[Above: The early music duo, Bedlam, performs a Campion song (not one of the ones in our book, alas) as it would have sounded in the 16th century.]
Answer TWO of the
following:
Q1: Most of these
poems (and all of the ones by Campion) were set to music and are more properly
songs than poems. Indeed, these are the ‘pop songs’ of the 16th century, and
many were quite famous, played over and over again for decades. How do they
compare with modern songs/lyrics in their treatment of love? Do they have a
similar relationship to falling in love, suffering in love, and breaking up? Or
is there anything unique to the Elizabethan perspective?
Q2: How do one or
more of these poems invoke the “death’s head” of a memento mori in their
lines? Why do you think the poem invokes the presence of death in love lyrics? How
might it relate to the painting of the two young men with the elongated skull
(which we viewed in class)?
Q3: The Elizabethan
period is famous for its syntax: note how many of the lines of specific poems
seem ungrammatical, or place subjects in the wrong place, such as this line in Cherry
Ripe: “Of orient pearls a double row.” Why do these poems consciously mix
up the sentence structure when they could have been stated more conventionally?
What is the advantage of mixed-up syntax?
Q4: Many of these
poems have double entendres, or double meanings that are frankly sexual
in nature—especially the poems of Campion. Where does a love poem seem to be
both innocent and indecent at the same time? You might consider that the word “die”
meant not only death but also “orgasm” to Elizabethan audiences.
Q1: Most of these poems (and all of the ones by Campion) were set to music and are more properly songs than poems. Indeed, these are the ‘pop songs’ of the 16th century, and many were quite famous, played over and over again for decades. How do they compare with modern songs/lyrics in their treatment of love? Do they have a similar relationship to falling in love, suffering in love, and breaking up? Or is there anything unique to the Elizabethan perspective?
ReplyDeleteA: The songs sing a tune of sorrow and sadness. I mean all great songs provoke feelings of the listeners. The songs back then were filled with lust and seduction compared to now, which still has the same points, but now we sing about the feelings with love.
Q2: How do one or more of these poems invoke the “death’s head” of a memento mori in their lines? Why do you think the poem invokes the presence of death in love lyrics? How might it relate to the painting of the two young men with the elongated skull (which we viewed in class)?
A: The skull shows that you will die one day. Life is happy and sunshine, but in the end you will die, but art will live on forever. No matter how great everything looks or feels, you will still die. That’s life biggest secret is that you do die no matter how great everything is going.
Good responses, but what do you mean when you say, "now we sing about the feelings with love"? Aren't these poems full of rich, and often over-the-top sentiments of love? While several are more about sex, I don't think we can say that thE Elizabethans were insincere in their love poetry...just more artful about it, as befits a world obsessed with art and the illusion of perfection.
DeleteAnswer to Q2) I think with many works we have seen, they can be related to modern day. There is this tragedy of falling in love: “Does he/she love me? Do they love me not?” “Oh, we are together! I love him/her!” “This relationship brings me nothing but hardship…” “I love him/her!” “No longer are my lover and I together…” When reading the works, there are many illustrations we see that paint this picture for the audience. Whereas modern love songs hardly leave anything to the imagination, the Elizabethan perspective is that of giving different details to help the audience infer what is going on. In modern songs, we would say, “Flashback to when our connection had sparked,” the Elizabethan would say, “And yet no spark of fire? (Fie on this feighning!). While the context is a little different, the message is still the same. Where the modern song lays it out there for us, the Elizabethan poems are worded in a way the audience has to peel back layers. The Elizabethan can be related to everyone, because it is based on your own interpretation. Depending on what you take from and how you relate to the poem, depends on the way each individual takes from it.
ReplyDeleteAnswers to Q4) During the Elizabethan times, it was wrong to openly talk about sexual concepts and ideas. Most often, you didn’t hear people talking about what went on in the bedroom, whether in or out of marriage. When there was a work that could potentially be indecent, the author would make it appear innocent as to make sure and hide what they are trying to convey. They would write it in a way that was beautiful and poetic, but in reality they were referencing something way dirty and inappropriate.
Great responses...and yes, it was more customary to hide sexual references in innuendos, even if everyone knew what they were. This had actually more to do with art than modesty; they were a pretty immodest group of people, and enjoyed bawdy humor and references--as Chaucer showed us! However, it's too easy to write about sex, and much more clever to do so in a vieled, poetic manner. And they excelled in doing that, and no one more than Shakespeare (coming soon!).
DeleteQ3)
ReplyDeleteI think they messed up the syntax of words because it sounded cool, made the poem flow, and because they could do whatever they want. True art doesn't follow the status quo. I think a big advantage of this is that they got what they wanted, to be remembered.
Q4) in the poem about Amaryllis, the whole point of the poem is to say that she is a simple country bumpkin that'll have sex with guys if you take her to bed and swoon her a bit.
Yes, syntax is partly about music, and partly about puzzling. It's supposed to stop and make you think, wondering why the line is written with the subject behind the verb, etc. But it also places the music before the meaning, which can tease you into reading without thinking.
DeleteWith the Amaryllis poem, while it can be seen as a cynical poem about 'easy' women, it also has an edge to it: it also dismisses the Renaissance ideal of 'artful' women. This learned gentleman would rather have simple country pleasures, even if they are sometimes too simple. It's a very English attitude toward the richness of the Renaissance: they enjoy it, but also see through it. They also use its language to critique its shortcomings.