Puritan Age (1600-1660) PDF

Introduction to Poetry / Handout 6 5 THE PURITAN AGE (1600-1660) Puritanism was a 17th century religious movement which fought to remove the remnants of the Catholic Church from the Church of England. Religion was the central focus of Puritan life. The movement began as a way to reform the Church...

Introduction to Poetry / Handout 6 5 THE PURITAN AGE (1600-1660) Puritanism was a 17th century religious movement which fought to remove the remnants of the Catholic Church from the Church of England. Religion was the central focus of Puritan life. The movement began as a way to reform the Church of England, and its practitioners believed in creating a covenant with God and being humble. Their communities were governed by religious doctrine, a concept which clashed with the emerging modernity of science and reason. For example, during the Salem Witch Trials, a famous Puritan and author named Cotton Mather urged the court to not simply accept hearsay as evidence for the charge of witchcraft and instead rely on hard evidence. The puritan movement stood for liberty of the people as well as the introduction of morality and high ideals in politics.Thus it had two objects personal righteousness ,civil and religious liberty.In other words it aimed of making men honest and free. Puritan literature is the result of this movement and lifestyle. Much of it is in the form of letters and journals written by Puritans regarding their experiences. Puritan writing is primarily made up of sermons, poetry, and historical narratives, but Puritan writers created very little fiction. Much like their lifestyles, Puritans used simple, straightforward sentences when writing. The puritan movement in literature may be considered the second and greater Renaissance marked by the rebirth of the moral nature of man. This was the age of new ideas, analysis, and observation in which the spirit of such things has been promoted. They fought for the liberty of the people, and the Civil war between the Kings and parliament started these days which were due to many tyrannical rules the kings. Finally, in the year 1649 Charles-I was beheaded finishing his tyrannical reign and Cromwell established government. Poetry in the Puritan Age: The puritan poetry can be divided into three parts (1) poetry of School of Spencer (2)poetry of the Metaphysical school, (3) poetry of the Cavalier poet. School of Spencer: The Spenserians were the followers of Edmund Spencer who changed a lot in poetry and revolted against Italian poetry during the 16th century. Phines Fletcher(1582-1648) and Giles Fletcher (1583-1623) are the most important poets of this school. Phineas Fletcher wrote a number of Spencerian pastorals and allegories. His most important work is the poem " The purple Island". It is an allegorical poem and follows the allegorical pattern of the “Faerie Queen” written by Spenser. The Cavalier Poetry The cavalier poets sympathized with the king. Some of them went into exile with the king and the other stayed home in England. Some of them wrote elegant verse, more light than serious, so that the term ‘cavalier poetry’ came to refer to a kind of light lyric, often advocating a Carpe diem (seize the day) attitude. To “seize the day” means to disregard the future. Some cavalier poets were also men of strong religious faith, who neither wrote religious epics nor holy sonnets. The most important poets of this school are Lovelace, Suckling and Walter Denham. The 17th century poet, Andrew Marvell managed a blend of metaphysical and cavalier attitudes and techniques so neat and elegant that he has been classified under both headings. The cavalier poets are great lovers of nature. They observe nature minutely and describe it with feelings. Concrete, visual images drawn from the homelier and simpler objects and forces of nature abound in their lyrics. JOHN MILTON (1608-1674) The poet of the age was John Milton (1608-1674) who wrote remarkable poems during this age. He was the greatest poet of the Puritan age and wrote mostly about his personality and religious poetry. His famous work is ‘Paradise Lost’, religious poetry which was written when he was blind is with the highlights of his life matters. Through his earlier poems we can trace the steady growth of the religious element in Milton’s mind. Milton used the learning and the art of the Renaissance for the expression of a Puritan philosophy of life. Milton was against King Charles-I and fought for liberty with Cromwell. After these events and incidents he wrote ‘Paradise Lost’ which is all about Man's ways to God and about Paradise and Hell, ‘Paradise Regained’ is discussion poetry with the central figure of Christ. ‘Samson Agonistes’ is highlighting his life with a blind hero. Milton, though a Puritan, was a classicist and humanist. He delighted in everything that pleased his eyes, and was a passionate lover of beauty. He did not share the Puritan contempt for the theatre, his interests were wide, and he had no desire to shun responsibility by running away from life. Nevertheless, he possessed all the moral earnestness and the religious spirut of the puritan. Paradise Lost Paradise Lost is an epic poem (12 books, more than 10,500 lines) It is an epic narrative poem from the Bible’s creation story. Its major theme is disobedience of man, the wrath of God