16th and 17th Century Literature
Unit 1: Q&A — Literary Terms, Age and Movements
Exam-Ready Answers (English + Hinglish) • BA English • Semester 1
Q1 Identify the poem that begins “One day I wrote her name upon the strand.” Name the poet and the form. 2 marks
The lines open Edmund Spenser’s “One Day I Wrote Her Name,” sonnet 75 of Amoretti (1595), the sequence addressed to Elizabeth Boyle. The form is the Spenserian sonnet: fourteen iambic pentameters rhyming abab bcbc cdcd ee, with chained quatrains. The poem stages a debate — the lover writes her name on sand, the beloved calls the effort vain, and he answers that his verse will eternize her.
Ye lines Edmund Spenser ke “One Day I Wrote Her Name,” Amoretti (1595) ka sonnet 75, kholti hain, Elizabeth Boyle ko addressed sequence. Form Spenserian sonnet hai: chaudah iambic pentameters, rhyme abab bcbc cdcd ee, chained quatrains ke saath. Poem ek debate stage karta hai — lover sand pe uska naam likhta hai, beloved effort ko vain kehti hai, aur wo answer karta hai ki uska verse use eternize karega.
Q2 Explain “Was this the face that launched a thousand ships / And burnt the topless towers of Ilium?” 2 marks
These are the opening lines of Faustus’s Helen speech near the end of Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus, in blank verse. “Ilium” is Troy; “topless towers” are towers so high they seem to have no top. The hyperbole makes one face large enough to launch a fleet and burn a city. The irony: Faustus begs a kiss to make him immortal, but Helen is a spirit of desire, not salvation — the more beautiful the face, the clearer his damnation.
Ye Marlowe ke Doctor Faustus ke end ke paas Faustus ki Helen speech ki opening lines hain, blank verse me. “Ilium” Troy hai; “topless towers” itne unche towers hain jinki top dikhai na de. Hyperbole ek face ko itna bada banati hai ki fleet launch kare aur city jalaye. Irony: Faustus immortality ke liye kiss bheekh maangta hai, par Helen desire ki spirit hai, salvation ki nahi — face jitna beautiful, damnation utni clear.
Q3 What argument does Donne’s song “Go and catch a falling star” make? 2 marks
The song argues, with sceptical wit, that a woman both true and fair cannot be found — or cannot stay found. Stanza 1 piles impossible tasks (catch a falling star, get with child a mandrake root); stanza 2 stretches the search over ten thousand days and nights, still empty; stanza 3 turns cold — by the time your letter reporting her arrives, she will have been “false to two or three.” The speaker is a dramatic persona, not Donne’s confession.
Song sceptical wit se argue karta hai ki ek aurat jo true bhi ho aur fair bhi, mil nahi sakti — ya milke tik nahi sakti. Stanza 1 impossible tasks pile karta hai (falling star pakdo, mandrake root se get with child); stanza 2 search ko ten thousand days and nights pe stretch karta hai, phir bhi empty; stanza 3 cold turn karta hai — jab tak uski report karta tumhara letter pahunchega, wo “false to two or three” ho chuki hogi. Speaker dramatic persona hai, Donne ka confession nahi.
Q4 In “The Pulley,” what does God withhold from man, and why? 2 marks
God withholds rest — “at the bottom” of the glass of blessings, the last jewel. He pours out strength, beauty, wisdom, honour, and pleasure, but keeps rest back: if man had rest too, he would adore the gifts instead of God and “rest in Nature, not the God of Nature.” With “repining restlessness,” weariness itself becomes the pulley’s downward pull that tosses man to God’s breast.
God rest withhold karta hai — glass of blessings ke “at the bottom,” aakhri jewel. Wo strength, beauty, wisdom, honour, pleasure undelta hai, par rest rok leta hai: agar man ke paas rest bhi hota, to wo God ki jagah gifts adore karta aur “rest in Nature, not the God of Nature.” “Repining restlessness” ke saath, weariness khud pulley ka downward pull ban jaati hai jo man ko God’s breast pe toss kar deti hai.
Q5 Name three impossible tasks from the first stanza of “Go and catch a falling star.” 2 marks
Any three: catch a falling star; get with child a mandrake root (a plant fabled to scream like a human when pulled); tell where all past years are; find what wind serves to advance an honest mind; teach the speaker to hear mermaids singing; keep off envy’s stinging. Each is hyperbole for the hidden claim: finding a constant, beautiful woman is equally impossible.
