The Poets and the Poems

Marlowe, Raleigh, Shakespeare, and Donne The Poets and the Poems

The Life of Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593) Christopher Marlow (1564-1593)

Life Stats Born—February 6, 1564 in Canterbury, England Baptized Catholic Eldest son of a shoemaker Lived during the same time as Shakespeare English poet and dramatist

Education • At 14 he started at King’s School • In 1581, Marlowe was granted a six-year scholarship to study at Corpus Christi College in Cambridge, England • 1584—earned his B.A. • 1587—began his M.A. • The university was reluctant to grant the degree because they suspected that Marlowe was an atheist. • The queen’s Privy Council intervened and the degree was granted.

After university • Did not join the clergy but went to London to write plays for The Admiral’s Men. • He is renowned for his elaborate style that influenced the tragic style used by his predecessors. • Considered by many to be the chief of dramatic form.

His death • Died May 30, 1593 during a brawl at a tavern in Deptford, England. He was stabbed in the eye. • Some believe that he was a secret agent. • Some believed that he was involved with secret peace negotiations. • Some believe his quick temper and lawless past led to his demise. • His life and death are both mysterious but his early death provided a preface for Shakespeare’s fame.

“The Passionate Shepherd to His Love”Christopher Marlowe Setting Christopher Marlowe sets the poem in early spring in a rural locale (presumably in England) where shepherds tend their flocks. The use of the word madrigals (Line 8)–referring to poems set to music and sung by two to six voices with a single melody or interweaving melodies–suggests that the time is the 16th Century, when madrigals were highly popular in England and elsewhere in Europe. However, the poem could be about any shepherd of any age in any country, for such is the universality of its theme.

Characters • The Passionate Shepherd: He importunes a woman–presumably a young and pretty country girl–to become his sweetheart and enjoy with him all the pleasures that nature has to offer. • The Shepherd’s Love: The young woman who receives the Passionate Shepherd’s message. • Swains: Young country fellows whom the Passionate Shepherd promises will dance for his love.

Type of Work “The Passionate Shepherd” is a pastoral poem. Pastoral poems generally center on the love of a shepherd for a maiden (as in Marlowe’s poem), on the death of a friend, or on the quiet simplicity of rural life. The writer of a pastoral poem may be an educated city dweller, like Marlowe, who extolls the virtues of a shepherd girl or longs for the peace and quiet of the country. Pastoral is derived from the Latin word pastor, meaning shepherd.

Theme The theme of “The Passionate Shepherd” is the rapture of springtime love in a simple, rural setting. Implicit in this theme is the motif of carpe diem–Latin for “seize the day.” Carpe diem urges people to enjoy the moment without worrying about the future.

The Poem’s Enduring Appeal Over the centuries, Marlowe’s little poem has enjoyed widespread popularity because it captures the joy of simple, uncomplicated, love. The shepherd does not worry whether his status makes him acceptable to the girl; nor does he appear concerned about money or education. The future will take carry of itself. What matters is the moment. So, he says, let us enjoy it–sitting on a rock listening to the birds.

Vocabulary • Dales – valleys • Melodious – musical • Madrigals – a short, musical poem about love • Posies – flowers • Embroider’d – sewn • Swains – young boys from the country

Analyzing and Interpreting the Poems • 1. a) What does the shepherd in Marlowe's poem offer his love to make his world sound attractive and desirable? b) What things does he offer her that he cannot possibly provide? • 2. Notice that lines 19 and 20 at the end of the fifth stanza in Marlowe's poem almost repeat the poem's opening lines. a) What effect is created by this near repetition? b) Instead of ending with this refrain-like repetition, the shepherd goes on for another stanza. Does the promise of the final stanza add anything new to the promises made earlier? If so, what does it add?

Additional Questions • 3. What, metaphorically, does the speaker want to prove in the first stanza? • 4. What is the purpose of the Shepherd’s poem? • 5. Why has Marlowe capitalized “Love” when he speaks to the young maiden in the poem?

Sir Walter Raleigh Born: October 1552 in Devon Died: October 29, 1618 in London Nationality: British Religion: Born to a prominent Protestant family

Occupation • Writer • Poet • Soldier • Courtier: a person who attends the court (centre of government and residence) of the monarch • Explorer • Colonizer (founder of Virginia)

Raleigh’s Life • Was similar to Marlowe in the sense that both men were reckless, free-thinkers who eventually came to violent ends. • Was noted for his charisma, wit, and womanizing • Was in and out of favour with Queen Elizabeth I.

