Lesson 36
Song
1. What is the occasion of the poem? What literary device does the poet employ? Describe what you know of the speaker, the listener, and the “she” referred to in the poem.
Occasion- A guy is sending a rose to speak for him to his courtship
Literary devices- symbolism-rose represents him and his intentions
-Personifies the rose as if it was her.
2. Paraphrase each of the four stanzas.
I send this rose to tell her that is unsure, that she may finally know, my true intentions and feelings. She is sweet and fair.
Tell her that is young, innocent and inexperienced that if she does not love she will be all alone and die alone because of her childish attitude.
Beauty is nothing when you are old. Tell her to allow me to have her. Thtat she will not be bashful in the eye of courtship.
Then, rose, die so that if you are still in her sight she may see that all things do not last. Remind her of the importance of her decision and its time of reply. Now or never.
3. Describe the prosody, including stanza form, rhyme, meter, and notable metrical substitutions (spondees), as well as the structure of the poem. How do these choices help to reinforce the poem’s content?
Prosody- meter (4-8-4-8-8) it is 4 syllables followed by 8 then 4 and then 8,8. (Dimeter-tetrameter-dimeter-tetrameter-tetrameter)
-rhymes-(a,ba,b,b) (c,d,c,d,d) (e,f,e,f,f,) (g,h,g,h,h)
-Spondees-command like phrases “Then Die” “Tell her” “Thou must”
The author is commanding the rose to control her. It is controlling but hidden being the lyrical bounce of the poem and the nice rhymes. It is like his true intentions hidden by the rose.
Virtue
1. Consider first Herbert’s use of metaphor and personification. In each case, what two unlike things are being compared, and what do they have in common?
Metaphor-The “Sweet day” is compared to the bridal of earth and sky (the morning sunrise). Both are cool, calm and bright/glorious.
-The soul is compared to a seasoned timber. It never gives, remains strong and true to its owner.
Personification-the rose is characterized as angry and brave as it attracts the eyes of people. The day of spring is sweet as well as the soul. These objects of spring are given life much like the life that they have in the spring.
2. How is the poem structured, and how does this structure support its meaning? Consider parallelism, order, and the turn in the poem?
The poem presents four objects, a day of spring, a rose, spring the season, and the soul. Each object in turn has beauty but then is abruptly ended by its, death. The day ends, the rose dies, and the spring turns to summer/fall. The final object is the soul. It outlasts all other beauty. It is capable of living after death. That is the beauty of the soul. It is just a timber in life but in death it is much more than all other worldly beauty. The three preceding objects set the reader up for the last different topic, the soul. This is the main point of “Virtue.” All other “die” but the soul “lives”
3. How does the prosody reinforce the poem’s meaning?
The prosody reinforces the poems meaning by repeating the words “must die.” The author rhymes with this phrase, “bright sky, wipe his eye, compacted lie” in each personifying stanza. In the last stanza there is no rhyme with “ie” instead it is gives/ lives. This difference is the point of the poem The soul is unlike any other beauty. It is beyond this worlds beauty.