Koi teen: falling star pakdo; mandrake root se get with child (plant jise kheenchne pe human jaise scream karne wala mana gaya tha); batao saare past years kahan hain; dhoondho kaunsi wind honest mind advance karti hai; speaker ko mermaids ka singing sunna sikhao; envy ke stinging ko door rakho. Har ek hidden claim ke liye hyperbole hai: constant, beautiful woman paana equally impossible hai.
Q6 What is the “mighty line”? Who invented it? 2 marks
The “mighty line” is Marlowe’s unrhymed iambic pentameter — blank verse that swells like a wave, carrying heroic speech. Marlowe invented its English tragic use; his prologue to Tamburlaine promised to lead tragedy away “from jigging veins of rhyming mother-wits.” The Helen speech — “Was this the face that launched a thousand ships” — is its great example on this paper.
“Mighty line” Marlowe ka unrhymed iambic pentameter hai — wave ki tarah swelling blank verse, heroic speech carry karta hua. Marlowe ne uska English tragic use invent kiya; Tamburlaine ke prologue ne tragedy ko “from jigging veins of rhyming mother-wits” se door lead karne ka promise kiya. Helen speech — “Was this the face that launched a thousand ships” — is paper pe uska great example hai.
Q7 In “Death Be Not Proud,” why should Death not be proud? 2 marks
Because Death is weaker than his reputation. Those he kills do not really die — the soul lives on; rest and sleep, Death’s pictures, give pleasure, so Death should too; and poppy or charms give sleep as well as his stroke. Death is a slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men. The closing conceit: dying is only “one short sleep,” after which “we wake eternally” — and “Death, thou shalt die.”
Kyunki Death apni reputation se weaker hai. Jinhe wo maarta hai wo really marte nahi — soul jeeti rehti hai; rest aur sleep, Death ke pictures, pleasure dete hain, to Death ko bhi dena chahiye; aur poppy ya charms uske stroke jitni sleep dete hain. Death fate, chance, kings aur desperate men ka slave hai. Closing conceit: dying sirf “one short sleep” hai, jiske baad “we wake eternally” — aur “Death, thou shalt die.”
Q8 What does “eternize” mean in Spenser’s sonnet? Who speaks the middle quatrain? 2 marks
“Eternize” is Spenser’s own verb — to make eternal. The lover claims his verse will eternize the beloved’s virtues and write her name “in the heavens.” The middle of the poem (quatrain 3) is spoken by the beloved herself: “Vain man,” she says — he tries in vain to immortalize a mortal thing, for she will decay like writing in sand. He answers her in the couplet.
“Eternize” Spenser ka apna verb hai — eternal banana. Lover claim karta hai uska verse beloved ke virtues eternize karega aur uska naam “in the heavens” likhega. Poem ka middle (quatrain 3) beloved khud bolti hai: “Vain man,” wo kehti hai — wo mortal cheez ko immortalize karne ki vyarth koshish karta hai, kyunki wo sand pe writing ki tarah decay hogi. Wo use couplet me answer karta hai.
Q9 Name the instruments in Dryden’s ode and the passion each moves. 2 marks
The ode assigns each instrument a passion: the trumpet moves war, the soft flute lament, the violin love, and the organ devotion — the organ Cecilia herself was said to have invented, drawing an angel down by its sacred sound. The parade of instruments proves the ode’s claim: music sways every feeling of the heart, as it once ordered the frame of the world.
Ode har instrument ko ek passion assign karta hai: trumpet war move karta hai, soft flute lament, violin love, aur organ devotion — organ jise Cecilia ne khud invent kiya tha, uski sacred sound se angel neeche kheench liya. Instruments ki parade ode ka claim prove karti hai: music heart ki har feeling sway karta hai, jaise usne kabhi duniya ka frame order kiya tha.
Q10 Where is the volta in “One Day I Wrote Her Name,” and what does it do? 2 marks
The volta — the turn in thought — comes between the beloved’s speech and the lover’s reply, at the final couplet. Quatrains 1–2 stage the problem (tide vs hand); quatrain 3 gives her the floor (“Vain man… decay”); the couplet turns: “Not so… my verse your virtues rare shall eternize.” Her mortal doubt becomes his immortal answer — the Elizabethan faith that poetry defeats time.