Raleigh’s life . . . • Loved by the queen in the 1580s. • Was frequently at court. • The queen found out about his secret marriage to one of her maids of honor, Elizabeth Throckmorton, in 1592. • Raleigh was imprisoned in The Tower of London but regained her favour through military exploits and voyages to South America.

Raleigh’s Life . . . • His success came to a halt when James I, from Scotland, came to the throne in 1603. • James I accused Raleigh of plotting to bar his ascension to the throne and had him imprisoned until 1616. • Released to make one last voyage to South America to search for gold. • Voyage was a failure. • Raleigh’s men burned a Spanish settlement, Spain demanded he be arrested (James I was happy to carry out this demand), and Raleigh was executed for treason in 1618.

Legend says . . . • On the night before he died he wrote one of his best poems, “The Author’s Epitaph, Made by Himself.” • While on the scaffold, he smiled as he ran his finger along the ax and said, “This is a sharp medicine, but it is a physician for all diseases.”

Legend also says . . . • In an obvious attempt to impress the queen, Raleigh laid his plush and expensive cloak over a mud puddle so the queen would not muddy her feet.

Legend also says . . . • Raleigh introduced and popularized the use of tobacco in Europe (this is fact, not legend). • Immediately before his death, Raleigh asked for one last smoke of tobacco. • His request was granted, and it is believed that this established the tradition of allowing prisoners one last cigarette before their execution.

Poetry • Relatively straightforward and easily understood. • Often appears to express contempt for the world around him (as in the poems “What is Our Life” and “The Lie”). • Expresses sarcasm and satire at social flaws (as in the poem “The Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd”).

“The Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd” • Written in response to Marlowe’s “The Passionate Shepherd to His Love.” • Speaker of the poem is not the author • Traditional pastoral mode—shepherds, idealized, and rustic landscape. • The nymph may be considered “anti-pastoral”—opposed to the perfection of nature. • Satirical mode—the nymph dismisses the shepherd’s romantic pleas because she does not see happiness in terms of material comfort . She also knows how quickly promises are broken.

Marlowe's "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love"andRaleigh's "The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd" • It's important to note that the narrator is not necessarily the poet; Marlowe is no more the "Shepherd" from the first poem than Raleigh is the "Nymph" in the second. • Both poets are using traditional voices from pastoral literature which uses shepherds and an idealized rustic landscape to indirectly explore a range of ideas and themes.

Analysis: Name the… • Rhyme Scheme and Meter • Theme • Figures of Speech (find two)

Analyzing and Interpreting the Poems "The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd" • 1. a) What assumption made by Marlowe's shepherd does Raleigh's nymph begin by attacking? b) How does she follow up this attack? • 2. As in Marlow's poem, lines 19 and 20 of the fifth stanza of Raleigh's poem sound like a summarizing refrain. Yet the nymph, like the shepherd, goes on for an additional stanza. a) Why does this last stanza begin with "But?" b) How are lines 19 and 20 transformed in lines 23 and 24. c) Describe the change in attitude in the last stanza in the poem, and how it affects your evaluation of the nymph's reply.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) • Born in Stratford-on-Avon (a small town about 90 miles from London)on April 23, 1564. • Father was John Shakespeare, a glove maker. His mother, Mary Arden, came from a good family with considerable land and fortune. • Average student who focused mainly on Latin grammar but also on French later in London. • Traveling players came to Stratford; this was his introduction to drama.

Marriage and Children • Married Anne Hathaway, a woman 6 years older than him, at the age of 18 on November 27, 1592. • May 26, 1583, their first child, Susanna, was born. • February 2, 1585, they had twins, Hamnet and Judith. • 1587-1592 (The Lost Years) Shakespeare left his family (people believed he was running from the law) to go to London to earn fortune and fame. • It was believed that Anne did not join him because she was a Puritan (a Puritan being a religious fanatic who believed that the stage and actors corrupted people's morals). Puritanism was so strong in London that eventually all the theatres were closed.

Poet & Playwright • Joined a theatrical company (sponsored by Queen Elizabeth herself) and became a noted actor, playwright, and poet. • By 1592 he was an established actor but his money was earned by gate admissions, not from the sale of his plays. • Theatres were reopened in 1594 after closing temporarily during a plague epidemic. • After this, Shakespeare focused on writing plays. He wrote 37 by the time of his retirement in 1610. He wrote comedies, histories, tragedies, and many sonnets. • Throughout his career, he was a member of the Lord Chamberlain's Men (later the King's Men) and worked closely with Richard Burbage.

