Question

Read this sonnet, and then complete the sentences that follows. Be not dismayed that her unmoved mind Doth still persist in her rebelliouspride: And love not like to lusts of baser kind, The harder won, the firmer willabide. The durefull Oak, whose sap is not yet dried, Is long ere it conceive thekindling fire; But when it once doth burn, it doth divide, Great heat, and makeshis flames to heaven aspire. So hard it is to kindle new desire,In gentle breastthat shall endure for ever: Deep is the wound, that dints the parts entire Withchaste affects, that naught but death can sever. Then think not long in takinglittle pain, To knit the knot, that ever shall remain.

1. The sonnet is written in the ________. (Italian, English, or Petarchan) form.

2. The rhymescheme is ____________________. (ababbcbccdcdee, abbacddceffege, or abcabcdcddcdee).

3. The main idea of the poem is __________. (lasting love, hope, or madness).

4. The poet has usedthe___________ (metaphor, simile, or personification) of burning an oak to emphasize howpatient one needs to be when trying to win the love of a lady.

5. He also usesthe metaphor of the ___________(knot, wound, or pain) to emphasize the depth of love.

Answer 1

1. The sonnet is written in the English form, because it has 3 quatrains (stanzas consisting of 4 lines) and one couplet in the end, which differs from the form of Italian or Petrarchan sonnet, which are the same thing.
2. The rhyme scheme is ababbcbccdcdee, because every second line rhymes.
3. The main idea of the poem is lasting love.
4. The poet has used the metaphor of burning oak to emphasize how patient one needs to be when trying to win the love of a lady.
5. He also uses the metaphor of the knot to emphasize the depth of love.

Answer 2

1. English

Edmund Spenser is English. He varied the traditional Shakespearean English sonnet form by changing the rhyme scheme which creates couplet links that connect the quatrains together.

2. abab bcbc cdcd ee

Spenserian sonnets repeat the last rhyme as the first rhyme of the next quatrain. This continuation of a rhyme from quatrain to quatrain ties them together more than previous sonnet forms.

3. lasting love

The poet uses phrases like "endure for ever" and "naught but death can sever" to show how long love can last.

4. metaphor

He is comparing the burning oak to the patience it takes when wooing. He does not use like or as which would indicate a simile. Also, the oak is not being given human traits which is required for personification.

5. knot

He compares the depth of love to a knot so tightly tied and tangled that it cannot be undone.