ENGLISH (Honours)

(Poetry I) 2016

Answer Question No. 1 and any four from the rest

1. Explain with reference to the context (any three): 5x3=15

a. But only that is permanent and free

From frail corruption that doth flesh ensue.

That is true beauty: that doth argue

To be divine, and born of heaven seed:

Ans: The lines are taken from the sonnet Amoretti written by Edmund Spenser.

The speaker tells his beloved that men call her "fayre" (fair/beautiful) and she believes it,
because she looks herself in the mirror daily and can see that she is beautiful. The speaker tells
her that her beauty is not the fairest thing about her; rather it is her "gentle wit" (intelligence) and
"virtuous mind" (moral, chaste) that make her beautiful. It is her wit and virtuousness that are the
two qualities that the speaker praises above all others. No matter how beautiful you are now, in
time, your looks will fade. The only thing that lasts forever is that which outlasts the flesh.
Beauty is fleeting. True beauty is that which comes from within, such as wit and virtuousness. It
is the only thing that is permanent and free from corruption.

b. All women shall adore us, and some men;

And since at such time, miracles are sought,

I would have that age by this paper taught

What miracles we harmless lovers wrought.

Ans: The lines are taken from the poem The Relic, written by John Donne
The speaker implicitly requests the lady not to worry because at least that kind of canonization
might happen in the future. Those foolish people will regard the hair and bones as things for
doing miracle by the lovers; to the man, the miracle is a different one. He does regard that his
beloved is a real miracle, however. He is writing the present poem to tell the truth to those who
will read and know the reality of those future times when people will make nonsense myths out
of such incidents. In a sense, the poem is a satire on the superstitious ideas of love and magic,
rather than believing in the actual contact and attachment between man and woman. The 'relic' of
the title refers to the hair and bone that people will declare relic out of superstitious belief. A
relic means 'a thing belonging to a person who is believed to possess saintly or magical power
preserved for its religious or magical value'. The poem is a pure product of fancy.

c. But, as I did their madness so discuss

One whisper’d thus,

‘This ring the bridegroom did for

None provide,

But for his pride’

Ans: The lines are taken from Henry Vaughan’s poem The world.

The poem is about an individual experience of the divine, presented here through a process of
visualization that at once brings in the metaphors of everyday existence. The poet regards all the
worldly people as fools who live in darkness, in dark caves, shunning the daylight which
illuminates the path to God. The ring in the given lines refers to eternity. It is like a great ring
into which God welcomes his devotees. The speaker mocks those who indulge in petty activities
and says that in their failure to comprehend the nature of the creation’s purpose lays the source
of human misery.

d. can storied urn or animated bust

Back to its mansion call the fleeting breath?

Can honour’s voice provoke the silent dust,

Or Flatt’ry soothe the dull cold ear of death?

Ans: The lines are taken from Thomas Grey’s Elegy written in a Country Churchyard
The poet raises a question whether a fancy-schmancy urn (a container to hold a dead person's
remains) or a really life-like bust (a statue of a person's head and shoulders, in this case to
commemorate a dead person) could call the breath back to a dead person and make him breathe
again. The dead person's body is a "mansion," and the speaker personifies the urn and the bust,
asking if they can call the dead person's breath back to the mansion of their body. Second
rhetorical question: the speaker asks if the voice of "Honour" (another personification!) can
provoke the silent, dusty remains of a dead person to speak again, or whether Flattery can make
the cold ear of Death feel better about being dead.

e. In all four orders there was none so mellow

So glib with gallant phrase and well-turned speech.

Ans: The lines are taken from Chaucer’s Prologue to Canterbury Tales.

The lines talk about one of the many characters described by Chaucer, Friar. The Friar is a gay,
merry, wanton man. He is a seeker of pleasure. He is a limiter; i.e. he is licensed to solicit alms
within certain assigned limits. He is a grand imposing man and the only member in all the four
orders of the Dominicans, Franciscans, Carmelites, and Augustinians, who was so well-versed in
the language of dalliance and flattery.

2. Describe a Shakespearean sonnet. Discuss the theme of time in Shakespeare’s Sonnet No.
60.

Ans: Shakespeare's Sonnets is the title of a collection of 154 sonnets by William Shakespeare,
which covers themes such as the passage of time, love, beauty and mortality. In Shakespeare's
sonnets, the rhyme pattern is abab cdcd efef gg, with the final couplet used to summarize the
previous 12 lines or present a surprise ending. The rhythmic pattern of the sonnets is the iambic
pentameter.

