- Jul 2019
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Imoinda is as irrecoverably lost to me as if she were snatched by the cold arms of death.
Oroonoko understands that he will never be able to be with Imoinda because of the taboos and repercussions on his name.
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ignobly
If you describe something as ignoble, you mean that it is bad and something to be ashamed of.
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circumvent
If someone circumvents a rule or restriction, they avoid having to obey the rule or restriction, in a clever and perhaps dishonest way.
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The king, enraged at this delay, hastily demanded the name of the bold man that had married a woman of her degree without his consent
The King is furious that Imoinda is trying to deny him and demands that she reveal the name of her husband.
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She told him, as she was a maid, how proud of the divine glory she should have been, of having it in her power to oblige her king; but as by the laws he could not, and from his royal goodness would not, take from any man his wedded wife; so she believed she should be the occasion of making him commit a great sin if she did not reveal her state and condition, and tell him she was another’s, and could not be so happy to be his.
Imoinda explains that she is still a virgin, and says that she would gladly give her virginity to the King, except that it is not hers to bestow on any man but her husband. She also reminds the King that their country’s laws and his own sense of honor would prevent him from sleeping with her.
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But Imoinda, all in tears, threw herself on the marble, on the brink of the bath, and besought him to hear her.
Seeing the King sitting in the tub waiting for her arrival, Imoinda starts crying and falls to the edge of the bathtub, pleading with the King to listen to her.
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royal veil
To its recipients, it is a symbol of both a man’s sexual invitation and a woman’s sexual submission. This gift from the King is no gift at all, but a command.
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for she expressed her sense of the present the prince had sent her, in terms so sweet, so soft and pretty, with an air of love and joy that could not be dissembled, insomuch that ’twas past doubt whether she loved Oroonoko entirely. This gave the old king some affliction; but he salved it with this, that the obedience the people pay their king was not at all inferior to what they paid their gods; and what love would not oblige Imoinda to do, duty would compel her to.
The King is upset to discover that Imoinda is truly in love with Oroonoko, but he reassures himself that Imoinda will surely accept his proposition. He knows that his people must obey their king like a god, so Imoinda’s sense of duty will surely override her love for Oroonoko.
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Captain of the Clouds
The deity of Coramantien is assigned a military title: Captain of the Clouds.
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he loved when he came from war, to see all the English gentlemen that traded thither; and did not only learn their language, but that of the Spaniard also, with whom he traded afterwards for slaves
Oroonoko learns English and Spanish by mingling with the English and Spanish slave traders he sold his prisoners to.
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I have already said, the old general was killed by the shot of an arrow by the side of this prince in battle; and that Oroonoko was made general.
The narrator reminds readers that the death of Oroonoko’s foster-father has huge consequences other than just bringing Oroonoko back to court.
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His face was not of that brown rusty black which most of that nation are, but of perfect ebony, or polished jet. His eyes were the most awful that could be seen, and very piercing; the white of ’em being like snow, as were his teeth. His nose was rising and Roman, instead of African and flat. His mouth the finest shaped that could be seen; far from those great turned lips which are so natural to the rest of the negroes. The whole proportion and air of his face was so nobly and exactly formed that, bating his color, there could be nothing in nature more beautiful, agreeable, and handsome.
The narrator gives detailed description on Oroonoko's features, which are all the more remarkable to the narrator because they are not exactly like what she has seen of his race. His skin is “perfect ebony” instead “brown rusty black,” and his nose is “Roman, instead of African and flat.” Based on his fine appearance, she guesses he must be a good ruler with a beautiful soul.
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This great and just character of Oroonoko gave me an extreme curiosity to see him, especially when I knew he spoke French and English, and that I could talk with him.
The narrator is excited to get to see Oroonoko after hearing so much about him.
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Some part of it we may attribute to the care of a Frenchman of wit and learning, who, finding it turn to very good account to be a sort of royal tutor to this young black
Oroonoko grew up with a background in Western education due to his French tutor.
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’twas amazing to imagine where it was he learned so much humanity: or, to give his accomplishments a juster name, where ’twas he got that real greatness of soul, those refined notions of true honor, that absolute generosity, and that softness that was capable of the highest passions of love and gallantry, whose objects were almost continually fighting men, or those mangled or dead, who heard no sounds but those of war and groans.