Volta — thought me turn — beloved ke speech aur lover ke reply ke beech, final couplet pe aata hai. Quatrains 1–2 problem stage karte hain (tide vs hand); quatrain 3 use floor deta hai (“Vain man… decay”); couplet turn karta hai: “Not so… my verse your virtues rare shall eternize.” Uska mortal doubt uska immortal answer ban jaata hai — Elizabethan faith ki poetry time ko defeat karti hai.
Q11 Explain with reference to the context: “One day I wrote her name upon the strand, / But came the waves and washed it away…” 8 marks
These lines open Spenser’s “One Day I Wrote Her Name” (Amoretti 75), a Spenserian sonnet. “Strand” is the sandy shore. The lover writes the beloved’s name; the waves erase it; he writes again “with a second hand” — his own hand, a second time — and the tide makes his pains its prey. The picture is simple and physical: time, as sea, wins the first round.
The context is the poem’s three movements. The beloved answers in quatrain 3: “Vain man” — to immortalize a mortal thing is vain; she will decay like sand-writing. He refuses in the couplet: baser things may die, but his verse shall eternize her and write her name “in the heavens” — “Our love shall live, and later life renew.” The chained rhyme (abab bcbc cdcd ee) stitches her doubt into his reply. Reference noted: the Elizabethan faith that the poet’s line defeats tide and death.
Ye lines Spenser ke “One Day I Wrote Her Name” (Amoretti 75), ek Spenserian sonnet, kholti hain. “Strand” sandy shore hai. Lover beloved ka naam likhta hai; waves use erase karti hain; wo “with a second hand” dobara likhta hai — apna haath, doosri baar — aur tide uski pains ko apna prey banata hai. Picture simple aur physical hai: time, sea ke roop me, pehla round jeet ta hai.
Context poem ke teen movements hain. Beloved quatrain 3 me answer karti hai: “Vain man” — mortal cheez ko immortalize karna vain hai; wo sand-writing ki tarah decay hogi. Wo couplet me refuse karta hai: baser cheezen mar sakti hain, par uska verse use eternize karega aur uska naam “in the heavens” likhega — “Our love shall live, and later life renew.” Chained rhyme (abab bcbc cdcd ee) uske doubt ko uske reply me stitch karta hai. Reference noted: Elizabethan faith ki poet ki line tide aur death ko defeat karti hai.
Q12 Explain with reference to the context: “Death, be not proud, though some have called thee / Mighty and dreadful…” 8 marks
These lines open Donne’s Holy Sonnet 10, a fourteen-line sacred lyric of argument. Death is addressed as a person — apostrophe — and put on trial. “Some have called” Death mighty; the speaker says he is not so: those he overthrows do not die, rest and sleep (Death’s pictures) give pleasure, and the best men go with him soonest to rest.
The context is the volta. Death is then called slave — to fate, chance, kings, desperate men — keeping ugly company (poison, war, sickness). Poppy or charms give sleep as well as his stroke, and better. The closing conceit: dying is “one short sleep,” after which “we wake eternally, / And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.” Reference noted: the same blunt address as the star-song, turned from wit to faith — personification, metaphor, and conceit in fourteen lines.
Ye lines Donne ke Holy Sonnet 10 kholti hain, argument ki chaudah-line sacred lyric. Death ko person ki tarah address kiya gaya hai — apostrophe — aur trial pe rakha gaya hai. “Some have called” Death ko mighty; speaker kehta hai wo aisa nahi hai: jinhe wo overthrow karta hai wo marte nahi, rest aur sleep (Death ke pictures) pleasure dete hain, aur best men uske saath soonest rest ko jaate hain.
Context volta hai. Death ko phir slave kaha jaata hai — fate, chance, kings, desperate men ka — ugly company rakhta hua (poison, war, sickness). Poppy ya charms uske stroke jitni, aur behtar, sleep dete hain. Closing conceit: dying “one short sleep” hai, jiske baad “we wake eternally, / And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.” Reference noted: star-song jaisa blunt address, wit se faith ki taraf muda — chaudah lines me personification, metaphor aur conceit.