and man’s ultimate redemption. It was first published in 1667. The poem speaks about the time when Satan was thrown out heaven along with a band of angles. It also illustrates his pride and stubborn stance of Lucifer. Instead of repenting he prefers ruling in hell. This poem is about the first disobedience which brought evil in the world. Themes: Revenge, pride, and rejection of God’s laws are some notable themes of this poem. Throughout the poem, the speaker narrates how Satan’s jealousy and pride become the reason of his destruction. Due to his pride, he was thrown out of heaven. Instead of seeking repentance, he begins to rule in hell. He considers himself all-powerful. Therefore, he encourages his fellow fallen angels to fight against God. Encouraged by the speeches of their leader, the rebel angles construct a grand tower for their official meetings. This activity shows that they will never seek repentance. Form: In form it follows the strict unity of the classical epic written in blank verse, or unrhymed iambic pentameter. In theme it deals with the fall of man; but by means of introduced narratives it covers the rebellion of Satan in Heaven, the celestial warfare, and the expulsion of rebels. An epic, according to the classical tradition, must contain three elements of greatness, that is, great action, great hero and great style. These three conditions are fulfilled in the Paradise Lost. No great action than the fall of man is inconceivable. Again, no hero can be greater than the First man created by God in His own image. And lastly, the style of Paradise Lost has all the grandeur and greatness which the epic demands. Paradise Lost has perfect unity of action like the great classical epics of Homer and Virgil. Everything in the poem either leads up to or follows from the main theme, that is, the fall of man. The plucking of the fruit of the tree of knowledge by Eve is the apex of the whole architecture of Paradise Lost. The war between God and Satan, followed by his fall, is only the prelude to the main action. Satan, defeated and punished sought to take revenge on God by bringing about the fall of man. Hence, the fall of Satan does not constitute a separate action. The whole action of Paradise Lost is single and compact. Literary Elements: - Tone : Tragic, predetermined, desperate - Setting: Eden/Paradise, Heaven, Hell - Conflict: External - Climax: The climax of Paradise Lost occurs in Book IX, when Satan leads Eve to the Tree of Knowledge. He appeals to her vanity, complimenting her for her beauty and eventually convinces her to eat the forbidden fruit. This action sets in motion the beginning of the Fall, as Eve convinces Adam to join her and the two are eventually overcome with shame and expelled from Eden. Literary Devices: - Enjambment: It is defined as a thought in verse that does not come to an end at a line break; instead, it continues in the next verse. For example when he compares the fallen angels in the Hall of Pandemonium in Hell to the fairies who bewitch a passing peasant with the sound of their music and dancing: “Or dreams he sees, while over-head the Moon Sits Arbitress, and neerer to the Earth Wheels her pale course, they on thir mirth and dance Intent, with jocond Music charm his ear; At once with joy and fear his heart rebounds.” - Consonance: is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same lines such as the sound of /t/ in “And summons read, the great consult began”, the sound of /d/ in “A thousand Demy-Gods on golden seat’s” and the sound of /s/ in “In dim Eclips disastrous twilight sheds” - Assonance: is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line such as the sound of /o/ in “The force of those dire Arms? yet not for those” and the sound of /a/ in “What reinforcement we may gain from Hope”. - Alliteration: is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line in quick succession such as the sound of /m/ in “Could merit more then that small infantry” and the sound of /h/ in “Far round illumin’d hell: highly they rag’d” and the sound /d/ “That durst dislike his reign, and me preferring”. - Symbolism: The Fruit of Forbidden Tree symbolizes pleasure and the field symbolizes heaven. “OF Mans First Disobedience, and the Fruit Of that Forbidden Tree, whose mortal tast Brought Death into the World, and all our woe.” - Oxymoron: It is a figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear together. For example, in the below lines ‘dark and illumin (light) and ‘low to raise contradict each other, “And mad’st it pregnant: What in me is dark Illumin, what is low raise and support.” - Foreshadowing: Eve's dream that she shares with Adam foreshadows their eventual fall into temptation. Eve dreams, through the manipulation of Satan, that a voice leads her to the Tree of Knowledge. This dream predicts the events of Book IX and the fall of man. - Understatement: The most notable example of understatement in Paradise Lost occurs in Book IX, when Eve eats from the Tree of Knowledge. The narrator says, "she plucked, she ate" (9.781). The simplicity of this statement compared to the enormity of its consequences showcases how easy it is for man to be led astray into sin. - Metonymy: Milton uses metonymy most frequently when presenting Satan's perspective. In Book I, for example, Satan says, "I laugh, when those who at the Spear are bold / And vent'rous, if that fail them, shrink and fear / What yet they know must follow, to endure / Exile, or ignominy, or bonds, or pain" (1.204-207). Here, Satan uses the term "spear" to denote any military or martial actor, meaning that its funny that fighters can be so brave, yet they act surprised when they have to suffer consequences of losing a battle.  