Introducing 

Prezi AI.

Your new presentation assistant.

Refine, enhance, and tailor your content, source relevant images, and edit visuals quicker than ever before.

Loading…
Transcript

Poetry Analysis Project

Connotations

  • "gather ye rosebuds" - live your life while young
  • "the glorious lamp of heaven" - the sun
  • "the sooner his race will be run" - a reference to the Greek sun god, Helios, who rides past the sun on a chariot
  • "when youth and blood are warmer" - when one is younger, their blood is "warmer" because they are full of life

Life in a Love

To The Virgins, To Make Much of Time

Symbolism

Iambic Tetrameter

Line 3

Diction, Syntax and Tone

And this same flower that smiles today

Poetic Form

  • Diction is passionate, loaded and poetic

Flowers ( First Stanza)

  • Used to represent the shortness of life

Theme

by Robert Browning

  • Syntax is balanced and involved to convey passion and meaning

Interpretation

Literary Techniques

The Sun ( Second Stanza)

  • The sun setting is compared to one's life ending

Rhyme Scheme

Iambic Trimeter

Gather ye rosebuds while ye may, (A)

Old Time is still a-flying; (B)

And this same flower that smiles today (A)

Tomorrow will be dying. (B)

The glorious lamp of heaven, the sun, (C)

The higher he's a-getting, (D)

The sooner will his race be run, (C)

And nearer he's to setting. (D)

Conflict: the persona is having a conflict with the woman he is speaking of - she will not accept his love, but he refuses to stop

Line 6

  • Tone is direct and impassioned to convey the persona's strong feeling

The higher he's a-gett-ing

  • Loving and not being loved back is painful

Line 6 is an example of catalexis - a word from the ancient Greek, used in iambic trimeter to add an extra syllable

Words like "loving", "baffled" and "eluded" are used

Hot Temperature (Lines 8-10)

  • When it is warmer, it represents youth and livelihood

by Robert Herrick

To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time is a beautiful allegory about seizing the day while in your prime.

Herrick eloquently conveys the theme of making the most of life in one's youth.

The poet makes the case that youth is like a flower, and eventually it will die. One must bloom to the best of their ability before they are no longer in their best years.

Characterization: readers are able to learn that the persona is persistent, possibly to the point of annoyance, and will not stop going after what he wants even when he is refused

Metaphor

My life is a fault at last, I fear (Line 8)

While look, but once from your farthest bound

At me, so deep in the dust and dark (Lines 16-17)

These metaphors help to convey the persona's inner feelings about his pursuits of the woman.

Simile

It seems too much like a fate, indeed! (Line 9)

This simile helps develop the idea that the persona believes it is fate for the woman and himself to be together.

Analysis

About the Author

Literary Techniques

Connotations

Hyperbole: the persona in the poem wildly exaggerates the speed of time to create the idea that time flies

Imagery: The constant mention of flowers in the poem goes along with the theme of seizing the day and making the most of one's youth, the persona says flowers do not stay in full bloom forever

Poetic Form

Theme

Diction, Syntax and Tone

Iambic Tetrameter, Pentameter, with Catalexis

  • "it seems too much like a fate" - the persona is claiming that fate wants them together
  • Born in London on August 24, 1591, widely regarded as one of the most accomplished nondramatic poets of his day
  • His father committed suicide when he was 1 by "falling" out of an upper story window
  • Father figures became prevalent in his works
  • Became his uncle's apprentice for 6 years, then went to school at St. John's College.
  • Disciple of Ben Jonson, and became a vicar in Devonshire
  • Wisely Guarding Your Virginity
  • Begins with poetic ferrules at beginning and end (Lines 1-3, 20-22)
  • Order is tetrameter, nanometer, tetrameter, pentameter(sometimes catalexis)
  • Herrick uses euphonious and connotative diction to convey pleasantness such as "glorious"

Imagery

  • "to dry one's eyes and laugh at a fall" - despite his rejections, the persona refuses to give up
  • Born on May 7, 1812 in Camberbell, London
  • Regarded as one of the most important Victorian poets
  • His mother's love of music and poetry was a large influence
  • Very unusual style, attributed to his homeschooling
  • Parents willingly funded and supported his writing career

Iambic Tetrameter

Personification

  • Herrick enhances the lines by creating rhythmic, elegant sentences

Old Time is still a-flying;

And this same flower that smiles today (Lines 2-3)

Old Time is a reference to Father Time, and the flower is being compared to an actual person who will soon die.

