George Herbert

I have to say I also liked Herbert. His writing and rhyming style are simple but at the same time his poems are full of metaphors. So in a way makes up for the simplistic nature of the poem by giving the reader something to think about. Personally I would rather read a poem that sounds simple to the ear but has a lot of intrinsic meaning than a poem with complicated wording that has the meaning right on the surface. Even though a modern reader might have trouble deciphering the meanings unless they really knew their history of the 1600s, for example when in "Jordan" its says "false hair" the reader would have to know it meant a wig which in turn leads to wealthy people wear wigs which means vanity and embellishement and that wigs were used to cover up things on a person that wasnt so nice. So as you can see two words in a poem can really have a snowball effect and if the reader dosent understand the first "level" of the meaning they miss out on all the subsequent ones. I know a lot of people probably think its really cheesy but I even like how Herbert made a few of his peoms into the objects that were the title of the poem itself such as "The Alter" and "Easter Wings".

Sir Francis Bacon

I thought Bacon had a very interesting view on marraige. Overall his view of it comes across as negative. Saying that single men are much more productive in society because they are not bogged down by family responsibilities. But of course readers would have to look at the flip side of this view because if men were to do as Bacon said to than how would society function without anyone getting married and having children? Bacon says that getting married makes a man "soft" which it seems he dosent neccesarily see as a bad thing. Maybe Bacon means that men should wait until they are a bit older to get married that way they can achieve things while they are yougn and energetic, such things as political achievments and such things as being a soldier as well. Being a soldier who is single has some obvious benefits, you are able to be more "fierce" in battle because you do not have to worry about leaving behind a wife and children to take care of themselves if you die. Possibly Bacon thinks that getting married slightly older would be better for society that way more things would get done but society itself would still be able to function because the population would be steady. Needles to say that Bacon does not take into account what the young women would feel being made to marry older men as is evident in a quote about them "women are young mens mistresses, companions of middle age, and old men nurses."

Volpone

One of the most profound and disturbing scenes in Volpone is that attemted seduction/rape scene with Celia after Volpone sings her that really creepy song and tries to buy her off with teasures. Around this time, in scene 3.7 lines 133-138, Celia cries out about how shameful it is that a man could trade and use his wife for greed. This scene shows that love which is usually argued to be the most important thing in the world is now worth less than money and therefore now it has made the men in this play dishonorable. This is of course after the scene where Corvino threatens Celia to do what he says or he will "grow violent" and she still refuses him. So this is when the reader feels very much sympathy towards poor Celia because she is threatened by two different men in as little as two pages.

Donne

I have to say Donne turned out to be one of the poets I liked better. Although he can be a bit simple and too "sing-song", his poems are a nice breather after some of the more complicated authos we have been reading. Donne often has what I call the "awwww" factor. Some of his works can be very romantic so that after you read a particular line it makes the reader go "awwww". I also foudn Donneto be more genuine than the other poets, especially Shakespeare who sometimes I am not sure if he is mocking what he is writing about or not. I also found his fascination with souls both endearing and entertaining. He can go in one of his poems, for example "The Ecstasy", from talking about soul mates and how him and the women he is writing about are the only ones for each other, to souls combining or what I guess you would call "soul sex" to finally in the second to last stanza to finally lets have sex physically. I guess I find this amusing because slowly to find out where Donnes mind has really been all along. Even though some of Donne's poems can get a little raunchy they are still fun to read because it reminds me that people in the 16th century were amused just as much as we are by these types of poems.

twelfth night

In this play there is the very interesting topic of gender and identity confusion. Both by the characters disguising there gender, like Viola and those who think they are falling in love with people that they think are someone else like Orisono and Olivia. I like how Shakespeare used this intersting plot twist for a comical reason. Like Orisino who falls in and out of love so fast he dosent even really know the true gender of the person he is infatuated with is, he also just seems to care about being in love not whom he is love with. Also Shakespeare could have easily made Viola get a job as a ladys maid of another profession that would not require her to cross dress. But thankfully Shakerspeare is able to create a comedic play out of this situations.

Assignment 6: The Sonnet

So this is the sonnet for the assignment for week 6.

To Thee I Sing A Song Of Utmost Praise
Flower Who Blossoms So Purely In Red
Each Day You Rise With Mornings Strong Bright Rays
Your Thorns of Green Protect Your Sacred Bed

I Walk Along Garden Pathways of Green
The Nest In Which Your Crimson Flower Blooms
Your Smell Is Fragrant of Oceans Marine
It Reminds Me of seaside cottage rooms

But to your sweet beauty I must confess
Despite how the prince truly holds your heart
How it is I am put into distress
When in my company you don’t take part

Rose I Dote Upon Thee With Bated Breath
Here I Will Remain Until My Cold DEATH

Week 2 Utopia

More was able to create a world that sounds too good to be true. And in fact it is. The main reason why I think More was not able to convince me of his Utopia was the lack of a "back up plan" if you will. He writes about the people wanting to live plainly and not wanting anything lavish in life, but he does not explain what happens if some people were to decide they did not want to wear the same thing as everyone else, according to More they just dont. The citizens of Utopia just evolved like that over time.

Another thing that struck me while reading the story was the lack of emotional attachment of the citizens, espcecially to each other. More says that families have to be split up in order to have the correct ratio of people in the city and country. It is almost impossible to believe that people would willingly do this. More also writes that people sometimes have to colonize outside of Utopia and these citizens have no choice either, and not only are those citizens seperated form the their families but More openly states that the citizens living in colonies are not as respected or well treated as those living on the main island. There was one more example of this "family seperating" that I was a little confused with. More says that if a child does not want to do the same trade as his father than he is paired with another family and adopted into that family. But I am not sure if it is a literal adoption or just that the son does a sort of apprentenceship and becomes close with the family teaching him.