POEM

SONNET 18

* Setting:

Time:

- The Renaissance and Reformation period

- A period of flourishing arts and literature in England marked by Queen Elizabeth I

- A yr right after the deadly Bubonic Plague

- Time of the day: a summer in May

Place: London or somewhere in the countryside of London filled with hues of green and gold by the sun,
flowers and wind

Physical env.:

- Summer’s day: time of joy and adventure, with burning passion > remind to sweetheart

- Summer’s day: cannot everlasting

Social env.:

- Renaissance : a time of rapid and unsettle political, cultural and social change

- The deadly Bubonic Plague took away the light of hope in many English souls

> The poem express the uncertainty regarding the future

> Notice changes, fading and even decay everywhere > the hope: the one he cherishes will exist eternal
in his heart, with it’s beauty transcending time and death

* Structure:

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?

Thou art more lovely and more temperate:

Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,

And summer's lease hath all too short a date;

Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,

And often is his gold complexion dimmed,

And every fair from fair sometime declines,

By chance, or nature's changing course, untrimmed;

 But thy eternal summer shall not fade,

Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st,

Nor shall death brag thou wand'rest in his shade,

When in eternal lines to Time thou grow'st.

So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,

So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

Form:

- 14 lines: 3 quatrains and a couplet > 1-12: ABAB rhyme scheme ( 1st and 3rd line rhyme together, 2nd and
4th rhyme together), a couplet: 1st and 2nd rhyme together

- Volta: poets change their mind or pose opposing ideas/ viewpoint > sonnet 18: not changing the
argument but restate this argument

Meter:

- Iambic pentameter > mimic the ways pp usually talk in daily life, except line 3 begins with a spondee (6
stresses) > Decay, fading > the potential threats to beauty

Rhyme scheme:

ABAB CDCD EFEF GG

* Writing style and purpose:

- Petrachan Sonnet: the 1st 8 lines pose a question or problem, the next 6 lines offer a solution or answer

- Traditional Shakespearean Sonnet: 3 quatrains and a final couplet

- Iambic pentameter

- Rhyme schemme: ABAB CDCD EFEF GG

- Imagery and wordplay: pun, simile, metaphor

>

Tone:/ Analysis

- pessimism and optimism

- “Shall I compare thee to the summer’s day ?”

> elevate the subject with the natural beauty and the splendor of summer
+ rhetorical question: engage the reader in making this nature of comparison; emphasizes the speaker's
intention to make a significant comparison, suggesting that the beloved's beauty surpasses that of a
summer’s day

+ Shall: seeking approval; respectful acknowledgment of the beloved's worth; desire to elevate their
status by associating them with the natural beauty and splendor of a summer's day

+ thee: formal, direct imply to the beloved

+ a summer’s day: associated with warmth, brightness, and beauty. In the context of expressing youthful
love, summer can be seen as a metaphor for the prime of one's life, a time associated with energy,
passion, and the blossoming of romantic feelings.

> However, summer days are also fleeting and can have imperfections such as excessive heat or storms.
By questioning whether the beloved can be compared to a summer's day, the speaker hints that the
beloved's beauty might be more constant and perfect than the variable summer.

- temperate: Latin word tempus - period of time > She’s a period of time - aging, decay and death

- the limitation of a summer’s day > rough winds signals the winter’s coming > the perfection has a very
short lease: it endures only for a brief moment > challenge for the poet to search for a metaphor a simile
that it doesn't imply the beloved’s beauty will decay or die.

