Anglo-Saxon poetry, working as a plot device for both modern readers and old listeners alike.

The most important literary device in Beowulf, and all myths, are the various hyperboles. From classical Greco-Roman myths of demigods to comic book heroes, all are found to contain strength beyond the ordinary limits of man, as well as the honor in battle against supernatural beasts and the importance of genealogy. Beowulf is no different. He is descended from a line of mighty warriors, has fought various eldritch horrors, and basically is a miniature army even in his waning years. Humans like to exaggerate. Few want to hear of a person banging pots and pans to ward off a fat raccoon so that the greedy bugger stops stealing bird food, but make those pans divinely blessed drums and superglue wings on the raccoon, and voila, a story that people will remember being completely horseshit, but a remembered story nonetheless.

To slightly diverge from the original topic, humans have always created monsters, and while one can dismiss Grendel, his mother, and the dragon with other creatures as pre-industrial fiction, our era’s monsters target the same fears of the unknown world outside our bubbles of locality. We may not have a Bigfoot coming into our hometown and destroying the local pub, but we most certainly have government men in black suits with nondescript features coming to whisk us away, our relatives knowing better than to question our disappearance. Our heroes are average people who have the courage to stand up to formidable foes.

#Beowulf BritishLiterature BritLit

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