Intro. to Poetry / Handout 5 Metaphysical poets A group of 17th-century poets whose works are marked by philosophical exploration, colloquial diction, conceits, irony, and metrically flexible lines. Topics of interest often included love, religion, and morality, which the metaphysical poets considered through unusual comparisons, frequently employing unexpected similes and metaphors in displays of wit. The inclusion of contemporary scientific advancements were also typical. The most well known poet who wrote metaphysical poetry was John Donne , along with George Herbert, Andrew Marvell, Abraham Cowley, Richard Crashaw, and Henry Vaughan. Characteristics of Metaphysical Poetry: Applications on Donne’s Poems Questions ‘The Good Morrow’ demonstrates the richness of questioning in Donne’s work. Here the poem opens in the middle of the action, as we witness a direct conversation ‘pillow talk’ between partners. The speaker boldly asks: I wonder by my troth, what thou and I Did, till we loved. Were we not wean'd till then? But sucked on country pleasures, childishly? Or snorted we in the ’seven sleepers' den? The many questions asked and the nature of them made ‘childishly’ excited by the power of love. The quickness of the first line and caesura in the second work together to emphasize the persona’s doubt at his good fortune. Perhaps more than this, these opening phrases trace a realization about a wasted, worthless past and a transformed present and future. Rather than signaling uncertainty as we might expect interrogatives to do, these phrases are more like assertions. They mark an epiphany, the speaker’s sudden awareness of his and his lover’s changed state. As for the questioning in 'The Canonization': Alas, alas, who's injured by my love? What merchant's ships have my sighs drowned? Who says my tears have overflowed his ground? These questions loudly defend the lovers’ rights against powerful external pressures. Interestingly, the speaker’s images here refer to ideas of voyaging and territorial enlargement. Such motifs of mapping recur throughout Donne’s poetry and reflect the metaphysical interest in the geographical advances and discoveries of the day. Imperatives In 'The Sun Rising' :... go chide Late schoolboys and sour prentices, Go tell court-huntsmen that the King will ride, Call country ants to harvest offices; The sun is made to limit its control to only public places and stay away from private rooms. Imperatives are used to remind ‘the sun’ that the intimate space of the bedroom is not ‘his’ rightful domain. Also in theses lines: For God's sake hold your tongue, and let me love, Or chide my palsy, or my gout, My five gray hairs, or ruined fortune flout, With wealth your state, your mind with arts improve, Take you a course, get you a place, Observe his honour, or his grace, Or the King's real, or his stamped face Contemplate, what you will, approve, So you will let me love. Reflecting the more rebellious tone of some metaphysical poetry, imperatives here serve to reduce the importance of any work done through the day as boring and less significant than the sacred business of loving. Clear Simplicity : Though his themes and ideologies are often complex, Donne’s personae sometimes rejects the more flowery phrasing used by the Elizabethan poets before and prefers a plainer style. Couplets in 'The Anniversary' refer to a year after first meeting his mistress, the speaker assesses their relationship and believes:  All other things to their destruction draw, Only our love hath no decay; The largely monosyllabic diction, the generalizing approach evident in the opening term ‘all’ and the metrical neatness combine to create a clear statement about the endurance of love; one that requires little linguistic ornamentation. The phrase’s minimalism makes it irrefutably conclusive, like some of the constructions in 'The Sun Rising': She's all states, and all princes I, Nothing else is. The simple clear quality of the writing gives a conversational directness – the feeling of a voice emboldened by love to speak confidently and clearly – and results in lines that are immensely quotable. Conceit From the Latin term for “concept,” a poetic conceit is an often unconventional, logically complex, or surprising metaphor whose delights are more intellectual than sensual. John Donne and other metaphysical poets used conceits to fuse the sensory/concrete and the abstract, trading on the element of surprise and unlikeness to hold the reader’s attention. In “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning,” for instance, John Donne envisions two entwined lovers as the points of a compass. The poem’s speaker offers his companion consolation as the two embark on a long period of separation. In order to do this, he calls on a whole host of metaphors and images – the weather, natural disasters, astrological happenings, metallurgy – to describe the durability of their love. There is great compassion in this act: movingly, the