Brothers:
Over the course of the week, we will be finishing up discussion on the Elizabethan poets Edmund Spenser and Sir Philip Sidney, relying on the text questions to help us find and provide each other with insight regarding the deeper meanings of their sonnets.
As we do this, we keep in mind the importance of structure in such poetry for establishing cadence (that is, tone), rhythm, and meaning. We also keep in mind the importance of learning to read poetry by writing it ourselves.
That said, I ask you to take on the Shakespearean sonnet formula (iambic pantemter; ABAB CDCD EFEF GG) while modifying the text to suit your own needs and subject matter related to the deeply emotional experiences presented in Shakespeare’s sonnets:
· Time
· Death
· Love
· Friendship
Your focus should be centered on issues of RELATIONSHIP! Thus, you will want to evoke a whole range of emotional experiences from joy to despair; love-loss to the fulfillment of love; from loneliness to peace; from depression to happiness.
Be sure to pay attention to how Shakespeare uses the sonnet to “bring the fundamental experiences of life—time, death, love, and friendship—into tight focus" (TV 250).
DUE TUESDAY, Dec. 11, 2007 by class time: blog or hard copy (typed)
Below is an example from my own in-class writing on the theme of spiritual transformation (from life to death to life):
The promised land awaits in the silent
Growth of the fruits of God's great love.
On this Western front all time is thus spent
In the white mist of reverie above
Wherein I seek only what's beautiful
In scope of truth in sound that sings a song--
This melody is a momentary lull
Into scapes of dreaming so deep and long,
Where human deserts become oases.
Barren and dry hearts are like thirst quenched.
Where sullen countenance of death ceases
To sahde all that was once prefigured
In the advent of your second coming--
A story of death to birth succumbing.
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8 comments:
Jordan Page
English 141. Sec 5
Dec. 10, 2007
Shakespeare Imitation
Will the Grim Reaper come for you today?
Or will he stay in his room where he sits
And waits for the chance to take you away.
The Grim don’t care if you’re adult or kid.
You can’t prevent Reaper from reaping you.
When your time comes he’s on his way to get
You whether you don’ want or want him to.
If you run from him, Reaper does not fret.
From the Reaper you cannot stay away.
You cannot run you cannot hide from him.
Will today be your most glorious day?
This day might be the day for Greg Lee of Tim.
To die is lucky cause to God you’ll go.
If you ask for forgiveness he won’t say no.
Casey Doyle
English 141 Section 5
December 10, 2007
Shakespearean Sonnet
Friendship takes committment and some patience.
Friendships end but some new ones will begin.
Some friendships are like brand new creations.
A reason friendships end are due to sin.
A cause of lost trust is cause betrayal.
Friendships are meant for 2 people to share.
To my friends i will always be loyal.
A good friendship always has love and care.
A good friendship has goals is must acheive.
The goal is friendship is to have some fun.
To reach these goals the 2 friends must believe.
A friendship has died but it has just begun.
Friendship is an important step in life.
And your good friends can help you conquer strife.
Jason Weng
Bro. Rob Peach
Brit Lit 141 sec.5
12.10.07
Shakespearean Sonnet
Over time good companions come and go.
Like memories you must hold on real tight.
But carefully sometimes its hard to know
Which ones are real and which are just not right.
We live to find a life to call our own.
Time brings with it brand new things and new friends.
Like a train coming from places unknown.
But just real ones stay with you til the end.
Others can corrupt you with lies and crime.
The sure ones share your happiness and pains
Friends rise and fall with the sands of time.
The important ones are those last few grains
People need friends like the Earth needs the Sun
True friends are forever like all diamonds.
Matt Oczypok
English 141. Sec 5
Dec. 10, 2007
Shakespeare Imitation
Friendship at Central
Each morning we sit on the chairs and laugh
Discussing topics like sports and women
Working hard on problems, charts, and graphs
Wishing we could be done and just livin’
In class we complain about work we get
At lunch we see Steve with all her tattoos
Gladus in the back, watch you don’t get bit.
Reg discounts our food so we never lose
Nothing will beat the friends we hang out with
Quoting movies and shows that we all love
Laughing at kids who make up funny myths
Joking around we high five, push, and shove.
Friends at Central will last me a lifetime
I am done; I hope you enjoyed this rhyme.
Charles Destro
English 141. Sec 5
Dec. 11, 2007
Shakespeare Imitation
It slays warriors, pharaohs, chiefs and kings.
It is rampaging, but makes not a sound.
Hills, mountains, volcanoes down down it brings.
It cares for life, but takes souls from all around.
Creeping and hiding it watches all.
At any moment it can jump and strike.
Unpredictable it’s just like football.
Men and woman are bond by it alike.
One inch too early you don’t quite make it.
Once second too slow and you are zero.
You can let it take its own course and quit.
Or you can fight it and be a hero.
Will you hide in the dark, or will you climb?
What will you do now. Decide it is time.
Metaphors, quatrains, couplets all in one
From Phillip, Sidney, Spenser, and Shakesphere
While others try to write it just for fun
I try my hardest to write like them here
And in my attempts I see that I fail
With prases, nouns, adjetives, and verbs
But with this dark pen my paper's still pale
For I forget that I can not write words
With that in mind I still try not to stop
That won't stop me from achieving my dreams
And now my household name is Writer's Block
Whose now a better poet than all three
Not cocky but admit that I am good
That is if you know what is good for you!!
Liam Halferty
Bro. Robert Peach
British Literature 141-05
December 10th, 2007
Shakespearean Sonnet: An Imitation
Time winds down so very quickly
Like an hour glass in a board game
Life’s end is near, I lay in bed sickly
What life was before just is not the same
Looking back on life, of all the great things
All the friendships come back like a flashback
Friendship, one of the great things life brings
Now the clock ticks as life washes away
But death is not the end, it’s the beginning
Of a new chapter of life, like in a book
I don’t see it as losing, but winning
Some see death as bad, I take another look
Death is a new life, a new start
Time has run out, I must depart
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