Like many heroes, Oroonoko is great in all areas.
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He had scarce arrived at his seventeenth year, when, fighting by his side, the general was killed with an arrow in his eye, which the Prince Oroonoko (for so was this gallant Moor called) very narrowly avoided; nor had he, if the general who saw the arrow shot, and perceiving it aimed at the prince, had not bowed his head between, on purpose to receive it in his own body, rather than it should touch that of the prince, and so saved him. ’Twas then, afflicted as Oroonoko was, that he was proclaimed general in the old man’s place: and then it was, at the finishing of that war, which had continued for two years, that the prince came to court
Oroonoko's foster-father saves his life in battle, taking a fatal arrow in the eye that had been aimed at him. Oroonoko then becomes the new general, finishes the war, and comes back to court.
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Oroonoko coming from the wars (which were now ended), after he had made his court to his grandfather he thought in honor he ought to make a visit to Imoinda, the daughter of his foster-father, the dead general; and to make some excuses to her, because his preservation was the occasion of her father’s death
So Oroonoko is trained by the country’s best and oldest general, the father of Imoinda, who becomes his foster-father.
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Those who want slaves make a bargain with a master or a captain of a ship, and contract to pay him so much apiece, a matter of twenty pound a head, for as many as he agrees for, and to pay for ’em when they shall be delivered on such a plantation: so that when there arrives a ship laden with slaves, they who have so contracted go aboard, and receive their number by lot; and perhaps in one lot that may be for ten, there may happen to be three or four men, the rest women and children. Or be there more or less of either sex, you are obliged to be contented with your lot. Coramantien, a country of blacks so called, was one of those places in which they found the most advantageous trading for these slaves, and thither most of our great traders in that merchandise traffic; for that nation is very warlike and brave: and having a continual campaign, being always in hostility with one neighboring prince or other, they had the fortune to take a great many captives: for all they took in battle were sold as slaves; at least those common men who could not ransom themselves. Of these slaves so taken, the general only has all the profit; and of these generals our captains and masters of ships buy all their freights.
This detailed account of how the slave trade works reveals how the institution of slavery dehumanizes everyone involved.
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Those who want slaves make a bargain with a master or a captain of a ship, and contract to pay him so much apiece, a matter of twenty pound a head, for as many as he agrees for, and to pay for ’em when they shall be delivered on such a plantation
The narrator then goes on to explain how the slave trade works. Those looking to purchase slaves make a deal with a ship’s captain to pay him so much per slave.
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tranquillity
a state of calm or quietude
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savannahs
An area of flat grassland in a tropical or subtropical region.
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we find it absolutely necessary to caress ’em as friends, and not to treat ’em as slaves, nor dare we do other, their numbers so far surpassing ours in that continent. Those then whom we make use of to work in our plantations of sugar are negroes, black slaves altogether, who are transported thither in this manner.
The narrator explains that because the natives cannot be enslaved, the colony imports African slaves to work the sugar plantations.
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This anecdote brings up the ideas of honor and betrayal, which are the important themes in this work.
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And these people represented to me an absolute idea of the first state of innocence, before man knew how to sin. And ’tis most evident and plain that simple Nature is the most harmless, inoffensive, and virtuous mistress. ’Tis she alone, if she were permitted, that better instructs the world than all the inventions of man. Religion would here but destroy that tranquillity they possess by ignorance; and laws would but teach ’em to know offense, of which now they have no notion.
The narrator proclaims that religion would only destroy the natives' peace, which they naturally possess through “ignorance,” and laws would only teach them how to cause offense.
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Some of the beauties, which indeed are finely shaped, as almost all are, and who have pretty features, are charming and novel; for they have all that is called beauty, except the color, which is a reddish yellow; or after a new oiling, which they often use to themselves, they are of the color of a new brick, but smooth, soft, and sleek. They are extreme modest and bashful, very shy, and nice of being touched. And though they are all thus naked, if one lives forever among ’em there is not to be seen an undecent action, or glance: and being continually used to see one another so unadorned, so like our first parents before the Fall, it seems as if they had no wishes, there being nothing to heighten curiosity; but all you can see, you see at once, and every moment see; and where there is no novelty, there can be no curiosity.