speaker is determined to experiment with a whole range of comparisons to find the best one to soothe his partner’s anxieties. In the final three quatrains the speaker alights on his most touching and effective analogy: If they be two, they are two so As stiff twin compasses are two; Thy soul, the fixed foot, makes no show To move, but doth, if th’ other do. And though it in the centre sit, Yet when the other far doth roam, It leans, and hearkens after it, And grows erect, as that comes home. Such wilt thou be to me, who must, Like th' other foot, obliquely run. Thy firmness makes my circle just, And makes me end where I begun. With great elegance, an ordinary mathematical compass is refashioned in Donne’s hands. It becomes a poignant reflection of romantic togetherness and individuality; a beautiful meditation on the balance and strength that we often find underpinning the healthiest and most long lasting of relationships. The compass is here made with its two arms dancing: where both partners respond to and support one another intuitively. In 'The Bait' he uses a series of images from the world of fishing to explore the predatory nature of many romantic encounters. Using these images, the speaker characterizes his beloved as irresistibly alluring, a woman who possesses temptations much more subtle than the fisherman’s crude forms of entrapment: ‘angling reeds, …strangling snare, or windowy net … sleave-silk flies’. All beings – particularly the speaker – are hopelessly drawn towards and fall in the trap. This extended metaphor does more than flatter and praise. It is also a comment on the poet’s words themselves. In the same way that the speaker describes how ‘poor fish’ are inexorably pulled to the beloved, the text is also an attempt to entice the addressee to ‘live with [him] and be [his] love’. The poem is, in itself, a kind of ‘bait’, a collection of ‘silken lines, and silver hooks’ designed to attract the addressee. 'The Flea' uses a conceit as a means of flirtation – and sexual coercion – too. Mark but this flea, and mark in this, How little that which thou deny’st me is; It sucked me first, and now sucks thee, And in this flea our two bloods mingled be; Thou know’st that this cannot be said A sin, nor shame, nor loss of maidenhead; The flea metaphor represents denied sensual pleasure; its tiny scale reflects the insignificance of the woman’s chastity. Its body – containing the blood of speaker and mistress – symbolizes the union between the couple. Here is part of the magic of metaphors and one of the reasons they perhaps appealed to the intellectually curious metaphysical poets: metaphors enable readers to see how one image can be stretched to accommodate a range of meanings and associations. They show the thrilling possibilities of language put to poetic use. ************************  Introduction to Poetry/ Handout 7 Literary Characteristics of the Augustan Age (The Age of Pope) The Predominance of Prose The 18th century was essentially an age of prose and reason. It was so dominant the form that even the poetry of this period had the qualities of prose. Since the poetry and prose of this age were characterized by brevity, neatness, condensation and elegance, this age has been considered as the Age of Prose. The Age of Reason and Good Sense The supremacy of the reason was well established and a general belief in the advancement of human mind was upheld. It is called the Age of Pope because Pope was the representative poet of this period. The general outlook was rational and critical. The poets of this age repressed all emotions and enthusiasm. Wit took precedence of imagination. Inspiration was lost in technical skill. “Formality”, Correctness” and Elegance of Expression” had the upper hand as compared to simplicity, emotionalism and enthusiasm. In fact, the whole literature was marked by coldness and want of feelings. The Age of Pope Followed Nature One important characteristics of the age was the belief that literature must follow nature. Pope was a great advocate of it but this nature was not the „nature‟ of Wordsworth. It was, in fact human nature. The aim of the writers was to copy man and manners and not to describe flowers and the change of seasons. The literature of the period was concerned with the exhibition of views of society. Precisely, it aimed to interpret the society The Age of Satire Satire is the use of humor, irony, and exaggeration to expose and criticize people‟s stupidity or vices, especially in the context of politics or other topical issues. This period saw an immense growth in the field of satire and was known as an important form of prose. The love for satire came to the surface and the cold worldliness of Augustan life found its expression in polished wit and satire. Heroic Couplet and the Poetic Diction as Tools of the Writers A heroic couplet is a pair of rhyming lines that is present in a heroic poem or that relays themes of heroism within a larger poem. Heroic couplets generally consist of two lines written in iambic pentameter, though some poets chose to vary the meter, perhaps using blank verse. The writers of this age were against anything romantic. The language of the poetry became artificial, stilled, rational and intellectual. The major literary figures of the age are Defoe, Jonathan Swift, Pope, Henry Fielding, Smollett and