Theme:

- Admiration and unconditional love

- The decline of beauty and death is unavoidable

- Art and literature are eternal

* Poetics devices:

- Alliteration: “rough winds do shake the darling buds of May” > the harshness of the weather and its
effects on the natural world

- Diction: rhetorical question

- Metaphor: “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” > the speaker questions whether he should
compare his beloved to a summer’s day. This metaphor serves to illustrate the beauty and perfection of
the beloved in comparison to the transient and changeable nature of a season

- Hyperbole: “more lovely”, “more temperate” > exaggerate the beauty of the beloved by suggesting that
they are even lovelier and more temperate than a perfect summer’s day

- Personification: “rough winds” > create a vivid image of the natural world and the potential threats to
beauty

A RED RED ROSE

* Setting:

Time: rural Scotland in the late 18th century - june summer > ? June > newly sprung
Place:

- Scotland, in the countryside

- Close to the ocean

* Structure:

O my Luve's like a red, red rose,

That's newly sprung in June;

O my Luve's like the melodie

That's sweetly play'd in tune.

As fair art thou, my bonie lass,

So deep in luve am I;

And I will luve thee still, my dear,

Till a' the seas gang dry.

Till a' the seas gang dry, my dear,

And the rocks melt wi' the sun;

I will luve thee still, my dear,

While the sands o' life shall run.

And fare thee weel, my only Luve,

And fare thee weel a while!

And I will come again, my Luve,

Tho' it were ten thousand mile.

Form: Ballad

- 4 stanza ( 4 lines for each)

Meter: alternating Iambic tetrameter and trimeter

Rhyme scheme: ABCB except stanza 3 & 4: identical rhyme ABAB

* Writing style:

- Romanticism: love
- Use of Scot language: intimate connection with Scottish identity

- Love for nature

- Humor and satire

> universal rather than personal feelings; immortalize the beauty of love and nature

* Analysis:

O my Luve is like a red, red rose

That’s newly sprung in June;

- Simile: compare his love to a rose

- Luve: the beloved; the speaker’s feeling of love for the beloved

- Red, red rose: the doubled "red, red" highlights the deep, vibrant hue of the rose > this mirrors the
intensity of the speaker's love; a "red, red rose" rather than just "a red rose" > his beloved is special,
one-of-a-kind - a rose unlike any other, just as his love is singular. The doubled "red" evokes a sense of
passionate, almost burning love - that is fresh, vibrant and all-consuming, like the hue of the rose.

- June: June - situates the rose in the height of summer - a time associated with blooming at its most
lush and vibrant > June represents the rose annual life cycle - when it reaches the peak of its beauty and
fragrance

- Newly sprung: the rose has just emerged, bursting with youthful vigor and untouched splendor >
picture of love that is fresh and new energy > The love is not faded but rather new

> However, flowers often symbolize impermanence. A "newly sprung" rose is especially lasts only a short
time. Instead of symbolizing the intensity of the speaker's love, the rose may signify that these feelings
of love may only last a little while.

O my Luve is like the melody

That’s sweetly played in tune.

- Repetition: Oh my luve is like > another simile (one image isn’t enough > use multiple images to capture
the multiple facets of this love)

- “ in-tune”: a sense of harmony, the connection b/t 2 things - the notes being played and the sound
these notes are meant to have > there is also a sense of unity b/t his own feelings and those of his
beloved

The couple is in a harmony when they share the same intense love > that’s stronger and more
permanent than the image of the rose

- Rhyme scheme creates a harmony for the stanza: newly - melody - sweetly/ tune - June

* Theme:

- The faithfulness in love

“So deep in luve am I”

> parallel structure with “So” - connection b/t 2 ideas > She is so beautiful, as beautiful as a rose, that
the speaker’s feelings for her are so strong and deep. They are so strong that they will last for longer
than any roses.

- Love withstand the change of time

3 images: the seas going dry, the rocks melting, and the sand of life running out > These events might not
happen in real life > It seems now that the speaker’s love, far away from the impermanent of the rose, it
somehow endure longer than the human life. He goes beyond the timescale of lifespan and describe his
love on the scale of geologic time > a sense of how intense the speaker's love is.