Q13 Write a critical note on Herbert’s “The Pulley.” 8 marks
Herbert’s “The Pulley” (The Temple, 1633) is a lyric of four five-line stanzas — one sustained metaphysical conceit. When God made man, a glass of blessings stood by: strength, beauty, wisdom, honour, pleasure were poured out, but rest — the last jewel “at the bottom” — was withheld. If man had rest too, he would adore the gifts instead of God and “rest in Nature, not the God of Nature.” So man keeps the riches “with repining restlessness”: “If goodness lead him not, yet weariness / May toss him to my breast.”
The title is the theology. A pulley is wheel and rope: pull down on one side, the load rises on the other. Withheld rest makes weariness the downward pull that lifts the soul. The poem yokes workshop and altar — Johnson’s “heterogeneous ideas yoked by violence” — until the doctrine is exact. Critically: quieter than Donne’s thunder, equally exact; Anglican devotion, not Puritan attack. The gentlest irony of the metaphysical school: the most unspiritual thing, tiredness, becomes the rope to God.
Herbert ka “The Pulley” (The Temple, 1633) chaar five-line stanzas ka lyric hai — ek sustained metaphysical conceit. Jab God ne man banaya, glass of blessings paas khada tha: strength, beauty, wisdom, honour, pleasure undel diye gaye, par rest — “at the bottom” aakhri jewel — withhold kar liya gaya. Agar man ke paas rest bhi hota, to wo God ki jagah gifts adore karta aur “rest in Nature, not the God of Nature.” To man riches rakhta hai “with repining restlessness”: “If goodness lead him not, yet weariness / May toss him to my breast.”
Title hi theology hai. Pulley wheel aur rope hai: ek side neeche kheencho, doosri side load uthta hai. Withheld rest weariness ko downward pull banata hai jo soul ko lift karta hai. Poem workshop aur altar ko yoke karta hai — Johnson ke “heterogeneous ideas yoked by violence” — jab tak doctrine exact na ho. Critically: Donne ke thunder se quieter, equally exact; Anglican devotion, Puritan attack nahi. Metaphysical school ki gentlest irony: sabse unspiritual cheez, tiredness, God tak rope ban jaati hai.
Q14 Write a note on Dryden’s “A Song for St. Cecilia’s Day.” 8 marks
Dryden’s ode (22 November 1687, St Cecilia’s feast — patron of music) is Restoration public poetry: stanzas of unequal length plus a grand chorus, a ceremonial ode. The argument has three rooms. First, creation: “From harmony, from heavenly harmony / This universal frame began” — music ordered jarring atoms into the elements and last into man; Jubal (Genesis) is named so music is as old as mankind. Second, the passions: trumpet for war, flute for lament, violin for love, organ for devotion — Cecilia invented the organ and drew an angel down. Third, apocalypse: the last chorus looks to the last trumpet, when “music shall untune the sky.”
No private conceit, no whispered argument: this is public, reasoned, ceremonial verse — the Restoration key after the metaphysical whisper. Hold one line: music creates the frame, sways the heart, and will unmake the frame.
Dryden ka ode (22 November 1687, St Cecilia ka feast — music ki patron) Restoration public poetry hai: unequal length ke stanzas plus grand chorus, ek ceremonial ode. Argument ke teen rooms hain. Pehla, creation: “From harmony, from heavenly harmony / This universal frame began” — music ne jarring atoms ko elements me order kiya aur aakhir me man me; Jubal (Genesis) named hai taaki music mankind jitna purana lage. Doosra, passions: trumpet war ke liye, flute lament ke liye, violin love ke liye, organ devotion ke liye — Cecilia ne organ invent kiya aur angel neeche kheench liya. Teesra, apocalypse: aakhri chorus last trumpet ki taraf dekhta hai, jab “music shall untune the sky.”
Koi private conceit nahi, koi whispered argument nahi: ye public, reasoned, ceremonial verse hai — metaphysical whisper ke baad Restoration key. Ek line hold karo: music frame banata hai, heart sway karta hai, aur frame unmake karega.
