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Week 3

English literature: The Tudors and the Elizabethan Age

Tudor, House of Tudor(noun)


an English dynasty descended from Henry Tudor; Tudor monarchs ruled from
Henry VII to Elizabeth I (from 1485 to 1603)

The Tudor period has been defined as a golden era in British history; a time of
extravagance, music, queens and Shakespeare. The period is named after
the Tudor family that ruled in England and Wales from 1485 until Elisabeth I
died in 1603. Authors and filmmakers have frequently sought inspiration to
the Tudor period. House of Tudor:

Henry VII 1485-1509


Henry VIII 1509-1547
Edward VI 1547-1553
Mary I 1553-1558
Elizabeth I 1558-1603
- The Jacobean era succeeds the Elizabethan era ( The Tudor) and precedes the
Caroline era.

 The poetry of the 16th century and the poetry of the 17th century were mainly
lyrical. Poetry in Elizabethan time was based on courtly love conventions which
included conceits and complements.
 Themes such as the unattainability of the lady, The theme of brevity of life,
sleeplessness, constancy in love, cruelty of the beloved, praise of the beloved’s
beauty and eternalizing the beloved.
 As to structure, the form of the 16th century’s poems is different from early 17th
century’s poems. Elizabethan’s poems were mainly sonnets which include three
quatrains and a couplet)
 whereas cavalier poets used only short lyrics composed of stanzas which are
simple in verse and style to express their feelings and thoughts. Although both
periods were contrasting in themes and form, poets could express their emotions
and opinions according to the events surrounding
lyric poetry was not meant to be published. Poems circulated among the chosen
few in manuscripts rarely getting into print during their authors’ lifetime.

Much of courtly poetry was praise-poetry, immortalizing the monarch, the


baron or the patron, following the patterns of the Italian capitali genre

Only poets born into aristocratic families and thus having substantial means like
e.g. Wyatt, Surrey, Raleigh or Sidney could afford to write poetry to entertain
and not for money
Early Tudor Poetry: Sir Thomas Wyatt (1503-1542) and Henry Howard, Earl of
Surrey (1517-1547)
The main genres of the age

The main genres of the age are: narrative poetry; praise ~; elegiac~; love~;
descriptive~; discursive~; satirical~; beast fables; songs; ballads; dream visions.

Sir Thomas Wyatt (1503 – 11 October 1542

The Tudor court was filled with change. Henry VIII's reign was in a time of
great political, social, national and international upheaval.He was a 16th-
century English politician, ambassador, and lyric poet credited with introducing
the sonnet to English literature. He was an ambassador in the service of Henry
VIII, His father before him served at court, and Wyatt was proud of his country
and its monarchy.
- Wyatt was well-educated and well-travelled, read Greek, Latin and Italian
- He was a commitment to Engli shness.
- He wanted to plant and domesticize mainly Italian Renaissance models into English
own culture.
- Wyatt wrote some of the first sonnets in the English language.
- Thanks to his travels in Italy, Sir Thomas Wyatt picked up knowledge of all
sorts of new poetic forms and styles, including the sonnet,In doing so, Wyatt
was helping to forge a living language for English poetry,
- Poetry Wyatt's poetry reflects classical and Italian models, A significant amount
of his literary output consists of translations and imitations of sonnets by Italian
poet Petrarch; he also wrote sonnets of his own.
- Wyatt helped to popularize Italian verse forms, most notably the sonnet, in
Tudor England.
- Sonnet: a poem of 14 iambic pentameter lines, divided into an octave and a
sestet, with a prescribed rhyme-scheme and concerned with a single thought or
emotion.
- he also admired the work of Geoffrey Chaucer, and his vocabulary reflects that
of Chaucer; for example, He took subject matter from Petrarch's sonnets, but his
rhyme schemes are significantly different.
-
Petrarch's sonnets consist of an "octave" rhyming abba abba, followed by a
"sestet" with various rhyme schemes
- Wyatt employs the Petrarchan octave, but his most common sestet scheme
is cddc ee. This marks the beginning of an English contribution to sonnet
structure of three quatrains and a closing couplet.
- Born in Kent, England in 1503, Wyatt first joined the court of King Henry
VIII
- Wyatt imports the sonnet (principally from Petrarch , 14 lines of iambic
pentametre, rhyming abba abba cdc cdc or: cdc dcd or: cde cde, consisting of
an octave and a sestet, separated by a turn/volta/.)
- he is considered "the Father of English Poetry".
- he wrote of his own experiences. His epigrams, songs reveal the care and the
elegance that were typical of the new romanticism.

Madam, withouten many Words


BY SIR THOMAS WYATT
Madam, withouten many words (a) without
Once I am sure ye will or no ... (b)
And if ye will, then leave your bourds (a) tricks
And use your wit and show it so, (b) intelligence
And with a beck ye shall me call; (c) beck: nod, gesture.
And if of one that burneth alway (d)
Ye have any pity at all, (c )
Answer him fair with yea or nay. Yes or no ( d )
If it be yea, I shall be fain; glad. ( d )
If it be nay, friends as before; (e)
Ye shall another man obtain, get ( f )
And I mine own and yours no more. ( f) my own man, obligated to no one.

The theme:

- The type of the Poem:


- The lyric is expressing the writer’s personal feelings towards his beloved
- a short poem of 12 a poem meant to be sung and expressing the writer’s
personal feelings
- The poem deals with a courtly love which is one of the popular themes in the
Tudor poetry. The narrator is expressing his love to his beloved and asks her to
accept his suit.

- He asks his lady directly to decide whether she is accepting of his suit. In the
first four lines he asks her to give up her tricks and rely instead on her wit to
impress him and show her true worth. He explains in the second verse that he
burns with passion, and requests that if she has any compassion for him, she
would tell him clearly, yes or no.

- Finally, he will be happy with the answer yes, but if she says no, they will
remain friends as they were before. She will then be free to move on to get
herself a new man, and the narrator will be independent again, and no longer
possessed his beloved

- If she agrees to his suit, then he will be ‘fain’ (happy). If his beloved doesn’t
they will be friends like before.

- The rhyme scheme


- ababcdcdefef

- The literary Devices:


- Line 6 : He compares his burning passions to burning objects

- Alliteration:

- Consonance:

- The diction:

- The language is simple and to the point

- The tone;

romantic tone
Week: 3 Important Definitions
 Elegy: a poem of lament or grave meditation
 Ballad: a short simple narrative poem composed to be sung
 Lyric: a poem meant to be sung and expressing the writer’s personal feelings

 Sonnet: a poem of 14 iambic pentameter lines, divided into an octave and a


sestet, with a prescribed rhyme-scheme and concerned with a single thought or
emotion.
 Iambic pentameter is a type of metric line used in traditional English poetry
and verse drama. a line of verse with five metrical feet, each consisting of one
short (or unstressed) syllable followed by one long (or stressed) syllable,

 Octave: a stanza of eight lines in a sonnet.


 Sestet: a stanza of six lines

Evaluation:

What is the theme in Madam, withouten many Words?

What figures of speech is the narrator using in Madam, withouten many Words?

What poetic form is Madam, withouten many Words? Define?

what does Wyatt personify in the first line? In Madam, withouten many
Words?

What is the rhyme scheme Madam, withouten many Words?

In Madam, withouten many Words, the narrator addresses his beloved to

A. Accept his suit


B. Forget their love

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