The sonnet 60 may best illustrate Shakespeare’s treatment of the ravages of time. Sonnet 60 is
acknowledged as one of Shakespeare's greatest because it deals with the universal concerns of
time and its passing. In the sonnet, time is symbolized by concrete images.

Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore,

So do our minutes hasten to their end;

Each changing place with that which goes before,

In sequent toil all forwards do contend.

Each quatrain engages the theme in a unique way, with the destructive force of time redoubling
with each successive line. In quatrain one the flow of time is compared with the incessant
beating of the waves against a shore, each wave building in strength and then crashing down
again only to be followed by another in its place. The second quatrain uses the sun as a metaphor
for human life: it is born ("Nativity") and "crawls" (like a baby) until it reaches its highest point,
whereupon it is "crown'd" (with maturity) and then proceeds to fall back into darkness, or death.
Line 8 concludes the metaphor with the assertion that Time both gives the gift of life and takes it
away again.Although the poet seems certain that Time's destruction is inevitable, he is
nonetheless hopeful that his verse will get away with it in the end. The final couplet speaks of the
poet's intention to outsmart Time himself, defying his "cruel hand" by eternalizing the fair lord in
his verse.

Sonnet 73 as sonnet 60 in expresses the theme of the ravages of time. The sonnet focuses on the
narrator's own anxiety over growing old. In the first quatrain, the narrator compares himself to
the late autumn season, that time of year when the trees have begun to lose their leaves and the
cold is setting in.Quatrain two makes life still shorter, going from the seasons of the year to the
hours of the day. The narrator is at the twilight of his life: his sun has set, and Death is soon upon
him.

In quatrain one the flow of time is compared with the incessant beating of the waves against a
shore, each wave building in strength and then crashing down again only to be followed by
another in its place. The second quatrain uses the sun as a metaphor for human life: it is born
("Nativity") and "crawls" (like a baby) until it reaches its highest point, whereupon it is
"crown'd" (with maturity) and then proceeds to fall back into darkness, or death. Line 8
concludes the metaphor with the assertion that Time both gives the gift of life and takes it away
again.
This sentiment is repeated in lines 9-12, only more strongly and deeply. Time destroys the
perfection of youth: he digs deep wrinkles in a beautiful face and devours the preciousness of
nature in its most perfect shape - "And nothing stands but for his scythe to mow." (Time and
Death each were often pictured carrying a scythe.) Nevertheless, the final couplet speaks of the
poet's intention to outsmart Time himself, defying his "cruel hand" by eternalizing the fair lord in
his verse. This intention has been expressed in previous sonnets; see sonnets 17-19 for examples.

Again, sonnet 60 may be the best exemplar of the theme of the ravages of time. This theme is
prevalent throughout the sonnets, and it takes many different forms, sometimes referring to the
destructive power of time in general, other times focusing on the effects of time on a specific
character in the sonnets such as the narrator or the fair lord. The narrator seems to be hauntingly
preoccupied with the passing of time and everything that it entails, including mortality, memory,
inevitability, and change. He is distressed over such things that he has no control over, and at
times he appears to be fighting a futile battle against time itself, just like the sun in line 7 of
sonnet 60: "Crooked eclipses 'gainst his glory fight."

3. What is Pastoral Elegy? Examine Lycidas as a Pastoral elegy in which the classical
Christian and personal elements are appropriately fused.

Ans: The pastoral elegy is a poem about both death and idyllic rural life. Often, the pastoral
elegy features shepherds. The genre is actually a subgroup of pastoral poetry, as the elegy takes
the pastoral elements and relates them to expressing the poet's grief at a loss.

Milton’s ‘Lycidas’ is one of the greatest pastoral elegies in English literature. Pastoralism in
literature is an attitude in which the writer looks at life from the view point of a shepherd. In
classical literature this has been successfully handled by Theocritus of Sicily, and after him by
Virgil and Bion. In English literature it was popularised by Sir Philip Sydney and Edmund
Spenser, but the scintillating star in the firmament of pastoralism is certainly John Milton.

The pastoral poet begins by invoking the Muses and goes on referring to other figures from
classical mythology. In ‘Lycidas’ we find an invocation to the Muses from line 15 to 22. Milton
concludes by expecting a similar service from some other poet when he is dead. Secondly, the
mourning in pastoral poetry is almost universal. Nature joins in mourning the shepherd’s death
in ‘Lycidas’, private sorrow giving place to public sorrow. Lines 37-49 in Lycidas describes the
mourning. Woods and caves once haunted by Lycidas now mourn for him.