Q15 Explain Marlowe’s Helen speech as the set extract (not the whole of Doctor Faustus). 8 marks
The set text is the Helen speech near the end of Doctor Faustus, in blank verse — not the whole tragedy. Faustus, who sold his soul for twenty-four years of knowledge and pleasure, sees the years almost spent and calls for Helen of Troy. “Was this the face that launched a thousand ships / And burnt the topless towers of Ilium?” — “Ilium” is Troy; hyperbole makes one face launch a fleet. He begs, “Sweet Helen, make me immortal with a kiss,” then feels “her lips suck forth my soul” and cries for it back.
The speech is the “mighty line” at full swell — unrhymed pentameter carrying heroic passion. Its irony is the extract’s meaning: Faustus is already contracted to hell; Helen is a spirit of desire, not redemption. The more beautiful the face, the clearer the damnation — he chooses the image instead of repentance. For the exam: treat the speech, its metre, and its irony; do not retell the whole play.
Set text Doctor Faustus ke end ke paas Helen speech hai, blank verse me — poori tragedy nahi. Faustus, jisne twenty-four years ke knowledge aur pleasure ke liye soul bechi, years lagbhag beet te dekh Helen of Troy ko bulata hai. “Was this the face that launched a thousand ships / And burnt the topless towers of Ilium?” — “Ilium” Troy hai; hyperbole ek face se fleet launch karati hai. Wo bheekh maangta hai, “Sweet Helen, make me immortal with a kiss,” phir mehsoos karta hai “her lips suck forth my soul” aur use wapas maangta hai.
Speech full swell pe “mighty line” hai — heroic passion carry karta unrhymed pentameter. Uski irony extract ka meaning hai: Faustus pehle se hell ko contracted hai; Helen desire ki spirit hai, redemption ki nahi. Face jitna beautiful, damnation utni clear — wo repentance ki jagah image chunta hai. Exam ke liye: speech, uska metre aur uski irony treat karo; poora play retell mat karo.
Q16 Compare Donne’s two set poems: the song and the sonnet. 8 marks
The paper sets Donne twice to show one method and two faiths. “Go and catch a falling star” is a song — three nine-line stanzas of sceptical wit. Its argument: a true and fair woman cannot be found or kept; impossible tasks (falling star, mandrake root) prove the point, and the closing turn is cold — she will be “false to two or three” before the letter arrives. The speaker is a dramatic cynic, not Donne’s confession.
“Holy Sonnet 10” is a sonnet of argument turned to faith. The same blunt second-person address (“Death, be not proud”) now prosecutes Death: not mighty, a slave, only sleep — “Death, thou shalt die.” Same piled proof, same wit; opposite conclusions. The comparison examiners want in one line: the song argues nothing lasts; the sonnet argues death itself will not last — one wit, two faiths.
Paper Donne ko do baar set karta hai ek method aur do faiths dikhane ko. “Go and catch a falling star” ek song hai — sceptical wit ke teen nine-line stanzas. Uska argument: true aur fair woman mil nahi sakti ya tik nahi sakti; impossible tasks (falling star, mandrake root) point prove karte hain, aur closing turn cold hai — letter pahunchne se pehle wo “false to two or three” ho chuki hogi. Speaker dramatic cynic hai, Donne ka confession nahi.
“Holy Sonnet 10” faith ki taraf muda argument ka sonnet hai. Wahi blunt second-person address (“Death, be not proud”) ab Death prosecute karta hai: mighty nahi, slave, sirf sleep — “Death, thou shalt die.” Wahi piled proof, wahi wit; opposite conclusions. Comparison jo examiners chahte hain ek line me: song argue karta hai kuch nahi tikta; sonnet argue karta hai death khud nahi tikegi — ek wit, do faiths.
Q17 Write an essay on John Donne as a Metaphysical poet, with reference to the two lyrics prescribed. 20 marks
John Donne is the central exhibit of the Metaphysical school — the name Dryden (1693) and Johnson (1779) gave to poets who “yoke heterogeneous ideas by violence together.” This paper sets two Donne lyrics that show his method working in opposite directions.
“Go and catch a falling star” displays the metaphysical manner in its sceptical key. The form is a song — three stanzas of nine lines — but the movement is argument, not music. The speaker piles impossible tasks: catch a falling star, get with child a mandrake root (fabled to scream like a human), tell where past years are, teach him to hear mermaids. Each command is hyperbole serving one hidden thesis: a woman true and fair cannot be found. The second stanza stretches time itself — “ten thousand days and nights” — to make the search look thorough, and still empty. The third stanza’s turn is the wit’s sting: if you find her, let me know — but she will be “false to two or three” before your letter arrives. Keep the speaker at arm’s length: this is a dramatic persona, a witty cynic, not Donne’s confession — the real Donne married Anne More for love.
