.

PREPARING to fJlead
My Lute, Awake!
Poetry by
SIR THOMAS WYATT

On Monsieur's Departure
Poetry by
ELIZABETH I

Connect to Your Life )

Dealing with Rejection Suppose that you loved or liked someone

who did not return your love or your friendship. How would you
react? In your reader's notebook, write a short paragraph
describing the effect that such a rejection might have on you.

Build Background Focus Your Reading

Court Poets and Courtly Love Sir Thomas Wyatt, a HHdiMA'IMUWU RHYME SCHEME"! A rhyme scheme is

diplomat in the service of King Henry VIII, the pattern of end rhyme poem. Notice the pattern
in a

traveled widely and was responsible for of end rhyme in this stanza from "My Lute, Awake!"
introducing various forms of Italian lyric poetry
Proud of the spoil that thou hast got
to England. Although this achievement was of
Of simple hearts, thorough love's shot;
great importance to the development of English
By whom, unkind, thou hast them won,
poetry, many of Wyatt's best poems— including
Think not he hath his bow forgot,
"My Awake!"— are in the style of the native
Lute,
Although my lute and I have done.
English dance song, or ballet (bal'ot). The ballet
was a lively and forceful kind of verse written to As you read both poems, be aware of their different
be sung to the accompaniment of the lute, a rhyme schemes.
stringed instrument popular in the 16th century.
The writer of "On Monsieur's Departure," ACTIVE READING CLARIFYING MEANING |
Poetry of the

Elizabeth I, was a daughter of Henry VIII and Renaissance can be challenging to modern readers. If you
queen of England during the flowering of the find the syntax or the order of the words hard to follow,

English Renaissance. Elizabeth was unusually you can use the following strategies to increase your
well educated for a woman of her time and understanding:

wrote several poems, all of which seem to have • Use the text annotations and the dictionary to help you
been based on events in her life. define difficult words or phrases.
One of the popular themes of love poetry in • Reread the poem several times— aloud and silently.
the 16th century was unrequited love— love that • Try paraphrasing the lines until the sense becomes
is ignored or rejected. In the tradition of earlier clear. For example, read these lines from "On
European poems of courtly love, such poetry Monsieur's Departure."
portrayed the rejected lover as desolate and
I grieve and dare not show my discontent,
anguished, totally in the power of the beloved.
I love and yet am forced to seem to hate, . .
These poems by Wyatt and Elizabeth are both I

concerned with the theme of unrequited love. You might paraphrase the lines as follows: "I must hide
The individuality of each poem lies in the way my grief and disguise my love."
the poet works subtle variations on the ijj reader s notebook As you read these poems,
traditional situations and responses. try to paraphrase lines that seem difficult to you.

MY LUTE, AWAKE! ON MONSIEUR'S DEPARTURE

/ 283
 , !

IViy ute
My
~yAwake
lute, awake! Perform the last

Labor that thou and I shall waste,

And end that I have now begun;
For when this song is sung and past,
5 My lute, be still, for I have done.

As to be heard where ear is none, 6-8 as to be heard ... as soon:

As lead to grave in marble stone, My song's having an effect on her

emotions is as unlikely as sound
My may pierce
song her heart as soon.
being heard without an ear or soft
Should we then sigh or sing or moan? lead carving hard marble.
10 No, no, my lute, for I have done.

The rocks do not so cruelly

Repulse the waves continually
As she my suit and affection. 13 suit: wooing; courtship.

So that I am past remedy,

15 Whereby my lute and I have done.

Proud of the spoil that thou hast got

Of simple hearts, thorough love's shot; 17 thorough love's shot: through

By whom, unkind, thou hast them won, the arrow of Cupid, the god of
love.
Think not he hath his bow forgot,
20 Although my lute and I have done.

284 UNIT TWO PART 1: ASPECTS OF LOVE

 Vengeance on thy disdain
shall fall
That makest but game on earnest pain.
Think not alone under the sun 23-24 think not . . . plain: Do not
Unquit to cause thy lovers plain, think that you alone under the sun
will escape unrevenged for causing
25 Although my lute and I have done.
your lovers to lament.

Perchance thee lie withered and old

The winter nights that are so cold,
Plaining in vain unto the moon.
Thy wishes then dare not be told.

30 Care then who list, for I have done. 30 list: likes; wishes.

And then may chance thee to repent

The time that thou hast lost and spent
To cause thy lovers sigh and swoon.
Then shalt thou know beauty but lent,
35 And wish and want as I have done.

Now cease, my lute. This is the last

Labor that thou and I shall waste,
And ended is that we begun.
Now is this song both sung and past;
40 My lute, be still, for have done. I

Thinking Through the Literature

1. Comprehension Check What has happened between the speaker and

the subject of the poem?
2. What is your impression of this poem?
3. How would you describe the speaker's attitude toward the woman
who is the subject of the poem?
4. If the speaker's wishes came true, what do you think would happen
to the woman? Explain your answer.

