READ THIS
The poet explains that, at times when the world seems set against him, when it appears that
fortune is abandoning him and he begins to wish that he were better off as regards to friends
and creative talents, then all he has to do is to think of his loved one and his state of mind will
instantly improve.
ABOUT THE POET
William Shakespeare is generally regarded as the greatest of all English playwrights, which is
why his plays are prescribed so relentlessly.
He was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1564 and spent all his youth there. At the age of 18, he
married Anne Hathaway with whom he had three children.
At about the age of 25, he moved to London where he began a successful career in acting,
realising too his amazing talent for writing. He would eventually become the part-owner of a
company which called itself The Lord Chamberlain's Men (later referred to as the King's
Men.
He wrote a total of 38 plays as well as 154 sonnets. He also has two little known longer poems
to his name.
He would eventually return to Stratford-upon-Avon in 1613, where he would die just three years
later at the rather young age of 52. So young for someone who accomplished so much!
Have you looked at the questions in the right column?
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TEST YOURSELF!
Read the left column and then answer the following questions:
"When, in disgrace with Fortune and men's eyes,
I all alone beweep my outcast state,
And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries,
And look upon myself and curse my fate."
- What would the poet be referring to when he mentions "beweep my outcast
state"? (4)
[Need help?]
There is a sense of youthful melancholia about the poet. Like Romeo sighing for his
Rosalind, the poet is sighing for his loved one. Without this person, all is not well and he is
positively suicidal. But when he thinks of his friend and loved one, the lark within his spirit flies
up high and showers down on him wonderful drops of pure joy.
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- Comment on the imagery of "deaf heaven" and "my bootless
cries". (4)
[Need help?]
The belief that even God is ignoring you is possibly the worst state to be in -- unless you're an
atheist, of course! Heaven is deaf. God is not at home to you. The lights of heaven are out
and the telephone gives the engaged tone.
"Bootless cries" carries the image of such emasculation, of a person deprived of force
or vigour. With boots, one can still kick open the doors of heaven but without them . . . The
"b" sound in "bootless" itself carries the sheer force of the feeling.
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"Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,
Featur'd like him, like him with friends possess'd,
Desiring this man's art, and that man's scope,
With what I most enjoy contented least."
- What does the poet mean when he says "what I most enjoy contented
least"? (2)
[Need help?]
Even the thing which would usually bring the poet the greatest happiness appears now to be
of no value whatever. Indeed, it now appears to hold the lowest place in the poet's scale of
values.
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"Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising,
Haply I think on thee, and then my state,
Like to the lark at break of day arising
From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven's gate."
- Explain the significance of singing "at heaven's gate". (4)
[Need help?]
"Heaven's gate" is, of course, the entrance into heaven itself. Traditionally, heaven is
always spoken of as being up above us in the sky, whereas hell is somewhere below us in the
burning bowels of the earth. The lark -- a little bird which flies up really high and sings most
beautifully -- can be said to be close to heaven's gate because it is that high in the sky.
And so the poet compares his now happy state caused by thoughts of his loved one to that of
the lark which is so close to heaven. Notice, on the other hand, how the poet refers to the earth
-- which is close to hell -- as being "sullen".
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- Explain how the simile "Like to the lark . . . " reinforces the poet's tone regarding the
change of feeling that he experiences at the thought of his favourite friend. (4)
[Need help?]
The lark represents total happiness. This is because of the truly joyful birdsong that it showers
down from on high but also because the bird flies so high as to be close to heaven -- heaven
being traditionally portrayed is being up there in the sky. By using the image of the lark,
therefore, the poet is able to depict his own changed feelings as he thinks of his loved one.
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"For thy sweet love remember'd such wealth brings,
That then I scorn to change my state with kings."
- Is the poet's argument in this rhyming couplet convincing? (5)
[Need help?]
It probably is fairly convincing -- although you are, of course, free to debate the other side.
But be careful here: you will be quarrelling against arguably the greatest poet in the English
language and that is not always easy to do!
The poet is, in fact, speaking in hyperboles, i.e. exaggerations. He has already been describing
the depth of the pit to which his unhappiness has slumped, where nothing appears to go right
for him and he sees himself as friendless -- even abandoned by God himself. Now, however,
his rapture is so great that he wouldn't even change places with the most successful of all
people -- in Shakespeare's day this had to be the king or queen.
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This sonnet, although obviously Elizabethan, exhibits characteristics of a Petrarchan structure
in its argument.
- Would you like to comment on the truth of this? (4)
[Need help?]
The difference between the Elizabethan and the Petrarchan sonnet is both in the rhyming
scheme and the structure.
In terms of rhyming scheme, this is definitely an Elizabethan sonnet -- especially with the
rhyming couplet at the end.
In terms of structure, on the other hand, things look a little murky. This sonnet does indeed
have the three quatrains and the rhyming couplet but there is also a hint of the Petrarchan
sonnet's Octave and Sestet.
An Elizabethan sonnet usually has an argument or message in the three quatrains, and a
conclusion in the rhyming couplet. In this sonnet, however, there appears to be one argument
in the first two quatrains -- which would then be the equivalent of the Petrarchan Octave.
There is another argument in the final six lines -- equivalent to the Petrarchan Sestet.
Because of this, the conclusion in the rhyming couplet is not really that different from the
message in the 3rd quatrain.
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