Lawrence Sterne. The Dunciad by Alexaner Pope 'The Dunciad' is a poem written by Alexander Pope that was published in various forms from 1728 to 1743. The Dunciad is a mock-heroic satire in which Alexander Pope attacked various figures in the literary world of his time—and by extension, the widespread decline in intellectual and moral values he believed to be occurring in Great Britain and the wider European world. He expressed his frustration over the changing times back then in England, one invention of which he disagreed was the printing press. The Dunciad is written in heroic couplet, meaning every two lines rhyme (the 'couplet') and every line has ten syllables. This style is often used for narratives that have an epic scope. The poem has four books, the first three being published in 1728, and the fourth in 1743. The books are loosely connected, each taking place in a different setting, with little narrative cohesion from one to the next. Pope used the heroic couplet because he was an absolute purist when it came to art; he wasn't interested in breaking from those who had come before him. His style was heavily indebted to the poetry of ancient Greece and Rome, and his writing overflows with references to these cultures. This brings us back to the printing press, which was one of the greatest dangers he saw to this tradition - and to a well-educated gentleman like himself. The printing press ushered in a situation not unlike what we see today with the Internet. Art was supposed to be for the elites, not the masses. The Dunciad is primarily a satire of hack artists - those who wrote anything for money and who possessed not a scrap of artistic integrity. This was a world that Pope felt was being taken over by unoriginal, boring, and unimportant work meant for the masses by writers, poets, and critics. Pope achieves his purpose to demonstrate through satire the quite serious effects of shallow thinking on all aspects of culture. Dulness While The Dunciad doesn‟t have a typical protagonist, the goddess Dulness is the work‟s driving force. She directs and instigates all the action. She seems to be all-powerful, able to command and influence countless minions, arrest the progress of wisdom and knowledge around the world, and transport large numbers of people across great distances instantaneously, among many other abilities: “Time itself stands still at her command” (1: 71). Her chief desire is to return the earth to its prehistoric state of ignorance and baseness, a world completely under her control. To this end, she engages the services of the dullest, crudest, and least scrupulous members of English society. The foolish and the boring aid her cause equally. She showers praise and gifts upon those whose works speed up the decay of intellectual standards on earth. Pope gives us a description of Dulness as an immortal anarchic Goddess exerting control over the minds of writers, artists, and intellectuals. Pope also provides a series of names of writers who serve Dulness, mocking and criticizing the works by authors like Cervantes, Swift, and Rabelais. She is looking for a new successor to be her right-hand, her King, to help her bring about true chaos and darkness in Britain. The answer to her search is a poet named Bayes, who seems doubtful of his service to Dulness, unsure if he is pleasing her. Mock-Heroic Satire The Dunciad is a mock-heroic satire, meaning it subverts all the elements traditionally associated with a heroic epic. Instead of being brave and adventurous, the protagonist is cowardly and lazy. The gifts and skills that are normally bestowed upon an epic hero are instead things like chamber pots and worthless pamphlets. Where an epic might tell a timeless tale that connects with the reader‟s humanity, uplifting the soul and highlighting the best qualities of its characters, The Dunciad ridicules its characters and points out their worst flaws. The structure remains the same, but everything else is a fun-house mirror reflection of the classical hero tale. Speaker or Narrator, and Point of View “The Dunciad” was written by Alexander Pope. The speaker is an omniscient third-person voice. In the first three books, the speaker's voice shifts from one which praises Dulness, Jove, and Fate, and is free to relate the events of the poem. These three figures establish three keys to Pope's work: the first being the mythological representation of England's intellectual culture and values ruled over by Dulness, the second being the classical allusions and poetic structure of ancient Greece and Rome that Pope replicates, and the third being Fate, which becomes a major theme within the work, forcing the reader to question whether anything might now be done about the spread of Dulness. In Book IV, the voice shifts, and the speaker pleads to be allowed to speak—signaling a shift in the power of Chaos and Dulness. Form and Meter This poem is a mock-heroic poem, satirically depicting the transformation and ascension of the banal "hero" Bayes into Cibber, the King of Dulness. Rhyming couplets largely utilizing iambic pentameter allow Pope to satirize the contemporary age, drawing the reader directly into the kingdom of Dulness' predictable rhythm. Metaphors and Similes This poem is full of metaphors that operate on many different scales. The epic metaphor running through the