Separation: 10 thousand miles long > obstacles of love > he promises to return > this long stretches of
time could not exhaust the speaker’s love for the beloved, a long stretch of distance could not keep the
speaker from her

* Poetic devices:

- Simile: Red rose, melody

- Hyperbole: the seas gang dry, the rocks melt and the sand of life run > always faithful with her

- Paradox: contrast b/t impermanent objects and everlasting (his loving for her)

DAFFODILS

* Setting:

Time: 1804 - spring time: renewal, rebirth

Place: Lake District

Physical env: a fielf of daffodils

Social env.:

- During the late 18th and early 19th century, England was experiencing significant social and political
changes

- the solitude and the speaker’s longing for companionship with the daffodils > a sense of alienation and
disconnection when experiencing this rapid social change

* Writing style:

- Natural world: employ nature to explore human emotions, exp., the relationship b/t the external world
and the inner self

- Straightforward and accessible language > his desire to convey the ideas in clear and relatable manner

- Vivid imagery > “Daffodils”: paint a detailed pic. of daffodils dancing and fluttering in the breeze

- Reflective tone: the impact of nature on the human spirit, deep appreciation for the beauty and power
of the natural world
> How nature can transform and uplift the human spirit and mood + the relationship b/t nature and
human mind

* Analysis:

I wandered lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o'er vales and hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host, of golden daffodils;

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

- Describe himself as “a lonely cloud”. In fact, clouds always move in groups and are never alone > He
compared himself to a solitude cloud, feeling empty and alone despite of being in a crowd as if no one
noticed him > This state drives from the internal feeling. > Người buồn cảnh có vui đâu bao giờ

- Wander: he’s walking without any particular purposes

- a bunch of daffodils: although yellow would be more suitable with the daffodils > Golden: liken the
daffodils to the sun > vibrant and glowing quality

- crowd: a sense of abundance > they seem to be jostling for sunlight and space

- host: they are together in a collective bunch

While “I” is wandering alone, the daffodils are in harmony with thousands of companions

> The daffodils are perched beside the lake, beneath the trees. It’s windy day, the daffodils dancing and
fluttering as the wind blows

> They are a source of immense beauty for the poet hailing from the Romantic era

* Mood and tone:

Mood: shift from solitude and loneliness to a sense of joy and happiness

“ in vacant or in pensive mood” > future, a sense of peaceful. Whenever low spirits, memory of daffodils
offer comfort

“they flash upon that inward eye” > memory of daffodils, leaving a lasting impression of peace

Tone:

* Theme:

- Nature and humanity

+ Humanity isn’t separated from nature, but a part of it > nature has a power to bring human to
happiness
+ The beauty of daffodils has an instant impact on the speaker not only now but even later and in the
future > he still realizes its full significance

+ Daffodils: joy, playfulness, survival and beauty > In the speaker’s mind, the image of daffodils appear in
front of him with the whole lively beauty > his desire the dance with them once again

> Communion with the nature isn’t just a momentary joy, but smth deeper and long-lasting

+ The description isn’t only about daffodils but rather about nature generally. “star”, “sparkling waves” >
a series of links b/t the smaller, less noticeable elements of the natural world, humankind, and wider
universe > All as a part of nature

- Memory and imagination

+ The speaker’s exp. of seeing the daffodils

+ past tense > not to recall the exp. but also give life into it

* Structure:

Form: ballad genre

Meter: tetrameter

Rhyme scheme: ABABCC

Stanza: 4 (6 lines for each)

* Poetic devices:

- Symbolism: blooming of daffodils > the arrival of spring: renewable, rebirth and new beginnings

- Personification:

+ the loneliness of the cloud > Link the speaker’s feeling with the nature - Người buồn cảnh có vui đâu
bao giờ

+ Crowd/ host of daffodils dancing: > joy, togetherness with nature

- Simile:

+ 1st line

+ Compare daffodils to the stars in the night sky > the abundance of daffodils to the limitless no. of star
in the heavens > the large no. of daffodils > it links daffodils with smth more universal > sky - religious,
spiritual and the infinite

- Assonance:

“They stretched in never-ending”