Death & Details • Dies on April 23, 1616, but was predeceased by his son, Hamnet. • Left his property to his daughter and his "second-best-bed" to his wife. • Remains unmatched as a writer because of his ability to understand the truths of the human condition and his skill of expression. Perfectly communicated profound, universal concepts in creative, lyrical language. • Introduced the concept of "Blank Verse" – there are 5 feet to a line and each foot is written in Iambic Pentameter. • Used other stylistic tools such as puns, metaphors, soliloquies, asides, similes, apostrophes, and personification.

Why Study Shakespeare? The Reasons Behind Shakespeare's Influence and Popularity Ben Jonson anticipated Shakespeare’s dazzling future when he declared, "He was not of an age, but for all time!" in the preface to the First Folio. While most people know that Shakespeare is, in fact, the most popular dramatist and poet the Western world has ever produced, students new to his work often wonder why this is so. The following are the top four reasons why Shakespeare has stood the test of time.

1) Illumination of the Human Experience Shakespeare’s ability to summarize the range of human emotions in simple yet profoundly eloquent verse is perhaps the greatest reason for his enduring popularity. If you cannot find words to express how you feel about love or music or growing older, Shakespeare can speak for you. No author in the Western world has penned more beloved passages. Shakespeare's work is the reason John Bartlett compiled the first major book of familiar quotations.

Here are some examples of Shakespeare's most popular passages: • The seven ages of man• Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?• We band of brothers• The green-eyed monster• What's in a name? • Now is the winter of our discontent• If music be the food of love• Beware the ides of March• We are such stuff as dreams are made on• Something is rotten in the state of Denmark• To be, or not to be: that is the question

2) Great Stories Marchette Chute, in the Introduction to her famous retelling of Shakespeare’s stories, summarizes one of the reasons for Shakespeare’s immeasurable fame: William Shakespeare was the most remarkable storyteller that the world has ever known. Homer told of adventure and men at war, Sophocles and Tolstoy told of tragedies and of people in trouble. Terence and Mark Twain told cosmic stories, Dickens told melodramatic ones, Plutarch told histories and Hand Christian Andersen told fairy tales. But Shakespeare told every kind of story – comedy, tragedy, history, melodrama, adventure, love stories and fairy tales – and each of them so well that they have become immortal. In all the world of storytelling he has become the greatest name. (Stories from Shakespeare, 11) Shakespeare's stories transcend time and culture. Modern storytellers continue to adapt Shakespeare’s tales to suit our modern world, whether it be the tale of Lear on a farm in Iowa, Romeo and Juliet on the mean streets of New York City, or Macbeth in feudal Japan.

3) Compelling Characters • Shakespeare invented his share of stock characters, but his truly great characters – particularly his tragic heroes – are unequalled in literature, dwarfing even the sublime creations of the Greek tragedians. Shakespeare’s great characters have remained popular because of their complexity; for example, we can see ourselves as gentle Hamlet, forced against his better nature to seek murderous revenge. For this reason Shakespeare is deeply admired by actors, and many consider playing a Shakespearean character to be the most difficult and most rewarding role possible.

4) Ability to Turn a Phrase • Many of the common expressions now thought to be clichés were Shakespeare's creations. Chances are you use Shakespeare's expressions all the time even though you may not know it is the Bard you are quoting. You may think that fact is "neither here nor there", but that's "the short and the long of it.“ ***See Handout/Assignment***

Shakespeare's Sonnets • Published in 1609 but most were written in the 1590s • 154 sonnets in total and suggest an elusive and mysterious "story“ • Sonnets 1-126 are addressed mainly to a young man of great beauty and promise. The speaker expresses affection and admiration for the young man, urges him to marry and have children, and warns him about the destructive power of time, age, and moral weakness. • Sonnets 78-86 are concerned with a rival poet who has also addressed poems to the young man. • Sonnets 127-154 are addressed to a lady with dark hair, eyes and complexion. Both the speaker and the young man seem to be romantically involved with her.

Sonnets continued… • There is no evidence to connect these sonnets with the facts of Shakespeare's own life though some speculate that they are auto-biographical in nature. • The situations and relationships suggested in the sonnets are a means through which Shakespeare explores universal questions about time and death, about beauty and moral integrity, about love and about poetry itself.