The narrator details what the natives look like. She says that the natives “have all that is called beauty, except the color” and are “extreme modest and bashful, very shy, and nice of being touched.” They are also mostly naked, but because they are so used to seeing each other this way, partial nudity does not excite sexual feelings between men and women: “where there is no novelty, there can be no curiosity.”
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those they make use of there not being natives of the place: for those we live with in perfect amity, without daring to command ’em; but, on the contrary, caress ’em with all the brotherly and friendly affection in the world
The white colonists in Suriname apparently live with the natives in “perfect amity,” and don’t “command” them.
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But before I give you the story of this gallant slave, ’tis fit I tell you the manner of bringing them to these new colonies; those they make use of there not being natives of the place: for those we live with in perfect amity, without daring to command ’em; but, on the contrary, caress ’em with all the brotherly and friendly affection in the world; trading with them for their fish, venison, buffalo’s skins, and little rarities; as marmosets, a sort of monkey, as big as a rat or weasel, but of marvelous and delicate shape, having face and hands like a human creature; and cousheries, a little beast in the form and fashion of a lion, as big as a kitten, but so exactly made in all parts like that noble beast that it is it in miniature.
Behn gives detailed description on Suriname's native people and animals. See her style of using long sentences here.
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tinctures
A tincture is a medicine consisting of alcohol and a small amount of a drug.
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marmosets
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venison
the edible flesh of a game animal and especially a deer
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this great man
Readers are expecting to read a story of a hero.
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brevity
shortness of duration
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Aphra Behn
Portrait of Aphra Behn, aged approximately 30
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I was myself an eye-witness to a great part of what you will find here set down; and what I could not be witness of, I received from the mouth of the chief actor in this history, the hero himself, who gave us the whole transactions of his youth
She makes it clear in the beginning of the novel that she is “an eye-witness,” that this story is not heresy.
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I do not pretend, in giving you the history of this Royal Slave, to entertain my reader with adventures of a feigned hero, whose life and fortunes fancy may manage at the poet’s pleasure; nor in relating the truth, design to adorn it with any accidents but such as arrived in earnest to him: and it shall come simply into the world, recommended by its own proper merits and natural intrigues; there being enough of reality to support it, and to render it diverting, without the addition of invention.
Because Behn states that she is writing about true events, she begins her novel with this statement defending the legitimacy in order to make it believable to the reader.
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intrigues
the practice of engaging in secret schemes
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adorn
to enhance the appearance of especially with beautiful objects
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Oroonoko: Or, the Royal Slave
Illustration of a 1776 performance of Oroonoko
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contumely
scornful or insulting language or behavior
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detestation
intense hatred; abhorrence
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intricate
complex; difficult
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axioms
An axiom is a statement or idea which people accept as being true.
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calamities
A calamity is an event that causes a great deal of damage, destruction, or personal distress.
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primum mobile
In classical, medieval, and Renaissance astronomy, the Primum Mobile (or "first moved") was the outermost moving sphere in the geocentric model of the universe.
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Augustus Cæsar
Augustus was a Roman statesman and military leader who was the first emperor of the Roman Empire, reigning from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. His status as the founder of the Roman Principate has consolidated an enduring legacy as one of the most effective and controversial leaders in human history.
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expostulation
If you expostulate, you express strong disagreement with someone.
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contrive
If you contrive an event or situation, you succeed in making it happen, often by tricking someone.
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expound
If you expound an idea or opinion, you give a clear and detailed explanation of it.
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disavow
If you disavow something, you say that you are not connected with it or responsible for it.
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I enjoyed these essays a lot! There's tons of wisdom in them. He is so inspirational and has so many unique ideas that I could listen to him speak for days. I also love his writing style. His sentences achieve a carefully constructed balance and he uses parallelism and comparisons a lot, which helps readers understand his ideas easily.
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ornament
His word choice is so spot-on! He is saying some people gain knowledge merely for decoration, meaning that they only want to improve themselves in the eyes of other.
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stond
hindrance
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To spend too much time in studies, is sloth; to use them too much for ornament, is affectation
Literary device: litotes
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distilled books are, like common distilled waters, flashy things.
This simile sounds very modern to me. Anyone thinks the same? And I wonder what kind of books can be classified by Bacon as "distilled books"?