> The repetition of “e” sound creates soft and flowing effect, which mirrors the gentle movement of the
stretching daffodils > the field of daffodils are seen to stretch indefinitely > a sense of vastness and
infinity
 WHEN I WAS ONE AND TWENTY

* Setting:

Time: “pearls and rubies” > Victorian Era

- one and twenty

- two and twenty

Place: British coin > Shropshire, a rural area in West England

Physical env.:

- many forms of material items > the wealth of the young man or the society itself at that time

- countryside connects with simplicity and peace > the speaker at the age of 21 is free from the
complexity and pains of love

Social env.:

- a wise man: value the exp. and the intelligence over age

- the journey of the speaker himself from youthful naivety to more mature and understanding of life

* Writing style:

- simple but powerful language

- lyricism: musical elements (rhyme scheme)

- traditional forms (quatrains and couplets) > ABCB rhyme scheme

> make his poetry accessible to a broad audience > use of tradition forms to enhance the beauty of his
poetry

* Analysis:

When I was one-and-twenty

I heard a wise man say,

“Give crowns and pounds and guineas

But not your heart away;

- 21: The age of twenty-one is often considered a milestone in many cultures, marking the transition
from youth to full adulthood. "one" suggests a stage where the speaker is still inexperienced and naive

- heard: recalling the advice given to him by a wise man

- a wise man: who is experienced and wisdom, he has lived through the trials and errors of life and has
gained knowledge from them
- advice: It would be better to give everything away than a heart > It would be better to exp. All kinds of
destitution - falling from riches to poverty - rather than falling in love

> these advice contrast with the speaker inability to heed it

Give pearls away and rubies

But keep your fancy free.”

But I was one-and-twenty,

No use to talk to me.

- past tense: this is the advice the speaker failed to listen to > young pp usually fail to listen to the advice
of those who are older and wiser > this is simply the way life works - young pp have to make mistakes for
themselves in order to learn

- no use to talk to me: the speaker’s youthful overconfidence is reflected in his belief that he could
handle whatever love brings, ignoring the cautionary words > headstrong and self-willed

> the poem is less ab trying to warn the readers against falling in love, and more ab how advice given
from old to young is rarely followed, especially when it comes to matters of love

- But I was one and twenty > repetition > highlight how stubborn the speaker when he was at the age 21
“But”: show contradiction: although the wise man advised, at this age, the advice seems nonsense to a
one and twenty man > the folly of youth and the wisdom of age

* Mood and tone:

- Stanza 1:

Mood: reflective (recalling the past decision), somehow regret

Tone: skepticism > youthful arrogance

- Stanza 2:

Mood: regret not listen to the wise man’s advice > a sense of gloominess (realize that the heart once
given away brings many sighs and leads to endless sorrow)

Tone: accepted the truth > a sense of wisdom gained from painful exp. > self irony “tis true tis true”

* Theme:

- Youth, naive and exp.:

+ fail to listen to the advice

+ heart broken > admitting the youthful arrogance

+ make a serious point: falling in and out of love are major milestones for growing up > These mistakes
shape pp when they get older - though the speaker is now only 22, it’s noticeable that his whole
perspectives on life has changed
- Love and pain:

+ love leads to suffering

+ give everything away but the heart > ignore

+ 22: the pain and regret from disregard the advice > the exp. of heartbreak serves as a harsh but
effective teacher. The speaker’s newfound wisdom derives from his pain > highlights how suffering can
lead to personal growth and understanding

* Structure:

Form: 2 stanzas (8 lines for each)

Meter: metrical poem > Iambic trimeter

Rhyme scheme: ABCBCDAD (1st stanza), ABCBADAD (2nd stanza)

* Poetic devices:

- Repetition:

+ “when I was one and twenty” > “But”: show contradiction: although the wise man advised, at this age,
the advice seems nonsense to a one and twenty man > the folly of youth and the wisdom of age

+ “twenty”: The speaker is still in his 20s > very young age, the early stage of adulthood > highlight the
naive and inexp.

- First-person POV

SHORT STORY

THE LUNCHEON