WHAT IS A SONNET??? • A lyric poem that is 14 lines long • Italian (or Petrarchan) sonnets are divided into two quatrains and a six-line sestet with a rhyme scheme of abbaabbacdecde (or cdcdcd) • English (or Shakesperian) sonnets are composed of three quatrains and a final couplet with a rhyme scheme of ababcdcdefefgg • English sonnets are generally written in Iambic Pentameter

Sonnet 18 - Background • Sonnet 18 is the best known and most well-loved of all 154 sonnets. It is also one of the most straightforward in language and intent. The stability of love and its power to immortalize the poetry and the subject of that poetry is the theme. • The poet starts the praise of his dear friend without showiness, but he slowly builds the image of his friend into that of a perfect being. His friend is first compared to summer in the octave, but, at the start of the third quatrain, he is summer, and thus, he has metamorphosed into the standard by which true beauty can and should be judged.

Sonnet 18 - Background • The poet's only answer to such profound joy and beauty is to ensure that his friend be forever in human memory, saved from the oblivion that accompanies death. He achieves this through his verse, believing that, as history writes itself, his friend will become one with time. The final couplet reaffirms the poet's hope that as long as there is breath in mankind, his poetry too will live on, and ensure the immortality of his muse.

Sonnet 18 Questions 1. How does Shakespeare use language and metaphor to present the young man’s beauty in Sonnet 18? 2. What question does the poetic speaker ask himself in the opening lines of this sonnet? What does he ultimately decide about whether or not this comparison is a good one? 3. What are some of the problems with a summer's day that the poet discusses in the first eight lines? What does the poet mean when he says, "But thy eternal summer shall not fade"? 4. The poet also promises, "Nor shall death brag thou wander'st in his shade." Does this seem possible or plausible as a promise? 5. The last two lines, however, limit the promise to "So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see, / So long lives this, and this gives life to thee." What does the "this" refer to? How does "this" continue to give this young man/woman life--even four hundred years after Shakespeare wrote the poem?

Sonnet 29 - Background • Sonnet 29 shows the poet at his most insecure and troubled. He feels unlucky, shamed, and fiercely jealous of those around him. What causes the poet's anguish will remain a mystery; as will the answer to whether the sonnets are autobiographical. • However, an examination of Shakespeare’s life around the time he wrote Sonnet 29 reveals two traumatic events that may have shaped the theme of the sonnet.

Sonnet 29 - Background • In 1592 the London theatres closed due to a severe outbreak of plague. Although it is possible that Shakespeare toured the outlying areas of London, it is almost certain that he left the theatre entirely during this time to work on his sonnets and narrative poems. The closing of the playhouses made it hard for Shakespeare and other actors of the day to earn a living. With plague and poverty looming it is expected that he would feel "in disgrace with fortune" (1). • Moreover, in 1592 there came a scathing attack on Shakespeare by dramatist Robert Greene, who, in a deathbed diary, warned three of his fellow university-educated playwrights: "There is an upstart Crow, beautified with our feathers, that with his Tygers heart wrapt in a Players hide, supposes he is as well able to bombast out a blanke verse as the best of you; and, beeing an absolute Johannes fac totum, is in his owne conceit the onely Shake-scene in a countrey."

Sonnet 29 Questions 1. In Sonnet 29, what two moods are contrasted? 2. What kind of men does the speaker say he envies? 3. What causes his change of mood in the last few lines of the poem? 4. Judging from the reference in lines 11-12, what would you say the lark symbolizes?

The 7 Ages of Man 1. What, according to Shakespeare, are the acts in a man’s life? 2. What is Shakespeare’s concept of life? 3. Lines 152-153: a) Name the stage in man’s life. b) What is the figure of speech in the first line? c) Why does the lover sigh? 4. Lines 155-157: a) Who is referred to here? b) What are the distinguishing features of the soldier?

The 7 Ages of Man 5. Lines 165 – 166: a) In which act is the man playing this part? b) What features of old age are mentioned here? 6. Lines 143-147: a) What poetic device is used in these lines? b) To what in man’s life does the poet compare the exits and entrances of the stage to? c) Explain the phrase “one man in his time.” 7. Lines 149-151: a) Which stage of human life is described in these lines? b) What are the words or phrases which indicate that the boy is not willing to go to school?

The 7 Ages of Man 8. Lines 154 – 157: a) Which stage of human life is described in the above lines? What are the main characteristics of this stage? b) What is the “bubble reputation” and how is it linked with the cannon’s mouth? 9. Lines 157-161: a) How does a man look in this stage of life? b) What does he do to show his wisdom? Why? 10. How is the last stage of a man’s life described?

The Poets and the Poems