Drayton 61 Structure Essay

There are many different ways to approach the coordinate of a poem, a piece of fiction, a play. In what follows Im going to make some(prenominal) suggestions about the structure of Michael Draytons poem line of descent Since theres no help, come permit us kiss and part, a sonnet from his collection titled Idea, first published in 1593. Its important for you to understand that there are many valu competent and illuminating ways to talk about this poems structure, non any one, single, serious way. Thats why Im writing suggestions, not prescriptions. When I say the structure of Draytons poem, I mean not only how its put to confirmher but also the way it works.Learning how some amour is put together shows us what the parts are. Learning how those put-together parts work shows us the thing in action. And a short lyric poem like Draytons (any work of literature that were reading, for that matter) is a thing in action, a high-octane process. Here is Draytons poem. Since theres no he lp, come let us kiss and part Nay, I gull done, you get no to a greater extent of me, And I am glad, yea glad with all told my heart That thus so cleanly I myself gage free4 Shake workforce forever, shadowercel all our vows, And when we meet at any time again, Be it not seen in either of our browsThat we one jot of love retain. 8 instantly at the pass away gasp of loves latest breath, When, his throb failing, passion speechless lies, When faith is kneeling by his bed of closing, And innocence is remnant up his eyes, 12 outright if thou wouldst, when all have given him over, From death to life thou mightst him yet recover. Well, what are the parts of this poem? dustup in lines. Specifically, words in lines which usually add up to ten syllables each. Words put together so that they make a rhythm as we say them, a sort of di-da di-da di-da di-da di-da rhythm, with emphasis usually on the da syllable, like thisAnd I am glad, yea glad with all my heart or this And when we me et at any time again. And the poem is made up of lines whose shutting words rhyme (that is, chime together) in a certain sit throughout the poem, like this part / me / heart / free(abab)lines 1-4 vows /again / brows / retain (cdcd)lines 5-8 breath / lies / death / eyes (efef)lines 9-12 over / recover(gg)lines 13-14 This pattern creates groups of lines (they have technical English-teacher terms), which go together because their end-word rhymes link them together lines 1-4=first quatrain lines 5-8=second quatrainlines 9-12=third quatrain lines 13-14=final duad The words in this poem are also organized grammatically, in some(prenominal) ways sentencesthe first (a additive sentencecheck out the term in a handbook or do a Google search) lie ining of the poems first and second quatrains and the second (a periodic sentence) consisting of the third quatrain and the final span clausesa bunch notice, for example, the first line of the poem Since theres no help, come let us kiss and part a subordinate clause followed by a main clause in a faction showing a cause-and-effect relationshipverbssignifi discharget mood shifts within the poem (another technical English-teacher termverbs come in moods, namely the indicative, subjunctive, or imperative, which, if you cant recognize, youd better get a grammar/composition handbook), with the imperative and indicative dominating the first eight lines and the indicative and subjunctive the last six (note curiously wouldst and mightst in ll. 13-14) subjectsall personal pronouns in the first eight lines (us, I, you, we), nouns in the next four (passion, faith, innocence), and a return to pronouns in the final span (thou, all)adverbs expressing timewhen X 4, Now X 2, again, and yet adjectivesthere are very few why Well, despite the fact that GRAMMAR IS REALITY, we probably should get off the grammar wagon for the time being. There are other ways to look at how words in a poem are organized. tump over the way they get sounded w hen you read them. Listen carefully as you say the first two quatrains of the poem Since theres no help, come let us kiss and part Nay, I have done, you get no more of me, And I am glad, yea glad with all my heart That thus so cleanly I myself can free4 Shake hands forever, cancel all our vows,And when we meet at any time again, Be it not seen in either of our brows That we one jot of love retain. 8 Im hearing a lot of one-syllable words. The first three lines consist entirely of one-syllable words, and there are only seven two-syllable words in all of the eight lines. Im also hearing a variant of clipped, short way of speaking in these lines. Partly this is due to (ALERT-ALERT another technical term) alliteration, as in the hard c soundscome, kiss, cleanly, can, Shake, canceland t soundslet, part, get, heart, That, meet, time, it, not, That, jot, retain.Now listen to the way youre sounding the words in the third quatrain Now at the last gasp of loves latest breath, When, his pulse failing, passion speechless lies, When faith is kneeling by his bed of death, And innocence is finish up his eyes 12 Im hearing a lot more two- and even a three-syllable word now, especially in ll. 10-12. Also, Im more aware of a kind of breathiness than I was when reflexion the first eight lines. Partly this is due to the fact that Im saying words here that require more breath than one-syllable words.Theres another reason for the breathiness, and, yup, theres a technical term for this, too, but lets skip over it and listen to whats make this breathiness. What do you notice when you say these words gasp, breath, pulse, failing, passion, faith, bed, death? Feel a little puff of breath coming out of your mouth, a kind of uh, after(prenominal) you say the initial consonant of the word? Thats what Im getting. I think theres another reason Im feeling this breathiness, a reason not related to the sounds of words but to what theyre saying.The speaker in this poem is painting a pictur e in the third quatrain by using images. LOOK OUT (another technical term) imagery or images can refer to literal, descriptive pictures in a piece of writing, as well as to figurative language like (technical alert) similes, metaphors, personifications, etc. , or to both. In the present case, the speakers imagery is both literal and figurative. S/hes creating a deathbed chance theres a last