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natural abilities are like natural plants, that need pruning by study
This is a great simile!
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Abeunt studia in mores;” nay, there is no stond or impediment in the wit, but may be wrought out by fit studies: like as diseases of the body may have appropriate exercises; bowling is good for the stone and reins, shooting for the lungs and breast, gentle walking for the stomach, riding for the head, and the like
Wit is a God-given gift. It is present in everybody. However, it can be sharpened by selective studying. This is similar to the way certain weaknesses of the human body are cured by appropriate physical exercises.
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if his wit be no apt to distinguish or find differences, let him study the schoolmen, for they are “Cymini sectores
This line is Latin for “hairsplitters” or literally “dividers of cumin seed.” Basically, Bacon is using an English idiom meaning that Schoolmen (that would be teachers) like to closely examine small, unimportant details as if they were the most important thing around.
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bowling
Bowling here means cricket or the bowling we know?
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Histories make men wise; poets witty; the mathematics subtile; natural philosophy deep; moral, grave; logic and rhetoric
Comparisons appeal to readers' logical sense.
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Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man
Bacon uses comparison and contrast quite a lot.
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writing an exact man
Writing forces one to think about what he believes and what he wants to communicate.
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conference a ready man
Conversing with many people, and with many different kinds of people, will make a man, or woman, sophisticated and versatile.
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Reading maketh a full man
By reading, one is able to fill the mind with knowledge pertaining to a variety of topics.
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Abeunt studia in mores
“Studies determine character.”
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covetous
A covetous person has a strong desire to possess something, especially something that belongs to another person.
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impertinences
If someone talks or behaves in a rather impolite and disrespectful way, you can call this behavior impertinence or an impertinence.
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impediments
obstacle; barrier
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foretold
Past tense of foretell. If you foretell a future event, you predict that it will happen.
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peal
ring
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sect
A sect is a group of people that has separated from a larger group and has a particular set of religious or political beliefs.
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The first creature of God, in the works of the days, was the light of the sense: the last was the light of reason
This saying is so philosophical
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indisposition
unwillingness; disinclination
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daintily
pretty; charming
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mummeries
Performances by masked performers in folk play or mime
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What is truth? said jesting Pilate; and would not stay for an answer.
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Grecians
Greek
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I cannot tell
I did find that Bacon uses only nine "I" in all the essays excerpted in our text!
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What is truth? said jesting Pilate; and would not stay for an answer. Certainly there be that delight in giddiness; and count it a bondage to fix a belief; affecting free-will in thinking, as well as in acting.
Oh I like his plain style - simple, direct, and straightforward!
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Francis Bacon
Bacon was an English philosopher and statesman, and a pioneer of modern scientific thought.
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depraved
morally bad or evil; corrupted
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Sabbath
Sabbath is a day set aside for rest and worship.
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odious
extremely unpleasant
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clean and round
plain and straightforward
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commanded
not to be overlooked, or, perhaps, inaccessible to others
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Spirit
of men's minds by the Holy Spirit
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howsoever
whatever the true cause may be why
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spake
Spake is the very old-fashioned form of the past tense of speak.
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such as
such a lie as
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in it
why it is
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stand
at a loss
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imposeth
imposes restraint
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ancients
whose disposition is the same as that of the ancients, though their abilities are less
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discoursive wits
discursive minds
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affecting
aiming at
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said jesting Pilate
said Pilate in derision
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I guess I like Wroth's sonnets more than her prose romance Urania, which is somewhat difficult to understand. Many of her sonnets show the notion of one sided or unrequited love and deal with the themes of love and betrayal, which are quite intriguing to me.
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constancy
Constancy is the quality of being faithful and loyal to a particular person or belief.
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wanton
Deliberately causes harm, damage, or waste without having any reason to.
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malice
Malice is behavior that is intended to harm people or their reputations, or cause them embarrassment and upset.
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mirth
Amusement which you express by laughing
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captive
Being kept imprisoned or enclosed
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martyred
If you describe a person or their behavior as martyred, you mean that they often exaggerate their suffering in order to gain sympathy or praise.
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chariot
In ancient times, chariots were fast-moving vehicles with two wheels that were pulled by horses.
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mantle
A mantle of something is a layer of it covering a surface.