entirety of the poem, which indeed functions as an overarching allegory, depicts the current community and practice of writing in England as a kingdom ruled over by the personified goddess "Dulness." Most of the metaphors and similes used in the poem are meant to add to the hyperbole within Pope's work, increasing its ridiculousness. For example, Curll is described as "Wide as a windmill" (ln. 66) in Book II during his race, and the phantom poet he is chasing has skin likened to "a dun nightgown" (ln. 38), meant to exaggerate his ephemerality. Other similes and metaphors are meant to create a sense of Dulness' sway, control, and following, and often are meant to create disturbing images for the reader, like when Dulness is repeatedly compared to a queen bee surrounded by her buzzing hive. Other metaphors and similes serve to depict abstract concepts about topics like learning and dullness. In Book IV, for example, we are told about the "door of learning," which under Dulness is never allowed to "stand too wide" (ln. 153-154). These metaphors are often meant to heighten the disturbing and unnatural quality of this world, and thus more apparently threatening, the abstract concepts so critical to Pope's message. Irony This poem is a satire, which is defined as the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues. In essence, Pope's entire work is ironic, written in a voice praising Dulness while in reality using other literary devices like hyperbole, and allegory to convey to the reader that what is being said is not in fact what the author intends us to think, also called verbal irony. There are some moments of pure irony within the text, like when Pope writes that Dulness "Then raptures high the seat of Sense o'erflow, / Which only heads refin'd from Reason know" (III, 5-6). Pope in this poem strives to overflow the senses for the reader, providing a host of sensory depictions, including sights, sounds, and textures. This suggestion that somehow those with reason cannot create or experience the sensory overload is deeply ironic. Protagonist and Antagonist As it is a mock-heroic poem, the supposed hero or protagonist is, in reality, the antagonist. Here, Theobald (the "hero") is the antagonist as he becomes the new king of dullness. Major Conflict The major conflict centers around Britain's entrance into a new era of Dulness and the struggle between Order and Chaos for control of Britain's intellectual and cultural life. The central conflict of the first three books is to select, and prepare the new King for the world Dulness has chosen him to help create. By the fourth book, we are simply told of Chaos' victory and offered no immediately opposing force, revealing the hopelessness of the situation. *******************  Intro. to Poetry / Handout 4 The Long Love that in my Thought doth Harbour BY SIR THOMAS WYATT The long love that in my thought doth harbour And in mine hert doth keep his residence, Into my face presseth with bold pretence And therein campeth, spreading his banner. She that me learneth to love and suffer And will that my trust and lustës negligence Be rayned by reason, shame, and reverence, With his hardiness taketh displeasure. Wherewithall unto the hert's forest he fleeth, Leaving his enterprise with pain and cry, And there him hideth and not appeareth. What may I do when my master feareth But in the field with him to live and die? For good is the life ending faithfully. Poetic genre: Translation of a Petrarchan sonnet, from Italian into English. It is an Italian sonnet since it follows the structure octave (abba abba) + sestet (cdc cdc). The change from a rhyme group to the following one implies a change in the subject matter. The rhyme scheme of this poem is_________________________. Title The title of the poem, "The Long Love That in My Thought Doth Harbour," sets the tone for the rest of the piece. It is clear that the speaker is in love and has been for a long time. The use of the word "harbour" suggests that the love is a safe and secure place, where the speaker can rest and find refuge Themes The themes explored in "The Long Love That in My Thought Doth Harbour" are timeless and universal. The poem deals with the nature of love, its power to endure, and the pain that can be caused by unrequited feelings. One of the most significant themes in the poem is the idea of the idealized, unattainable love. The speaker's love is portrayed as pure and perfect, existing only in their thoughts and imagination. This idealized love is contrasted with the reality of the situation, as the speaker acknowledges that their feelings may never be reciprocated. Another theme that is explored in the poem is the idea of the power of memory. The speaker's love is described as "long," suggesting that it has been present for a significant amount of time. The use of the word "thought" also emphasizes the importance of memory in the speaker's love, as it exists primarily in their mind. The first line of the poem, "The long love that in my thought doth harbour," sets the tone for the rest of the poem. The speaker is expressing his deep and enduring love for someone who is not present. The word "long" suggests that this love has been present for a long time and has not diminished over time. The second line, "And in mine heart doth keep his residence," reinforces the idea that this