Introduction to Poetry using “Christ’s Reply” and Shakespeare’s 18th Sonnet
To demonstrate some of the introduction’s terms, I will use two poems: “Christ’s Reply” by Edward Taylor and Shakespeare’s 18th Sonnet.
“Christ’s Reply” – http://bit.ly/QVEt8v.
This particular poem is written in 21 sestet (six-lined) stanzas (groups of lines, basically paragraphs for poems). The rhyme (a technique in which words sound similar) for this poem goes in an a.a.b.c.c.b. pattern, which (upon further investigation) is in a Spanish sestet form. Take for example stanza one:
Peace, Peace, My Honey, do not Cry, (a)
My Little Darling, wipe thine eye, (a)
Oh Cheer, Cheer up, come see. (b)
Is there anything too dear, my Dove, (c)
Is there anything too good, my Love, (c)
To get or give to thee? (b)
The rhyme shown above is called end rhyme because the rhyming words are at the end of the line and they connect the stanza. Sometimes, the poet uses off rhyme and feminine rhyme as well. Off rhyme is when the rhyme isn’t a perfect rhyme. For example, in stanza four, Edward Taylor rhymes “cur” and “far”. A feminine rhyme is a rhyme between stressed syllables followed by one or more unstressed syllables. For example, in stanza 18, Taylor rhymes “therefore” with “implore”.
The speaker of this poem is Christ, speaking to a believer, or the audience. When we think of an audience, we think of the people who are listening, but specifically, this audience is the one that the speaker is addressing in the poem.
This poem is full of imagery and images. An example can be taken from stanza three. Here we are faced with the image of a cur, or and aggressive dog, with broken teeth barking (bay: in terms of a dog, barking loudly in pursuit of their target). Such barking is to make the believer cling under Christ’s wing, an image that portrays comfort and refuge.
But yet this Cur that bays so sore
Is broken-toothed, and muzzled sure,
Fear not, my Pretty Heart.
His barking is to make thee Cling
Close underneath thy Savior’s Wing.
Why did my sweeten start?
The chained dog is a symbol (something that stands for something else) for Satan or evil. Since dog’s aren’t universally thought of as representing evil, this could be a literary symbol, holding meaning specifically in this poem. An example of a universal symbol could be a serpent representing Satan instead. The dog’s restraints and boundaries are as those put on Satan and evil by Christ in believers. In this way, there is symbolic action. The restraints and limitations on the dog are those that Christ puts on Satan and evil in regards to believers, in order to protect the ones he loves.
And if he runs an inch too far,
I’ll Check his Chain, and rate the cur.
A metaphor in this poem can be found in stanza 13. A comparison is made between the soul and a stall with knick-knacks in it. This is a figure of speech because it is not literal language. The lines are expressing an idea that the soul is filled with evil things. This metaphor of a soul being a building or structure continues in the stanza, creating an extended metaphor.
Although thy Soul was once a Stall
Rich hung with Satan’s knick-knacks all;
If thou Repent thy sin,
A Tabernacle in’t I’ll place
Filled with God’s Spirit, and His Grace.
Oh. Comfortable thing!
Enjambment is when one line makes you read the next without a pause in between. I think a sufficient example could be in stanza eight:
I’ll lure her back to me, and Change
Those fond Affections that do range
As yelping beagles do.
Sonnet #18- William Shakespeare
Next, we will briefly look at a sonnet (a 14 line poem that usually has 10 syllables per line. Shakespeare’s 18th Sonnet is a Shakespearean sonnet consisting of three quatrains (four lines) and a couplet (two lines). Each quatrain and the couplet are grouped by their rhyming pattern. In this poem the pattern is a.b.a.b. (quatrain) c.d.c.d. (quatrain) e.f.e.f. (quatrain) and g.g. (couplet).
Let’s look at rhythm. We can see the rhythm in the meter, the basic rhythmic structure of a verse or lines in verse. Most sonnets, including this one, are in iambic pentameter. Iamb is a type of foot (unit of stressed/unstressed syllables or ˘ ¯ ) that is characterized by one unstressed syllable followed by one stressed syllable. Pentameter is five feet or ten syllables.
For example:
˘ ¯ / ˘ ¯ / ˘ ¯ / ˘ ¯ / ˘ ¯
Shall I com-pare thee to a sum-mer’s day?
The tone of a poem is pretty much the same as the tone of a story, but it’s a poem. The tone is a feeling that the poem gives off. for example, the tone of Shakespeare’s 18th sonnet could be light-hearted or endearing.
Literature! 