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Love what art thou? Causeless cursed Yet alas these not the worst, Much more of thee may be said But thy law I once obeyed Therefore say no more at first
The speaker concludes the poem by stating that they would like to continue to say far worse things about love, but since they have been in love before as well, they will refrain from this.
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In the second and third stanzas the speaker slightly changes their tune. While they still emphasize that love will eventually turn bad, they compare the initial feeling of love to a fresh morning as well as a beautiful flower.
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Love what art thou?
Wroth uses repetition of this rhetorical question to deal with different aspects of love.
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Love what art thou? Childish, vain,
Love is “childish, vain” because of its fleeting and temporary nature.
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A sweet flower Once full blown, dead in an hour
The speaker is saying love is wonderful and does exist, but only for a short time towards the beginnings of a relationships and then dies like “a sweet flower / Once full blown, dead in an hour.”
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shade of a well-spread beech
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welcome messenger of Summer
Personification of spring
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The Countess of Montgomery’s Urania
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Shepherdess
Meaning a female shepherd - the first sign of feminism in this work?
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spake
Spake is the very old-fashioned form of the past tense of speak.
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braue
brave
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Seruant
Obsolete spelling of servant
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And thus leave off:* what’s past shows you can love, Now let your constancy your honour prove
The speaker has proved her point and chooses to move on.
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For in the end, such juggling doth he* make As he our hearts, in stead of eyes doth take
While Love juggles, he takes advantage of us by stealing “our hearts."
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So prettily, as none sees his disguise
Love is a performer (a juggler) who wears a “disguise.”
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Love like a juggler
Simile
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mask
image
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all minds draw
The sense here is of people drawing near to a juggler who will trick them with sleight of hand tricks.
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Yet faith still cries, ‘Love will not falsify.’
There's a shift in tone here - the speaker does have faith and hope in love.
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Lost, shipwrecked, spoiled, debarred of smallest hope
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devoured
Ate quickly
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Leave the discourse of Venus and her son* To young beginners, and their brains inspire With stories of great love, and from that fire Get heat to write the fortunes they have won,
Her muse cannot be responsible for teaching young lovers about passion; they must turn to "the discourse of Venus and her sun (pun of "son," referencing Venus's son, Cupid, the Roman god of love.
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Nor faint
Lose heart
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Let me turn back, shame cries I ought return Nor faint, though crosses with* my fortunes kiss
Shame bids her to turn back and not lose heart when facing adversity.
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Ways are on all sides while the way I miss
The speaker has many paths as options, but there's no guarantee that the option she selects will benefit her.
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Thus let me take the right, or left hand way; Go forward, or stand still, or back retire; I must these doubts endure without allay Or help, but travail* find for my best hire; Yet that which most my troubled sense doth move Is to leave all, and take the thread of love.
The speaker decides that she must simply choose a way and move on, enduring her doubts, the "travail" or suffering the only reward on which she can depend.
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the thread of love.
This is an allusion to the Greek myth in which Ariadne, defying her father, gave Theseus a thread to unwind behind him in the labyrinth at Crete. After killing the Minotaur, he was able to find his way out by following the thread; shortly thereafter, he abandoned Ariadne.
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allay
alleviation
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sure to
to make me
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crosses
Refers to confusions or troubles
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As a child then, leave him crying; Nor seek him so given to flying.
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Feathers are as firm in staying; Wolves no fiercer in their preying; As a child then, leave him crying; Nor seek him so given to flying.
Wroth uses metaphors that compare men to animals, saying that men don't change.
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Are his gifts, his favours lighter.
They love you and buy you gifts but when you ask them a favor they don’t do it. Haha, so true!
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He will triumph in your wailing; And yet cause be of your failing:
Men always succeed. They put you up a fight, and they always have to win.
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He vows nothing but false matter; And to cozen you will flatter; Let him gain the hand, he’ll leave you And still glory to deceive you.
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His desires have no measure; Endless folly is his treasure; What he promiseth he breaketh; Trust not one word that he speaketh.
Men have strong desire and often break promises.
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crying
Auditory imagery
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he straight is flying
Visual imagery
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Please him, and he straight is flying
Women always try to please men but never succeed.
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And answer gives hke friend of mine own choice.
No matter how hard she tries to reach out to someone, she only hears her own voice.
