A Woman to her Lover. Sonnets

116 & 43

A Woman to her Lover

Read through the poem and annotate it.

The date that the poem was written is unknown – try to place it in a historical context whilst reading.

Compare it to the last poem we studied in what ways and think about ways in which the two are similar or different.

How is the theme of love and marriage presented in the poem? Is it more or less realistic than the view presented in ‘Valentine’?

A Woman to her Lover

Do you come to me to bend me to your will As conqueror to the vanquished To make of me a bondslave To bear you children, wearing out my life In drudgery and silence No servant will I be If that be what you ask. O Lover I refuse you!

A Woman to her Lover

Or if you think to wed with one from heaven sent Whose every deed and word and wish is golden A wingless angel who can do no wrong Go! - I am no doll to dress and sit for feeble worship If that be what you ask, fool, I refuse you!

A Woman to her Lover

Or if you think in me to find A creature who will have no greater joy Than gratify your clamorous desire, My skin soft only for your fond caresses My body supple only for your sense delight. Oh shame, and pity and abasement. Not for you the hand of any wakened woman of our time.

A Woman to her Lover

But lover, if you ask of me That I shall be your comrade, friend, and mate, To live and work, to love and die with you, That so together we may know the purity and height Of passion, and of joy and sorrow, Then o husband, I am yours forever And our co-equal love will make the stars to laugh with joy And to its circling fugue pass, hand holding hand Until we reach the very heart of God.

A Woman to her Lover

Why do you think the exact date that the poem was written is unknown?

The WJEC GCSE course book attributes the poem to ‘Christina Walsh’ (1750-1800). However, it is also thought to be written by ‘Christina Walshe’ (1888 – 1959). Which do you think is most likely?

Is the poem still relevant to an understanding of modern relationships? Or have we all moved on since the advent of Feminism, etc?

Sonnets

What do you know about Sonnets?

Look at Sonnet 116 and Sonnet 43 and compare their structure, ie. Rhyme scheme, Length, Rhythm, Language. What similarities/differences do you notice?

Sonnet is Italian for “Little Song”. What does this tell you about Sonnets? What do they express?

Sonnet Structure

Fourteen lines: Every sonnet has fourteen lines. In fact, if you read a poem that's fourteen lines, the odds are that it's a sonnet.

Rhymed: There are several different traditional rhyme schemes for sonnets. The rhyme scheme of sonnet 43 – is ABBA ABBA CDC DCD.

This rhyme scheme is that it's not a traditional English sonnet pattern like the sonnets that Shakespeare wrote, most of which have more rhymes (they get up to "G" instead of "D" in the rhyme scheme – seven rhyming words instead of just four). Instead of following Shakespeare or any of the other great English sonneteers, Barrett Browning chose to model her sonnet on the Italian or Petrarchan pattern.

Sonnet Structure Here's the point: in a sonnet by Shakespeare, there are four groups of

rhyming lines, followed by a couplet. The couplet naturally becomes an exciting "turn" or "twist" in the sonnet, or sometimes a little summary.

In contrast, in sonnets by the Italian poet Petrarch, the rhyming lines divide into a group of eight followed by a group of six – so instead of having a thought that develops for twelve lines and then a catchy rhymed couplet, you get one idea for about half of the poem, followed by a twist (called a "volta") and then another idea for the next six lines.

So, choosing to write an Italian-style sonnet means a few things:

1) there are fewer rhyming words, so the same sounds are repeated more often, giving the poem a very heavy, obvious rhythm;

2) the twist in the writing comes about halfway through instead of right before the end;

3) and there's an exotic, Romantic sense of "foreignness" for an English poet in borrowing this form from Italy. That's a lot of meaning for a few rhyming words!

Sonnet 116

Let me not to the marriage of true mindsAdmit impediments. Love is not loveWhich alters when it alteration finds,Or bends with the remover to remove:O no! it is an ever-fixed markThat looks on tempests and is never shaken;It is the star to every wandering bark,Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeksWithin his bending sickle's compass come:Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,But bears it out even to the edge of doom.If this be error and upon me proved,I never writ, nor no man ever loved.  

 

Sonnet 116

Sonnet 116 is about love in its most ideal form. It is praising the glories of lovers who have come to each other freely, and enter into a relationship based on trust and understanding.

The first four lines reveal the poet's pleasure in love that is constant and strong, and will not "alter when it alteration finds."

The following lines proclaim that true love is indeed an "ever-fix'd mark" which will survive any crisis.

Sonnet 116

In lines 7-8, the poet claims that we may be able to measure love to some degree, but this does not mean we fully understand it. Love's actual worth cannot be known – it remains a mystery.

The remaining lines of the third quatrain (9-12), reaffirm the perfect nature of love that is unshakeable throughout time and remains so "ev'n to the edge of doom", or death.

Sonnet 116

In the final couplet, the poet declares that, if he is mistaken about the constant, unmovable nature of perfect love, then he must take back all his writings on love, truth, and faith. Moreover, he adds that, if he has in fact judged love inappropriately, no man has ever really loved, in the ideal sense that the poet professes.

Sonnet 43

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

I love thee to the depth and breadth and

height

My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight

For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.

I love thee to the level of every day's

Most quiet need, by sun and candlelight.

I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;

I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.

I love with a passion put to use

In my old griefs, and with my childhood's

faith.

I love thee with a love I seemed to lose

With my lost saints, -- I love thee with the

breath, Smiles, tears, of all my life! -- and, if

God choose,

I shall but love thee better after death.

Rhetorical Structure

Question:

“How do I love thee?” (1)

How many answers does the poet give to this question?

Answer

“Let me count the ways.”

The speaker identifies 8 ways to express love Focuses on the evolution of faith Focuses on the evolution of maturity The speaker recognizes that life and love

will be good and bad

Way 1

I love thee to the depth and breadth and height My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight

For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.

Way 2

I love thee to the level of everyday's Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.

Way 3

I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;

Way 4

I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise

Way 5

I love thee with the passion put to use

In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.

Way 6

I love thee with a love I seemed to lose With my lost saints!---

Way 7

I love thee with the breath, Smiles, tears, of all my life!---

Way 8

and, if God choose, I shall but love thee better after death.

Sonnet 43

Is the gender of the speaker important to this poem?

On a basic level what is the poet doing in this poem?

Why is the word ‘love’ repeated so many times?

What other synonyms for ‘love’ could the poet have used and why did they choose not to use them?

What change occurs after line 8?

What do we learn about the speaker in the final 6 lines? And what effect does this have on the meaning of the poem as a whole?

Paradox

Paradoxical answers to the question “How do I love thee?”

Love is divine and everyday Love is childlike and mature Love has tears and joy Love exists through life and continues

after death