5. Do you think the speaker is sincere when he says "I have done"?
Why or why not?

MY LUTE, AWAKE! 285

 L I Z A B E T H I

on 9

onsienii s

.Oeparttnire
I grieve and dare not show my discontent,
I love and yet am forced to seem to hate, Young Elizabeth
I do, yet dare not say I ever meant,
I seem stark mute but inwardly do prate. 4 prate: chatter.

I am and not, I freeze and yet am burned,

Since from myself another self I turned. 6 another The man referred
self:

to in this poem
is thought by some

to be a French duke who had been

My care is like my shadow in the sun,
involved in negotiations for
Follows me flying, flies when I pursue it,
marriage to Elizabeth; by others,
Stands and lies by me, doth what I have done. to be the earl of Essex, a favorite
II) His too familiar care doth make me rue it. courtier of Elizabeth's who was
executed for treason 1601.
No means I find to rid him from my breast,
in

7 care: sorrow.
Till by the end of things it be suppressed.
9 doth . . . done: does all that I do.
10 his too familiar care ... it: His

Some gentler passion slide into my mind, too easy and superficial sorrow

For I am
and made of melting snow;
soft makes me regret my own feelings
of sorrow.
L5 Or be more cruel, love, and so be kind.
Let me or float or sink, be high or low.
Or let me live with some more sweet content,

Or die and so forget what love ere meant.

286 UNIT TWO PART 1: ASPECTS OF LOVE

 vVvroi&f

Connect to the Literature Literary Analysis

1. What Do You Think? Comprehension Check
Do you feel • How does the speaker in "On 1
RHYME SCHEME The pattern of |

sympathy for Monsieur's Departure" feel about end rhyme in a poem determines

the speaker of the man she refers to? the poem's rhyme scheme. The

"On Monsieur's • How does the speaker hope to rhyme scheme is charted by

Departure"? Why conquer her painful emotions? assigning a letter of the alphabet,

or why not? beginning with a, to each line. Lines

that rhyme are given the same
letter. Notice that in "My Lute,

rhink Critically Awake!," for example, the rhyme

scheme of each stanza is aabab.
2. What conflicts does the speaker in "On Monsieur's
Departure" seem to be experiencing? Proud of the spoil that thou a
hast got
• the contrasts she presents in lines 1-5
Of simple hearts, thorough a
• what she says in line 6 love's shot;
ABOUT • the references to her care and "his too By whom, unkind, thou b
familiar care" hast them won,
Think not he hath his bow a
3. Do you think the speaker is responsible for the situation she forgot,
finds herself in? Why or why not? Although my lute and I b
have done.
4. How would you explain the speaker's wish in the last
Be aware, however, that the rhyme
stanza?
may not always be exact. In the first

5. How does knowing that this poem was written by Queen stanza of "My Lute, Awake!" the
Elizabeth I affect your interpretation of it? word waste is meant to rhyme with
last and past.
ACTIVE READING CLARIFYING MEANING choose two lines
Paired Activity Working with a
that you paraphrased in your FU reader s notebook as
partner, use the letters a, b, and c to
you read the poems. Compare your paraphrase with that of
chart the rhyme scheme of the
a classmate. What additional understanding did you gain
stanzas of "On Monsieur's
through comparing your work?
Departure."

Extend Interpretations
7. Comparing Texts Compare the portrayals of unrequited love
in "My Lute, Awake!" and "On Monsieur's Departure." Think
about the attitudes and actions of the man and the woman
in each poem, the tone of each poem, and the traditional
portrayal of unrequited love in courtly-love poetry.

8. Connect to Life How is unrequited love portrayed in literature

and film today? How do modern characters react when they
are rejected?

MY LUTE, AWAKE! / ON MONSIEUR'S DEPARTURE 287

 —
wcctf^eHALLENGES
"My
Writing Options Activities & Lute, Awake!" or "On
Monsieur's Departure." Then
Letter from a Queen Imagine that Explorations make a tape recording of the
you are Elizabeth and have just
I

Mood Music Listen to some pieces and play it for the class.
read "My Lute, Awake!" Write a
recordings of Renaissance music, Explain your choices, and ask for
letter to a friend, expressing your
both vocal and instrumental. feedback from your classmates.
reaction to Wyatt's poem.
Select a group of pieces that you - MUSIC
think reflect the mood of either

Sir Thomas Wyatt Elizabeth I

1503-1542 1533-1603

Other Works Other Works

"Whoso List to Hunt" "The Doubt of Future Foes"
"Blame Not My Lute" "Speech to the Troops at Tilbury"
"My Galley Charged with
Forgetfulness"