love is a constant presence in the speaker's life. The use of the word "residence" suggests that this love has taken up permanent residence in the speaker's heart. The third and fourth lines, "Into my face presseth with bold pretence, / And therein campeth, spreading his banner," suggest that this love is not just a feeling but a physical presence. The speaker feels the presence of this love in his face, and it spreads like a banner, indicating that it is a powerful force. The fifth and sixth lines, "She that me learns to love and to suffer, / And will that my trust and lust's negligence," introduce the object of the speaker's love. The speaker is addressing a woman who has taught him how to love and suffer. The use of the words "trust and lust" suggests that the speaker's love is not just a physical attraction but a deeper emotional connection. The seventh and eighth lines, "Be rayned by reason, shame, and reverence, / With his hardiness taketh displeasure," suggest that the speaker's love is not without its challenges. The speaker acknowledges that reason, shame, and reverence should reign over his emotions, but his love is too strong to be controlled. The use of the word "hardiness" suggests that the speaker's love is a strong and powerful force that cannot be easily tamed. The ninth and tenth lines, "Wherewithall unto the heart's forest he fleeth, / Leaving his enterprise with pain and cry," suggest that the speaker's love is a journey. The heart's forest is a metaphor for the speaker's emotions, and the love that he feels is like a journey through this forest. The use of the words "pain and cry" suggests that this journey is not without its difficulties. The eleventh and twelfth lines, "And there him hideth, and not appeareth, / What may I do when my master feareth," suggest that the speaker's love is not always visible. The love that he feels is sometimes hidden, and the speaker is left wondering what to do when his master, or his emotions, are afraid. The final two lines of the poem, "But in the field with him is none equal, / From me in him is no more life nor breath," suggest that the speaker's love is unique and unparalleled. The love that he feels is so strong that it has become a part of him, and he cannot imagine life without it. Language and Imagery Wyatt's use of language and imagery is one of the most striking features of the poem. He employs a range of literary devices, including simile, metaphor, and personification, to create a vivid and evocative picture of the speaker's love. In the first line, the speaker describes their love as "long," suggesting that it has been present for a significant amount of time. The word "love" is repeated several times throughout the poem, emphasizing its importance and centrality to the speaker's life. The use of the word "thought" in the second line is significant, as it suggests that the speaker's love exists primarily in their mind. This is reinforced by the metaphor of the "harbour," which suggests that the love is a safe and secure place within the speaker's thoughts. The imagery in the third and fourth lines is particularly powerful, as the speaker compares their love to a ship that is sailing on the sea. The use of the verb "is" in line three suggests that the love is currently in motion, while the simile in line four compares the ship to a "prince's ship," suggesting that the love is valuable and precious. The final six lines of the poem provide a resolution to the argument or idea presented in the octave. In these lines, the speaker acknowledges that their love may not be reciprocated and that they may never be able to express their feelings to the object of their affection. However, the speaker also suggests that their love is enough, and that they will continue to cherish it regardless of the outcome.  This poem has a clear reflection of the influences of Petrarch. Focusing on unattainable love was a clear influence to Petrarch so it makes sense for Wyatt’s poem to mimic that. Despite the suffering caused by things unattainable, a courtier must still perform his duties to those in court in order to be considered honorable or virtuous. These poems both seem to complain about the every day pressures found in such a society built upon honor and servitude. In the first four lines of this poem, Love is personified as a lonely knight who takes shelter in the speaker's thoughts and keeps his home in the speaker's heart. By portraying Love as a separate entity from the lover, the speaker conveys the idea that the lover is a victim who is held hostage by love. Whereas the first eight lines set forth the lover's situation, the final six focus on the resolution of his dilemma. In response to the beloved's displeasure, Love flees into the heart's forest (with the common pun on hart, meaning deer, suggesting that Love is preyed upon by the beloved), where he hides unseen, no longer showing himself in the lover's face. In the final three lines, the lover acknowledges that banished love is his master and concludes that he must be Love's faithful servant, going with him into battle, willing to die there for him, "for good is the life ending faithfully" (l. 14). Symbols  Love as war.  Love as hunting.  Association of love with thought instead of heart. ‘Intellectual’ of love.  Conquering the beloved’s love becomes an ‘enterprise’.