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Pleasures to dying eyes bring but disease
Paradox is used here: pleasures and dying
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Doubly resounded by that moanful voice, Which seems to second me in misery,
She is walking alone, feeling sad and lonely.
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This poem follows Shakespearean rhyme scheme: three quatrains and a couplet: abab cdcd efef gg
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Unseen, unknown, I here alone complain To rocks, to hills, to meadows, and to springs, Which can no help return to ease my pain, But back my sorrows the sad Echo brings.
Is the speaker lamenting the absence of a loved one?
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mead
an archaic word for meadow
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Mary Wroth
Lady Mary Wroth (1587-1651 or 53) was an English poet of the Renaissance. A member of a distinguished literary family, Lady Wroth was among the first female British writers to have achieved an enduring reputation. She is perhaps best known for having written The Countess of Montgomery's Urania.
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They often wept
Personification
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Forsooke both flowres and fruit, when once they knew Of your depart, their very leaues did wither, Changing their colours as they grewe together.
Emotionally beautiful
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faire
I didn't do the counting but I guess this is perhaps one of the most repetitive words in this poem. Lanyar uses diction that we usually use to depict women to describe nature.
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Turning themselues to beauteous Canopies, To shade the bright Sunne from your brighter eies
The trees are not described as tall and strong, but have feminine qualities like protective and motherly.
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F I N I S.
I think “The Description of Cookham” is so beautifully written! The poem is a farewell to the beloved estate Cookham and its lady, the Countess of Cumberland. The imagery she uses embodies a great sense of femininity. The elements of nature such as flowers and fruits are personified to resemble women. In "Eve's Apologie," Lanyar portrays Eve from a feminine angle, which is quite different from the classical Biblical depiction. In the poem, Eve is like God's gift to Adam, rather than a seductress or sinner. Lanyar suggests that Adam’s inability to stop himself from eating the apple has been wrongly blamed on Eve. It's a very interesting angle and after reading this poem, I'm totally convinced by Lanyar that Eve should not be responsible for the fall of all mankind!
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Their frozen tops, like Ages hoarie haires
This is a beautiful simile.
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Why not?
I'm surprised to this sudden colloquialism lol
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worthy wife
Pilate's wife pleaded with him to have nothing to do with Jesus (Matt 27:19). Apocryphal texts name Pilate's wife Claudia Procla or Procula, and there is a tradition that she may have been a secret follower of Jesus. Pilate and Claudia were killed under Tiberius, and are recognized as saints by some Christian churches.
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Passeouer
The most important festival of the Jewish year. Commemorates the night of the tenth plague of Egypt when the firstborn of Israelite slaves who followed divine instructions were "passed over'" and spared from being slain by the Angel of Death.
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Paschal Lambe
Originally the lamb eaten on the Jewish Passover.
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Apollo
God of youth, poetry, music, often depicted driving a chariot, identified with the sun.
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Cynthia
A Roman name for the Greek goddess Artemis (or Diana), associated with the moon.
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Syluane Gods
Alternate spelling "Silvan." Rural deities akin to satyrs; the term derives from Silvanus, a god of the country who was half man and half goat.
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Muses
Daughters of Zeus, patron spirits of the arts.
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Venus
Roman goddess identified with Aphrodite, Greek goddess of love, beauty, and fertility.
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Iuno
Juno: Roman Name for the Greek goddess Hera, sister and wife to Jupiter (Zeus).
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For you haue rifled Nature of her store, And all the Goddesses haue dispossest Of those rich gifts which they enioy’d before
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The pretty Birds would oft come to attend thee, Yet flie away for feare they should offend thee
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Eccho
Echo, a nymph in classical mythology. She was cursed to speak only when spoken to, in repetition of others. Echo's love, Narcissus, spurned her since she only repeated his words. In her grief, Echo wasted away to a shadow, leaving only her voice.
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spray
small or slender twigs of trees or shrubs
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skand
scanned
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inkeling
inkling
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Partners
Persons separated, taking leave of each other.
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Dorset
Refers to Lady Anne's marriage to the Earl of Dorset.
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Cliffords race
Refers to the paternal lineage of Lady Anne Clifford; only surviving child of George, third earl of Cumberland.