“Holy Sonnet 10” turns the same instruments to faith. The sonnet (fourteen lines, Petrarchan in turn) opens with apostrophe — “Death, be not proud” — personification with legal force: Death is put on trial. The prosecution is logical: the dead do not die, rest and sleep give pleasure, the best men go soonest, Death is slave to fate, chance, kings, desperate men, and poppy gives sleep as well as his stroke. The closing conceit executes him: dying is “one short sleep,” after which “we wake eternally, / And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.”
The metaphysical marks are all here: the conceit (impossible tasks; sleep that kills Death), argument as structure (“if,” “therefore” logic), colloquial directness (the speaking voice, not song), and learned imagery. Donne’s distinction is range: the same wit that doubts constancy in the song defeats Death in the sonnet. One wit, two faiths — that is Donne the metaphysical poet.
John Donne Metaphysical school ka central exhibit hai — wo naam jo Dryden (1693) aur Johnson (1779) ne un poets ko diya jo “yoke heterogeneous ideas by violence together.” Ye paper Donne ke do lyrics set karta hai jo uska method opposite directions me kaam karte dikhate hain.
“Go and catch a falling star” metaphysical manner ko uski sceptical key me display karta hai. Form song hai — nine lines ke teen stanzas — par movement argument hai, music nahi. Speaker impossible tasks pile karta hai: falling star pakdo, mandrake root se get with child (human jaise scream karne wala mana gaya tha), batao past years kahan hain, use mermaids sunna sikhao. Har command ek hidden thesis serve karti hyperbole hai: true aur fair woman mil nahi sakti. Doosra stanza time khud stretch karta hai — “ten thousand days and nights” — search ko thorough dikhane ko, aur phir bhi empty. Teesre stanza ka turn wit ka sting hai: agar use pao, mujhe batana — par tumhara letter pahunchne se pehle wo “false to two or three” ho chuki hogi. Speaker ko arm’s length pe rakho: ye dramatic persona hai, witty cynic, Donne ka confession nahi — real Donne ne Anne More se love ke liye shaadi ki thi.
“Holy Sonnet 10” wahi instruments faith ki taraf modta hai. Sonnet (chaudah lines, turn me Petrarchan) apostrophe se khulta hai — “Death, be not proud” — legal force wali personification: Death ko trial pe rakha gaya hai. Prosecution logical hai: dead marte nahi, rest aur sleep pleasure dete hain, best men soonest jaate hain, Death fate, chance, kings, desperate men ka slave hai, aur poppy uske stroke jitni sleep deta hai. Closing conceit use execute karta hai: dying “one short sleep” hai, jiske baad “we wake eternally, / And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.”
Metaphysical marks sab yahan hain: conceit (impossible tasks; sleep jo Death maarta hai), structure ki tarah argument (“if,” “therefore” logic), colloquial directness (speaking voice, song nahi), aur learned imagery. Donne ka distinction range hai: wahi wit jo song me constancy doubt karta hai sonnet me Death defeat karta hai. Ek wit, do faiths — yehi Donne the metaphysical poet hai.
Q18 Discuss Spenser’s “One Day I Wrote Her Name” as a Spenserian sonnet. 20 marks
Spenser’s “One Day I Wrote Her Name” — Amoretti 75 — is the paper’s perfect specimen of the Spenserian sonnet, and the poem to which Unit 1’s definition points when it names the form.
First, the form. The Spenserian sonnet is fourteen iambic pentameters rhyming abab bcbc cdcd ee. Its distinction is the chained rhyme: each quatrain borrows the last rhyme of the one before, so the stanzas are sewn together instead of standing apart like Shakespeare’s. Amoretti (“little loves”) is a sequence of 89 sonnets tracing Spenser’s courtship of Elizabeth Boyle, published in 1595 with Epithalamion, the wedding song; sonnet 75 sits near the sequence’s happy turn, after doubt and before marriage.
