Seventeenth Century Poetry

British Literature

John Donne

Poet #1

How to Read a Poem (Six Steps):

Read poem aloud.Listen to sounds and rhythm.Sounds of words and rhythm create moods or feelings.How does the rhythm and sounds of the words affect you?

What is the poem saying?What questions come to mind as you read?Why does the writer include certain words and details?Write them down; look for answers.

What images or word pictures are created?How are they created?Let your imagination see the picture in your mind. Imagine the sights, smells, tastes, textures, and sounds.

Bring prior experience and knowledge to the poem.What images and feelings are familiar to you?What images and feelings are new to you?

Put the poem into your own words.How would you sum up the poem in its entirety?Caution: Don’t let it lose its meaning.

Think about how the poem made you feel.What thoughts were you forced to think about?What does the poem say to you? What wisdom did it lend?

Day #1 Poetry Terms: Poetry- a type of literature in which words are

chosen and arranged to create a certain effect. Poets use a variety of sound devices, imagery, and figurative language to express emotions and ideas.

Imagery- descriptive words or phrases that appeal to the five senses (sight, smell, taste, touch, hear) and recreate sensory experiences for the reader.

Stanza- grouping of two or more lines in a pattern that is repeated.

Day #1 Poetry Terms (cont.): Speaker - the voice in the poem

Subject - what the poem is about

Theme - the life lesson of the poem

Tone - the writer’s attitude toward the subject

Diction - the poet’s choice of words

Poet #1: John Donne As youth, wild and young. As adult, sober and

Dean of St. Paul’s Cathedral, reputation as greatest preacher of the day.

Poetry has irregular rhythms, unusual images and metaphors.

Metaphysical poetry – poetry characterized by intellectual displays and concern with philosophical issues.

Uses conceits (extended comparisons that link objects and ideas not commonly associated) and paradoxes (images or descriptions that appear self-contradictory but reveal a deeper truth).

Death, be not proud, though some have called thee Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so ;

For those, whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow, Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.

From rest and sleep, which but thy picture[s] be, Much pleasure, then from thee much more must flow,

And soonest our best men with thee do go, Rest of their bones, and soul's delivery.

Thou'rt slave to Fate, chance, kings, and desperate men, And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell,

And poppy, or charms can make us sleep as well, And better than thy stroke ;  why swell'st thou then ?

One short sleep past, we wake eternally, And Death shall be no more ;  Death, thou shalt die.

Holy Sonnet 10 – John Donne

George Herbert

Poet #2

Day #2 Poetry Terms: Sound Devices - (Sound Effects) the use of words forway

they sound. Ex. alliteration, assonance, onomatopoeia, rhyme, and

repetition.

Alliteration - the repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words; appear close together in a poem. Ex. “breeze blew”

Assonance - the repetition of vowel sounds in words that do not rhyme; end in different consonant sounds. Ex. “seal and meet”

Onomatopoeia - words whose meaning imitate their sound. Ex. “buzz, zoom, bang”

Day #2 Poetry Terms (cont.): Rhyme - the repetition of same/similar word-ending

sounds that appear close together in a poem. End rhyme – rhyme at the end of lines Internal rhyme – rhyme inside a line of poetry

Ex. “I bring fresh showers to the fields and flowers” Exact rhyme – rhyme that is exactly the same

Ex. king, ring, biking, sting Slant rhyme – rhyme that is not exact, but close

Ex. again, rain

Repetition - the repeating of words, sounds, phrases, or lines for effect.

Rhyme Scheme – the pattern of end rhyme in a poem.

Poet #2: George Herbert Influenced by John Donne. Uses paradoxes

and conceits. Sought obscurity and lived as a parson of

a small church. Poems are devotional verse. Lyric poems

(poetry with a single subject and single speaker) are devoted to religion.

Experimented with format and acrostic poems. Shape reflects content.

Poet #2 Tasks: Read “Easter Wings” (slide)

Answer the following questions:1. What is the subject of the poem?2. What is the theme?3. What does Herbert say about man’s treatment of God’s gifts?4. What was the punishment for this?5. How may the speaker renew man’s faults?6. What does the poem’s shape stress?7. What is the symbolism in the title?8. How many stanzas make up the poem?9. Assign a rhyme scheme to the poem (to the right).10. Line 9 contains assonance. What two words comprise it?11. Line 10 contains alliteration. What words comprise it?12. Find another example of alliteration. In what line does it

occur?

“Easter Wings”- George Herbert

Lord, who createdst man in wealth and store,   Though foolishly he lost the same,      Decaying more and more,   Till he became    5 Most poore:    With thee Oh let me rise As larks, harmoniously, And sing this day thy victories: 10 Then shall the fall further the flight in me.

My  tender  age  in  sorrow   did   beginne: And still with sicknesses and shame Thou  didst  so  punish  sinne, That  I  became 15 Most thinne.   With  thee Let me combine And feel this day thy victorie: For,  if  I  imp  my  wing  on  thine 20 Affliction shall  advance the  flight in  me.

Ben Jonson

Poet #3

Day #3 Poetry Terms: Figurative Language - language that

communicates ideas beyond the ordinary, literal meanings of words. Figures of speech include personification, hyperbole, simile, metaphor, and symbolism.

Simile - a comparison between two or more things using a comparative word such as like, as, or than.

Metaphor - a comparison between two or more things that does not use a comparative word. Says one thing is another.

Day #3 Poetry Terms (cont.): Symbolism – words that stand for a greater meaning.

Personification – giving human qualities to something nonhuman.

Hyperbole - a conscious exaggeration used for effect.

Paradox – a statement that appears to be contradictory, but is actually true.

Poet #3: Ben Jonson Classical scholar and veteran soldier Leader of Neoclassicism (revival of style and

attitude of Roman poets & classical literature). Tribe of Ben – Sons of Ben – poets that acted as

followers (Herrick and Suckling) 1616 – Poet Laureate (poet of the nation) Subtle rival of Shakespeare as a dramatist –

wrote tribute to Shakespeare after his death Used epigrams in poetry (a short poem with short

lines, bouncy rhythms, paradoxical twists, parallel phrases or clauses).

Poet #3 Tasks: “On My First Son” (p451)

CR? 1-5 (p451)

“Still to Be Neat” (p453) CR? 1-4 (p453)

“Song: To Celia” (p454)

CR? 1-4 (p454) and LA? 3, 5, 7 (p455)

Marvell, Herrick, Suckling

Poets 4,5, & 6(Tribe of Ben)

Day #4 Poetry Terms: Lyric Poetry - short poem that expresses a personal

thought or feeling through a single speaker.

Meter - the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables; creates rhythm.

Irony- the difference between appearance and reality.

Speaker’s attitude (tone) – the speaker’s feelings regarding the subject or audience. Consider the word connotations and the image connotations.

Carpe diem (theme) – Latin for “seize the day.” Time is fleeting; make the most of life while you can.

Poets #4-6 (Tribe of Ben): Marvell, Herrick, Suckling Marvell – son of a Puritan minister;

follower of Donne and Jonson; satirist and poet.

Herrick – served as a chaplain in a parish; wrote religious verse and musical love poems.

Suckling – courtier and gentleman; wrote plays and poetry; clever and witty.

Poet #4-6 Tasks: “To His Coy Mistress” (p461)

CR? 1-6 (p462)

“To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time” (p463) CR? 1-4 (p463)

“Song” (p465)

CR? 1-5 (p465)