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Bedfords blood
Refers to Lady Anne's maternal ancestry; Margaret Clifford was born Lady MargaretRussell, third daughter of Francis, second earl of Bedford.
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Dauid
King of Israel, singer, and psalmist; much of the book of Psalms is attributed to him
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Moyses
Moses; leader of Israel
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layes
strains or tunes
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Mistris of that Place
Margaret Clifford, Dowager Countess of Cumberland.
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Cookham
Country home where Aemilia Lanyar spent time with dedicatees of poem, Lady Margaret Clifford, Dowager Countess of Cumberland, and her daughter Anne, later Countess of Dorset.
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But surely Adam cannot be excus’d, Her fault, though great, yet he was most too blame; What Weaknesse offred Strength might haue refus’d, Being Lord of all the greater was his shame:
She argues that Adam shares the guilt, as he is shown in the Bible as being stronger than Eve, and so capable of resisting the temptation.
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Our Mother Eue, who tasted of the Tree, Giuing to Adam what she held most deare, Was simply good, and had no powre to see, The after-comming harme did not appeare: The subtile Serpent that our Sex betraide, Before our fall so sure a plot had laide.
Lanyar defends Eve and women in general by arguing that Eve is wrongly blamed for Original Sin and no blame attached to Adam.
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gratious
gracious
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Aemilia Lanyar
Aemilia Lanyar was an English poet in the early modern English era. She was the first Englishwoman to assert herself as a professional poet, through a single volume of poems, Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum (1611)
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earlybritishlit.pressbooks.com earlybritishlit.pressbooks.com
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These poems are fascinating and beautiful. I like his use of imagery, paradoxes, ironies, and metaphors in various songs and sonnets. Among them I particularly like "The Relic" and "Death Be Not Proud" (Sonnet 10), in which Donne addresses the theme of death, because how he deals with this theme is quite different in each poem. It's also interesting that he often has different attitudes toward love and uses different metaphors to describe love. For example, in "A Valediction Forbidding Mourning," he compares his lover to a compass, and depicts that no matter how far they're from each other, they're always connected through their love.
"If they be two, they are two so As stiff twin compasses are two; Thy soul, the fix’d foot, makes no show To move, but doth, if th’ other do."
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If they be two, they are two so As stiff twin compasses are two ; Thy soul, the fix’d foot, makes no show To move, but doth, if th’ other do.
Interesting! He compares their love to dying old men, earthquakes, stars, gold, and a compass.
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Buffet
to knock against or about; batter
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iniquity
wickedness; wrong
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impiety
lack of reverence or proper respect for a god
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inglorious
disgraceful; dishonorable
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10
Sonnet 10 presents an argument against the power of death. The speaker addresses Death as a person, and warns "him" against pride in his power.
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The rhyming scheme of Sonnet 10 is of Italian Petrarchan sonnet: ABBAABBACDDCEE. Literary device: Apostrophe (When a speaker speaks directly to someone who is not present or is dead, or speaks to an inanimate object.)
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A Selection of Holy Sonnets
The Holy Sonnets are a series of nineteen poems by the John Donne. The sonnets were first published in 1633—two years after Donne's death. The poems are sonnets and are predominantly in the style and form prescribed by Renaissance Italian poet Petrarch (or Francesco Petrarca) (1304–1374) in which the sonnet consisted of two quatrains (four-line stanzas) and a sestet (a six-line stanza).
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Who thought that this device might be some way To make their souls at the last busy day Meet at this grave, and make a little stay?
Referring to the day of judgement, people need all their body parts to get into heaven/hell, if he has some of her hair they'll need to meet so she'll have all her parts.
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A bracelet of bright hair about the bone,
Alliteration. Despite bones being visible, the hair is still bright, it gives off its own light.
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WHEN my grave is broke up again
Refers to grave digging
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RELIC
Part of a deceased holy persons body - kept as an object of reverence.
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I will give you There to another friend, whom we shall find As glad to have my body as my mind.
In London, he would give his heart to such friends as would be glad to have his body as well as his mind. True love relationship is both of the body and the spirit. It is only such relationship that gives satisfaction.
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Meet me in London, then, Twenty days hence, and thou shalt see
The speaker finds that the heart is obstinate and will remain behind; he asks it to meet him in London after twenty days.
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