Second, the three movements. Quatrains 1–2: the lover writes her name on the strand; the waves wash it away; he writes again “with a second hand” — his own hand, a second time — and the tide makes his pains its prey. Time, as sea, wins the first round. Quatrain 3: the beloved speaks — “Vain man,” she says; he tries in vain to immortalize a mortal thing; she will decay like sand-writing, and her name be wiped out likewise. Her argument is common sense, and the chained rhyme (prey / assay / decay) sews her speech to his act. The couplet: he refuses — “Not so”; baser things die in dust, but his verse shall eternize her rare virtues and write her glorious name “in the heavens”: “whenas death shall all the world subdue, / Our love shall live, and later life renew.”
Third, the volta and the wager. The turn comes between her doubt and his boast: her mortal doubt, his immortal answer. “Eternize” is Spenser’s own verb — to make eternal — the whole sonnet’s wager in one word. Sand is weak; printed or remembered verse, he claims, is not. That faith in the poet’s line is the Elizabethan note, and the chained rhyme performs it: her doubt is literally stitched into his reply. For the exam: name the form, quote two end-words to prove the chain, and paraphrase the turn — the sonnet is Unit 1’s definition in practice.
Spenser ka “One Day I Wrote Her Name” — Amoretti 75 — Spenserian sonnet ka paper ka perfect specimen hai, aur wo poem j ki taraf Unit 1 ki definition point karti hai jab wo form name karti hai.
Pehla, form. Spenserian sonnet chaudah iambic pentameters hai, rhyme abab bcbc cdcd ee. Uska distinction chained rhyme hai: har quatrain pichhle ki aakhri rhyme udhar leta hai, to stanzas Shakespeare ki tarah alag khade hone ki jagah ek doosre se sewn hote hain. Amoretti (“little loves”) 89 sonnets ki sequence hai jo Elizabeth Boyle se Spenser ke courtship ko trace karti hai, 1595 me Epithalamion, wedding song ke saath publish hui; sonnet 75 sequence ke happy turn ke paas baithta hai, doubt ke baad aur marriage se pehle.
Doosra, teen movements. Quatrains 1–2: lover strand pe uska naam likhta hai; waves use wash kar deti hain; wo “with a second hand” dobara likhta hai — apna haath, doosri baar — aur tide uski pains ko apna prey banata hai. Time, sea ke roop me, pehla round jeet ta hai. Quatrain 3: beloved bolti hai — “Vain man,” wo kehti hai; wo mortal cheez ko immortalize karne ki vyarth koshish karta hai; wo sand-writing ki tarah decay hogi, aur uska naam bhi waise hi wiped out hoga. Uska argument common sense hai, aur chained rhyme (prey / assay / decay) uske speech ko uske act se sew karti hai. Couplet: wo refuse karta hai — “Not so”; baser cheezen dust me maren, par uska verse uske rare virtues eternize karega aur uska glorious naam “in the heavens” likhega: “whenas death shall all the world subdue, / Our love shall live, and later life renew.”
Teesra, volta aur wager. Turn uske doubt aur uske boast ke beech aata hai: uska mortal doubt, uska immortal answer. “Eternize” Spenser ka apna verb hai — eternal banana — ek shabd me poore sonnet ka wager. Sand weak hai; printed ya remembered verse, wo claim karta hai, nahi. Poet ki line pe ye faith Elizabethan note hai, aur chained rhyme use perform karti hai: uska doubt literally uske reply me stitched hai. Exam ke liye: form name karo, chain prove karne ko do end-words quote karo, aur turn paraphrase karo — sonnet practice me Unit 1 ki definition hai.
Q19 Write a critical appreciation of Dryden’s “A Song for St. Cecilia’s Day” as a Restoration ode. 20 marks
Dryden’s “A Song for St. Cecilia’s Day” (22 November 1687) is the paper’s one Restoration poem, and it must be read as public, ceremonial art — not as a metaphysical conceit-poem and not as blank-verse tragedy. St Cecilia, by legend a Roman martyr, is the patron saint of music; her feast was kept in London with new odes performed to music each year. Dryden’s ode is written for such an evening: stanzas of unequal length plus a grand chorus, the ceremonial ode that is still a kind of lyric.