Synecdoche

While I am I, and you are you (Line 4)

The flower is used throughout the play as a synecdoche for an actual young girl.

At me so deep in the dust and dark (Line 17)

  • This line makes the reader imagine darkness enveloping the speaker as he talks about him changing
  • "so deep in the dust and dark" - the persona assumes that the woman sees him in a dark way

"The glorious lamp of heaven, the sun, the higher he's a-getting;"(Lines 5-6)

  • Making the Most of Life
  • The tone is lively and dramatic

Iambic Pentameter

But what if I fail of my purpose here? (Line 11)

So long as the world contains us both (Line 5)

  • Creates an image of the two subjects of the poem being together in a large world
  • Early writing career described as "a search for appropriate poetic form"
  • Attempted to write plays, proved unsuccessful
  • His first successful poem, Paracelsus, paved the way for him to grow as a poet
  • Married another poet, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, in 1846
  • Today, most known for writing "The Pied Piper of Hamelin", a widely popular children's story

Rhyme Scheme

  • Stayed a vicar for 31 years until he was removed from his position during the Great Revolution
  • Reinstated in 1661 until his death in October 1674
  • Herrick never married - the women in his poems are thought to all be figments of his imagination
  • Influenced by classic Roman poetry, themes of religion, English country life, and village customs

While I am I, and you are you (A)

So long as the world contains us both, (B)

Me the loving and you the loth (B)

While the one eludes, must the other pursue (A)

My life is a fault, at last I fear: (C)

It seems too much like a fate, indeed! (D)

Though I do my best I shall scarce succeed (D)

But what if I fail of my purpose here? (C)

It is but to keep the nerves at strain (E)

To dry one's eyes and laugh at a fall (F)

And, baffled, get up and begin again (E)

So the chace takes up one's life, that's all (F)

While, look but once from your farthest bound (G)

At me, so deep in the dust and dark (H)

No sooner the old help goes to ground (G)

Than a new one, straight to the same self-mark (H)

Interpretation

Browning writes this poem to depict a tragic case of unrequited love, however the persona is unwilling to give up his pursuits.

The persona is madly in love with the woman being spoken of.

Because of his deep feelings, he refuses to give up and will constantly pursue her no matter her much she eludes him.

Comparison/Contrast

Theme

Seize the Day

Unrequited Love

R/F

Fantasy

Reality

Tone

Direct, Impassioned

Lively, Dramatic

Allegory?

No

Yes

Symbols?

Yes

No

Imagery?

Yes

Diction

Euphonious

Loaded, Poetic

Rhyme Scheme

ABAB

ABBA, EFEF

Thesis

"To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time" and "Life in a Love" are two distinct poems with very little in common. Despite this, both works are beautifully written and explore unique and various themes.

Conclusion/Critique

References

Both To the Virgins... and Life in a Love are beautiful works of poetry.

The poems are easy to understand and easy to read.

The themes of the poems are simple and understandable.

  • Herrick, Robert. "To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time." Poets.org. Academy of American Poets, 24 July 2015. Web. 28 Mar. 2017.
  • "Robert Herrick." Poets.org. Academy of American Poets, 21 Apr. 2014. Web. 28 Mar. 2017.
  • Shmoop Editorial Team. "To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time (Gather Ye Rosebuds) Analysis." Shmoop. Shmoop University, 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 28 Mar. 2017.
  • "Go to Bing Homepage." To+the+virgins+to+make+much+of+time+youtube - Bing Video. Youtube, n.d. Web. 28 Mar. 2017.
  • Browning, Robert. "Life in a Love." Poets.org. Academy of American Poets, 01 Apr. 2014. Web. 28 Mar. 2017.
  • "Robert Browning." Poets.org. Academy of American Poets, 15 Dec. 2016. Web. 28 Mar. 2017.
  • MichPoetryOutLoud. ""Life in a Love" by Robert Browning." YouTube. YouTube, 10 Mar. 2010. Web. 28 Mar. 2017.
Learn more about creating dynamic, engaging presentations with Prezi