The inquest over the death is another tradition found in Pastoral poems. In lines 50-63, Milton
charges the nymphs with negligence. But the next moment it dawns on him that they would have
been helpless. Triton, the herald of the sea questions every wind and is assured that the air was
calm when Lycidas set sail. The conclusion drawn is that the fatal ship that sank Lycidas was
built during the eclipse and fitted out in the midst of curses.

Then comes a description of the procession of mourners as found in all pastoral elegies. Camus,
representing Cambridge university and leadership, leads the procession. The last among the
mourners is St.Peter mourning the loss to the church incurred by the death of Lycidas. With a
denunciation of the corrupt clergyman, St.Peter disappears. Lines 88-111 are occupied with this
description.

In orthodox pastoral elegies there is a closing consolation. The poet accordingly asks the
shepherds to weep no more, for Lycidas is not dead, but has merely passed from one earth to
heaven. Lines 165 to 185 offer consolation. In Christian elegies, the reversal from grief to joy
occurs when the writer realizes that death on earth is entry into a higher life. But Milton adds
that Lycidas has become a genius of the shore to play the guardian angel to those who wander in
the dangerous flood. Milton has followed the conventions in pastoral poetry, but he has mingled
in it Greek mythology and Christian theology. In addition there are two digressions from
pastoral strain: a) a discussion on the true values of life, and, b) a bitter criticism of the
clergyman of the day. He introduces St.Peter into the list of mourners which shows the
deepening puritanical fervour of the poet. In the other parts of the poem he has merely used the
images handed down from classical ages. But when questions about the religious state of
England rose in his mind, he could not restrain himself. He puts into the mouth of St.Peter a
trade against the corrupt clergymen of his day. He prophesies that the domination of the
corrupting leaders is doomed. The note of keen personal regret is conspicuous by its absence.
Milton here laments the loss of the church, for Edward king was intended for the church. He
would have certainly set an example of purity and devotion to the other priests. In addition, the
poet is bewailing the loss of another poet, who also knew “to build the lofty rhyme”.
‘Lycidas’ is unquestionably a pagan poem. But Milton, the austere puritan could not help
introducing Christian elements into it. Thus with its curious mixture of pagan loveliness and
Christian austerity, it becomes the offspring of Milton’s unparalleled genius. The poem starts
with an apology for breaking the poet’s resolve not to write any poetry until his poetic talent has
matured fully. The concluding eight lines from a sort of epilogue in which Milton speaks
directly, having stepped out of the character of the shephered. Having passed through many
moods and sung in different strains, the shepherd draws his clock around him and leaves the
spot.

4. What do you understand by the term ‘carpe diem’? Critically analyze the theme of
mortality in Marvell’s To His Coy Mistress.

Ans: The origin of this phrase is tracked to a Latin poem from the book of Horace, “Odes Book-
I.” According to Horace, our future is unpredicted, so we should do whatever we can do today,
and do not just depend upon chances and opportunities that you may hope to come in your
future. The exact meaning of this phrase is to “seize the day.” It is a proverb. It means that one
should act today and ignore the future. In simple words, it means to enjoy today and enjoy the
right moment without wasting the time because no one knows what may happen in future.

"To his coy Mistress", is one of Marvell's best known love poems based upon a logically
developed line of reasoning. The poem narrates a fairly strong emotion and at the same time it
has an intellectual character. It has an argumentative quality and the argument proceeds in a
logical manner. This poem thus clearly portrays a successful fusion of deep passion and
intellectual thought in the last stanza where the poet gives a solution of what he and his beloved
should do. In this poem the poet’s beloved refrains from investing herself in his overtures for the
gratification of their love owing to her esteemed concepts of modesty. The poet persuades his
mistress of the reasonableness of his stand through sound arguments that are put forward in a
neat syllogism. The first tire of the argument blinds the mistress with fancies of timeless love.
The second segment shocks her into the reality that time, youth and beauty are transient and soon
she will be stranded in “deserts of vast eternity”. The third tier provides a logical conclusion to
the beloved’s dilemma of chastity by establishing a sensual participation in the frenzy of passion
as the only remedy to overcome the corroding effects of time. Thus we see that the characteristic
feature of a metaphysical poem which is an argumentative and analytical approach is essential to
the poem’s basic situation here.