The argument has three rooms. First, creation: “From harmony, from heavenly harmony / This universal frame began.” Nature lay in “jarring atoms”; music ordered them — cold, hot, moist, dry — and last into man. Jubal of Genesis, “the first musician,” is named so that music is as old as mankind: the old Pythagorean music of the spheres, made English. Second, the passions: each instrument moves its feeling — the trumpet war, the soft flute lament, the violin love, the organ devotion. Cecilia herself “invented” the organ and “drew an angel down” by its sacred sound: music’s power proved on a saint. Third, apocalypse: the grand chorus looks to the last trumpet of St Paul — “the dead shall rise” — when “music shall untune the sky.” The frame music made, music will unmake.
Note the ode’s place in Dryden’s career: Poet Laureate since 1668, Dryden was the Restoration’s public voice, and the St Cecilia odes were his annual ceremonial duty — poetry as civic music. The closing paradox deserves a final look: “music shall untune the sky.” Music, the great orderer, becomes the great unmaker; the harmony that built the frame dissolves it. That is why the ode needs its grand chorus — only many voices together can sing an ending that big. The poem that begins “From harmony” ends in un-tuning, and the circle is complete.
The design is the meaning, and it marks Dryden’s difference from Donne. No private conceit, no whispered lover’s argument: this is public poetry, reasoned and processional — creation, passion, apocalypse, all by music. The metaphysicals yoked heterogeneous ideas by violence; Dryden marshals his in ceremonial order. That is the Restoration key after the metaphysical whisper, and the ode’s occasion explains its form: it was made to be heard by a company, with music, on a feast day. Hold one line for the exam: the ode that begins in harmony ends in un-tuning — music creates the world, moves the heart, and will end the world.
Dryden ka “A Song for St. Cecilia’s Day” (22 November 1687) paper ki ek Restoration poem hai, aur ise public, ceremonial art ki tarah padhna chahiye — metaphysical conceit-poem ki tarah nahi aur blank-verse tragedy ki tarah nahi. St Cecilia, legend ke mutabik Roman martyr, music ki patron saint hai; uska feast London me har saal music pe perform hone wale naye odes se manaya jaata tha. Dryden ka ode aisi evening ke liye likha gaya hai: unequal length ke stanzas plus grand chorus, ceremonial ode jo ab bhi lyric ki ek kind hai.
Argument ke teen rooms hain. Pehla, creation: “From harmony, from heavenly harmony / This universal frame began.” Nature “jarring atoms” me padi thi; music ne unhe order kiya — cold, hot, moist, dry — aur aakhir me man me. Genesis ka Jubal, “the first musician,” named hai taaki music mankind jitna purana lage: purana Pythagorean music of the spheres, English banaya gaya. Doosra, passions: har instrument apni feeling move karta hai — trumpet war, soft flute lament, violin love, organ devotion. Cecilia ne khud organ “invent” kiya aur uski sacred sound se “angel neeche kheench liya”: saint pe proved music ki power. Teesra, apocalypse: grand chorus St Paul ke last trumpet ki taraf dekhta hai — “the dead shall rise” — jab “music shall untune the sky.” Jo frame music ne banaya, music use unmake karega.
Ode ki Dryden ke career me jagah note karo: 1668 se Poet Laureate, Dryden Restoration ki public voice the, aur St Cecilia odes unki annual ceremonial duty the — civic music ki tarah poetry. Closing paradox final look deserve karta hai: “music shall untune the sky.” Music, great orderer, great unmaker ban jaata hai; jo harmony ne frame banaya wo use dissolve karta hai. Isiliye ode ko apna grand chorus chahiye — sirf many voices together itna bada ending ga sakti hain. Jo poem “From harmony” se begin hoti hai wo un-tuning me end hoti hai, aur circle complete hai.
Design hi meaning hai, aur ye Dryden ka Donne se difference mark karta hai. Koi private conceit nahi, koi whispered lover’s argument nahi: ye public poetry hai, reasoned aur processional — creation, passion, apocalypse, sab music se. Metaphysicals ne heterogeneous ideas ko violence se yoke kiya; Dryden apne ko ceremonial order me marshal karta hai. Yehi metaphysical whisper ke baad Restoration key hai, aur ode ka occasion uska form explain karta hai: ye company dwara, music ke saath, feast day pe suna jaane ko banaya gaya tha. Exam ke liye ek line hold karo: jo ode harmony me begin hota hai wo un-tuning me end hota hai — music duniya banata hai, heart move karta hai, aur duniya end karega.