Kent-Drury

English 202

Critical Analysis #2. Poetry Analysis

Learning Objectives:

• To read a poem closely
• To practice analyzing and writing about poetry
• To apply your knowledge and understanding of Renaissance culture

Assignment:

Using the handout on the Medieval/Renaissance World View, your class notes on poetry, and the “Analyzing Poetry” handout provided to you in class and at http://www.nku.edu/~rkdrury/poetryexplication.html, analyze the sonnet printed below, then write a two page (minimum) analysis of it. Your analysis should include a thesis in which you state what you think the poem is about, a brief paraphrase of what the poem says literally, and an explication of its formal and rhetorical elements that shows how specific parts of and quotations from the poem demonstrate your interpretation.

Answering the questions on the Poetry Explication handout is a good place to start, but you need not use all of the questions or your answers to them in your paper. It is not okay, however, to ignore evidence in the poem that runs counter to your interpretation (i.e., your analysis needs to include and account for everything the poem says). You should not need to consult outside sources, but if you do, be certain that you cite them. One particularly valuable resource is the OED, which gives you definitions of words over time (that is, it tells you what Renaissance people thought words meant). This reference work is available in the library (26 volumes), in my office (the 3 volume compact set), and on-line at the Cincinnati Public Library, if you have a library card there. If you need help, feel free to talk with me about your plans for the paper and what you think the sonnet says either after class or during office hours. Generally, I am also available on Tu/Th in LA543).

No more be grieved at that which thou hast done.

Roses have thorns, and silver fountains mud,

Clouds and eclipses stain both moon and sun,

And loathsome canker lives in sweetest bud.

All men make faults, and even I in this,

Authorizing thy trespass with compare,

Myself corrupting, salving thy amiss,

Excusing thy sins more than thy sins are.

For to thy sensual fault I bring in sense—

Thy adverse party is thy advocate—

And ‘gainst myself a lawful plea commence.

Such civil war is in my love and hate

That I an accessory needs must be

To that sweet thief which sourly robs from me.