The poem is based on the age-old Carpe Diem theme which deals with the issue of brevity of
life. This theme although being a very hackneyed one has been developed in a way that catches
our attention because of the poet’s fresh take on the concept of defeating time with the help of
human passion. This novelty of thought is another aspect of the poem’s meta-physicality. Like a
typical metaphysical poem, Coy Mistress has a dramatic opening – “Had we but world enough
and time, this coyness lady were no crime”. This opening dramatically reverses the Puritanical
concept of crime and virtue and defines virtuous coyness as “crime” since it creates a barrier
against the fulfilment of love.

Marvell conjoins two contradictory emotions in this poem. Coy Mistress reveals a unique
conjoining of seriousness with levity and cavalier excess with classical elegance and poise. In a
typically metaphysical manner, the poet has controlled his passion through his intellect and the
seriousness of his request is tempered by his light-heartedness.

The metaphysical conceits used in the poem are breathtaking. Marvell compares himself and his
beloved to “amorous birds of prey” and the united force of the lovers is equated to a cannon ball
which is strong enough to break through the “iron gates of life”. The Attachment of a time
calendar to the traditional catalogue of praise is a startling hyperbole – “An age at least to every
part”. The poem’s meta-physicality increases because of its allusiveness that rests upon
Marvell’s biblical as well as classical knowledge. References have been made to the biblical
flood to emphasize upon eternal love and also to Greek Gods Chronos and Phoebus to shed light
upon fleeting time as the devourer of human life.

5. Critically analyze Vaughan’s The World as a religious and didactic poem.

Ans: The theme of “The World” is religious and didactic. Readers need not search long to
understand Vaughan’s intention, as he employs hard-hitting imagery of salvation and damnation.
The postscript from John 2 reiterates the poem’s meaning.

Vaughan’s theme is that salvation and eternal life, peace and happiness, exist only through God.
Life not devoted to God is ruined now and forever. The way to salvation is evident: The vain
pursuits of this life must be abandoned. At issue for Vaughan are lives devoted to the pursuit of
pleasure, exemplified by the lover; the pursuit of power, embodied in the “darksome States-
man”; and the pursuit of wealth, represented by the miser. Vaughan derides these figures, their
activities and values, as false, destructive, and ultimately futile.

The central problem in all these ungodly pursuits is that they fail to address the main purpose of
living, the worship of God. Lives that do not address this end become bogged down in search of
other ends that have no lasting significance and are therefore worthless. The power seeker, the
money worshiper, even the lover, fail, not only in terms of their own personal happiness and
possible redemption, but also by inflicting their desires on others, to whom they cause harm
because their activities are not informed with God-centered values.Those who do not understand
this fundamental religious and moral truth are blind and doomed to live in a moral, spiritual, and
religious darkness. In the terms of the poem, the mass of humanity is bound to suffer this fate.
Only the enlightened few who recognize the promise of salvation are capable of freeing
themselves from this ultimate condition of desolation. The poet seems to say, “Reader, wake up.
Salvation awaits those who repent as surely as eternal damnation awaits those who do not.”

6. Discuss the poem, Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard as an elegiac, meditative

poem.

Ans: “Elegy written in a country churchyard” written by Thomas Gray is one of the most famous
poems in English literature. The poem is enriched with beautiful epigrammatic phrases. “The
paths of glory lead but to the grave”, “The curfew tolls the knell of parting day” are a few of
them. An Elegy is a poem lamenting the death of a person. Thomas Gray laments the death of the
poor, landless peasants of his hamlet Stoke Poges. They are dead and buried in the church
cemetery for ever awaiting the Judgement Day. So the poet says that “the rude forefathers of the
hamlet sleep”. The poet has used a number of effective personifications which add to the beauty
of the poem. Gray introduces a suitable atmosphere which is very effective to the Elegy. The
church bell ringing the “curfew” is the death bell of the dying day. It is getting dark and the
crescent moon appears in the sky. The peace and silence of the churchyard is broken by the
droning flight of the beetle, the tinkling noise of the bell from the sheep’s neck and the cry
(hooting) of the owl from the disused ivy covered tower.
Now the poet tells us the story of the “rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep” in the churchyard.
Early in the morning they used to wake up by the sweet smelling breeze and other noises such as
the twittering of the swallow birds, the sound of the cocks and the horn of the hunters in the
surrounding jungle. They enjoyed their work. They cut down trees and made farm. They went to
farm with their cattle and ploughed the field, sowed seeds and made very good harvest. They
worked hard from dawn to dusk. In the evening when they came back home with their cattle,
their children welcomed them with sweet kisses and their wives made very tasty food for them.
Thus their life was full of innocent, homely joys. They lived in peace and love. The Bible was
everything for them. If they said a lie, it was reflected on their faces and they were ashamed of it.
They strictly followed the teachings of the Bible and they died in peace.