gasp of . . . breath, a pulse failing, a bed of death, even the closing up of the dying persons eyes by an attendant.All this is smart, literal imagery. But whos dying? Someone named love. Who else is present in the scene? Persons named passion, faith, and innocence (in some printed versions of the poem these names are capitalized). These persons are abstract nouns that are being given the characteristics of humanshence the term personification. So Im getting both literal and figurative images, a double-whammy deathbed scene that strongly conveys the idea of the dying persons final expiration. How does the imagery of the end of the poem compare with imagery at the beginning of the poem?I cant see any figurative language at all in the first two quatrains, except for you get no more of me in l. 2, which suggests the idea of possession in a love relationship, and Be it not seen in either of our brows in l. 7, a (you got it) metonymy or figure of speech in which a part is substituted for the whole (brow for face). But for these exceptions, I can come upon more or less literally everything the speaker is saying. S/he and her/his fellow are going to kiss and separatethats all that can be done. The speaker is finished with the partner, and s/hes glad that s/he can make this separation so neatly.Its exactly a case of shaking hands goodbye, freeing each other of any obligation created by what the lovers might have said in the onetime(prenominal) (I swear Ill love you forever, Therell never be another person in my life, Youre the center of my world, etc. ), and making accepted that, whenever they meet in the future, no bystander will be able to detect the slightest trace of their former love. I think its time to start asking how these put-together parts work in action, that is, to see what dynamic process is operating in the poem.If the structure of this poem is a dynamic process, then you ought to be able to see changes, divergencys, shifts, as you move through the poem. In fact, if you compare the beginning of the poem with the end, you can see major shifts. Ive already noted somefor example, the change in verb moods from imperative and indicative in the first eight lines to indicative and subjunctive in the last six. Then theres the difference in the sounds the words make and the style of speaking you can hear, from the direct, concise, controlled tone of ll.1-8 to the breathy, drawn out speech of the last part of the poem, where the speaker creates a vivid picture of Love at the point of death. How do these grammatical and tonal differences work to gether to reinforce the changes you can hear as the speaker confronts his/her soon-to-be-ex partner? In the first part of the poem the speaker is giving orders to his/her partner, using imperative verbs (come let us kiss and part, Shake hands, cancel, be it not seen) and making statements s/he intends the partner to allow as true and literal, using indicative verbs (theres no help, I have done, you get, I am glad, I .can free). Then theres the alliteration of hard c and t sounds and the dominance of one-syllable words, creating a sense of directness. Its almost as if the speaker is trying to maintain stimulated control of the situation, as if s/he needed to suppress feelings of regret over the breakup. You can even see this in the use of you in l. 2, a formal style of address in early modern English. (In a similar situation, why would you formally address your soon-to-be-ex? ) There is also an effort at matter-of-factness here, evident in the avoidance of figurative language.All t his is accomplished in a cumulative sentence, where you get the main message at the beginning (we know were breaking up, so lets get on with it). In the last part of the poem the speaker is painting a vivid picture of Love at the point of death, surrounded by mourning figures (those personifications) attending at the bedside, and maybe, if s/he were willing, the speakers partner. Note that indicative verbs are used in ll. 10-12 (in the subordinate when clauses), then subjunctive verbs in the final couplet (if thou wouldst and mightst .. recover). The important thing to know about the subjunctive mood here is that it expresses an action that might take place, not one that does take place. Note also that in this final couplet the speaker addresses his/her partner by using the informal, intimate form thou instead of the formal you. In addition to the figurative language and significant grammatical differences between the beginning of the poem and this part, you now get longer words an d the breathiness I noted.Its as if the speaker is encouraging his/her partner to imagine, to see, to feel what the death of their love is going to be like, complete with mourners and last gasps. This invitation to participate is clearly intended to have an emotional impact on the partner. The speaker is also feeling some emotion, I think. You can see this in something I havent spoken of before. Its the shift from a regular di-da di-da rhythm in the first part of the poem to some pretty strong, off-beat rhythms in the last six lines. Look, for instance, at the beat in ll. 9-10 or l. 13.Something different is going on here, not the regular di-da di-da amble youve gotten used to. Why this shift? I think it may have to do with the emotion the speaker is starting to feel as s/he describes the deathbed scene. S/he is getting near the end of the poem, and if anything is going to slip by other than shaking hands and saying goodbye, it had better happen soon. Im sensing that emotions are getting much more noticeable. S/he even makes his/her partner the central figure, on whom loves life or death depends Now if thou wouldst, when all have given him over, From death to life thou mightst him yet recover.All this happens in a periodic sentence, where you get the main message at the end, here in the final couplet (its up to you dear, if you want to bring love back . . . ) Well, I could go on, but I wontnot for much longer, anyway. Ive been trying to show you that the closer you look at a piece of literature, the more things happen. Draytons poemany good poemis super dynamic. However, you cant capture this dynamic quality just by taking a photograph or making a list of the poems parts. Youve got to experience the dynamic quality of the poem in order to know its structure.