Unit III: The Renaissance
Week 9
Please read:
Edmund Spenser, p. 179-80.
- from Amoretti:
- Sonnet 30 (p. 180)
- Sonnet 75 (p. 180)
Those who find themselves particularly taken with both Spenser and Sidney (who follows) may want to investigate the curious poem called “Astrophel”, which is a long “Pastorall Elegie vpon the death of the most Noble and valorous Knight, Sir Philip Sidney”.
The excellent Luminarium site offers some biographical information on Spenser here.
Sir Philip Sidney:
- Sel. from Arcadia, p. 182.
- Astrophil and Stella :
- Sonnet 31, p. 182.
- The remainder are to be gathered on the Web here; some others are also to be found as noted specifically below. Please prepare a brief (ca. 5 min.) class presentation on the one assigned you (the assignments will be sent out by regular email), but read them all. You are free of course to read as many more as you like, and if you find one you like better than what has been assigned you, let me know: perhaps we can arrange a switch. In reading these, be mindful of the fact that spelling in Elizabethan England was extremely flexible. The Web edition uses older spellings: “Astrophel” instead of “Astrophil”; i can be a j; u can be a v; and extra “e” pops up almost anywhere.
The class presentation should be a short discussion of the structure and imagery of the poem, and an examination of how it achieves its effects. Where does the sonnet “break”? What is its meter and rhyme scheme (you may need to refer to the appendix of the textbook for the appropriate terms). Have your presentation of a paragraph or two typed out ahead of time and be ready to paste it in so we can spend the time discussing it.
The following links represent a variety of locations, including the Luminarium site of Mediaeval and Renaissance literature, the University of Oregon, and others.
- “Thou Blind Man's Mark”, p. 183.
The Luminarium site offers biographical information on Sidney as well as more of his work.
Contents of this page © Copyright 2001, 2003, 2006 by Bruce A. McMenomy.
Permission to download or print this page is hereby given to members of Scholars Online for purposes of personal study only. All other use constitutes a violation of copyright.