In the three stanzas of the epitaph (lines 117 to 128), Gray speaks of his grave being “upon the
lap of Earth” and not inside the church. He accords himself modest praise and justifies his life as
worthwhile. Despite his “humble birth,” he was well educated. Although some may consider the
poet’s natural melancholy a disadvantage, he himself probably thought it the source of his poetic
temperament. Gray describes himself as generous and sincere, for which his reward was not
worldly fame or fortune (the “paths of glory”) but heavenly “recompense,” undoubtedly the
“friend” mentioned in line 124. The epitaph concludes by telling the reader not to ask more about
the poet’s virtues and frailties but to leave him to God.

“Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” moves from a meditation in a particular place upon the
graves of the poor to a reflection on the mortality of all humankind and on some of the benefits
of being constrained by poverty. The poem alludes to the wish of all people not to die and to the
ways in which each is remembered after death. Gray concludes by imagining his own death and
how he hopes to be remembered. If this progression of thought is not entirely logical, it is all the
more understandable. One reason for the long popularity of Gray’s elegy lies in the universal
chord he managed to strike not only with the thoughts he expressed but, perhaps even more
important, with the progression he gave those thoughts. Beyond that, the poem contains some of
the most striking lines of English poetry.
7. Chaucer’s presentation of the Friar’s personality depicts, ‘the corruption and
degradation of a section of the clergy. Critically discuss.

Ans: The Friar, Brother Hubert, is among Chaucer’s portraits of the corrupt clergy. The Friar is a
gay, merry, wanton man. He is a seeker of pleasure. He is a limiter; i.e. he is licensed to solicit
alms within certain assigned limits. He is a grand imposing man and the only member in all the
four orders of the Dominicans, Franciscans, Carmelites, and Augustinians, who was so well-
versed in the language of dalliance and flattery. In contrast to the Monks, Friars had the liberty to
preach outside the monastery walls and they followed the ideal of active as opposed to
contemplative service. The prime objective of the Friars, however, was to attack evil doers and
sinners by preaching among the people. However this mendicant life soon degenerated into a
pleasurable way of life. Friars transformed begging into an extremely profitable business
proposition. Moreover Friars who were supposed to guard people against evil themselves
committed venal sins like seducing village girls and married women by their sweet talk and gifts.
Chaucer’s lecherous Friar too has arranged marriages of many young girls whom he had
seduced. He is thoroughly familiar with the tricks of the trade and his hood is always stuffed with
trinkets cherished by gullible women. Chaucer ironically commends the Friar as a strong pillar of
the church.

The Friar is very familiar with the rich and powerful men of his town. He claims to have more
power to hear a confession than a parson does and his absolution is pleasant since he easily
grants pardon whenever he is certain of a good offering. He argues that many hard-hearted men
could not weep even if they are truly repentant for their sins. In such cases charity to friars is
equivalent to tears and prayers. The Friar has a merry voice and could sing well to the
accompaniment of a rote (a stringed instrument). He always won the best prize in ballad singing
competitions. His musical ability helps in his seduction of women. He has a lily-white neck
although he has an athletic constitution. This corrupt Friar is well acquainted with all the
innkeepers and barmaids but avoids the poor beggars and lepers like the plague. Chaucer
sarcastically comments that it is neither fitting nor profitable for the Friar to associate himself
with such poor people. Chaucer then commends the Friar for his humility, virtuousness, and
courtesy. He is indeed the best beggar of his order and has the ability to extract money from even
the poorest of the poor. For even if a poor widow did not have a shoe / sou (French coin), the
Friar’s recitation of "In principio" was so pleasant that he would extort a farthing from her before
he left. The proceeds of his begging were far greater than the rent that he paid to the church.
Moreover the Friar was actively involved in settling secular matters on love-days. Love days
were days appointed for out of court settlement of disputes under the arbitration of the clergy.
Gradually the practice degenerated and the church forbade the clergy to arbitrate except in case
of the poor. Chaucer’s comment that the Friar actively participated on love days is an indirect
criticism since the readers know that the Friar does not associate with the poor. The Friar is not
like an ascetic wearing threadbare clothes. Rather he is wearing a well pressed double worsted
coat. Hubert lisps in order to make his speech sound sweet. His eyes twinkle in his head like stars
in a frosty night. Chaucer’s ironic portrait of the merry, sweet, pleasant and worthy Friar is an
excellent satire against the corrupt clergy.