At the King's Service As a courtier and diplomat Lonely Childhood Elizabeth I, daughter of King
for Henry VIII, Sir Thomas Wyatt was alternately in Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, had an unsettling and
and out of favor with the whimsical king. Henry probably lonely childhood. Her father, hoping for
ordered Wyatt imprisoned twice, once for a male heir, was disappointed at Elizabeth's birth

quarreling with a duke and once for treason, both and two years later ordered her mother executed,
times threatening him with execution. Each time, supposedly for treason. Despite his bitterness at

however, Wyatt was pardoned and accepted back not having a son, Henry provided Elizabeth with
into the king's service. the rigorous education normally given only to
boys. She learned Latin, Greek, French, Italian,
Lyrics for the Lute A skilled musician and amateur
history, and theology, and her literary output
poet, Wyatt wrote lyrics in his leisure time to
includes speeches, translations, and a small
amuse himself and other courtiers. As was usual
collection of poems focusing on events in her
during the Renaissance, his poems were circulated
personal life.
privately, and only a few were published during his
lifetime. Critical opinion of Wyatt's poems varies Glorious Reign Elizabeth ascended the throne in
some think their rhythm too irregular and rough, 1558 and ruled for 45 years. Her reign was a
while others consider them fresh and vigorous. glorious period in English history, a time of great
Most critics agree, however, that his most inventive prosperity, artistic achievement, and international
work is to be found in the songs he wrote for lute prestige. Although she considered a number of

accompaniment and that his introduction of the marriage proposals, Elizabeth rejected all of them,

Italian sonnet form into English was a significant ignoring the advisers who hoped she would marry
contribution to English literature. and provide an heir to the throne.

o^ LaserLinks: Background for Reading

^^TV Author Background
VjJr Music Connection

288 UNIT ONE PART 1: ASPECTS OF LOVE

 *?*&* The Passionate Shepherd to His Love
'
&>.2 flj^s Poetry by CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE

The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd

Poetry by SIR WALTER RALEIGH

Connect to Your Life)

Imagining Paradise Close your eyes and think of a beautiful place you
have visited. What images make up your mental picture of the place?
Create a cluster diagram similar to the one shown, identifying the place in

the center oval and surrounding it with words and phrases that describe
the images you associate with the place. Which of your images do you
consider realistic? Which would you describe as romantic or idealized?

Build Background Focus Your Reading

Renaissance Poetry The Renaissance was a time IIHJiMA'IiWf-Wflffl pastoral I
Renaissance poets used
in which knowledge and skills were cultivated in pastorals to convey their own thoughts and feelings
a broad range of fields, from music, art, and about love and other subjects. A pastoral is a poem
literature to science and athletics. According to presenting shepherds in rural settings that are usually
writers of the time, the ideal "Renaissance man" idealized. Notice the images from a country setting in the
should develop himself in every possible way. following lines:
Included in the ranks of the true Renaissance
And we will sit upon the rocks,
men were two kindred spirits, Christopher
Seeing the shepherds feed their flocks.
Marlowe and Sir Walter Raleigh. During his short
life, Marlowe studied religion, became a talented As you read these poems, notice examples of pastoral
and recognized poet and playwright, conducted life involving shepherds and their rural existence.

secret government business, and engaged in

philosophical discussions with his friend Raleigh. ACTIVE READING COMPARING SPEAKERS IN POETRY
As a statesman, writer, soldier, scientist, adven- The two speakers in these poems— the shepherd and the

turer, and explorer, Raleigh lived a life of action nymph— have very different perspectives on the topic of

as well as contemplation. love. To identify the differences, consider the following:

Marlowe's poem "The Passionate Shepherd to • each speaker's choice of words when addressing the
His Love" became so famous that other poets other person
wrote responses to it. The most notable of these • evidence of each speaker's motivation
is "The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd," written • each speaker's attitude about life

by Raleigh. Together, the two poems enact a

rp READER S notebook As you read these poems,
debate about the realities of love.
jot down details that point out the differences between
the two speakers on the subject of romantic love.

THE PASSIONATE SHEPHERD TO HIS LOVE / THE NYMPH'S REPLY TO THE SHEPHERD 289
 Christopher Marlowe

The Passionate Shepherd

to His Xove

The Hireling Shepherd (1851), William Holman Hunt. Manchester (U.K.) City Art
Gallery/A. K.G., Berlin/Superstock.

G <ome
And we
live with me and
will all the pleasures
be my
prove
love,
2 prove: experience.

That valleys, groves, hills, and fields,

Woods, or steepy mountain yields.

5 And we will sit upon the rocks,

Seeing the shepherds feed their flocks,
By shallow rivers to whose falls 8 madrigals: songs of a type
Melodious birds sing madrigals. popular during the Renaissance.

290 UNIT TWO PART 1 : ASPECTS OF LOVE

 And I will make thee beds of roses
10 And a thousand fragrant posies,
A cap of flowers, and a kirtle 11 kirtle: skirt.

Embroidered all with leaves of myrtle;

A gown made of the finest wool

Which from our pretty lambs we pull;

15 Fair lined slippers for the cold,

With buckles of the purest gold;

A belt of straw and ivy buds,

With coral clasps and amber studs:
And if these pleasures may thee move,
20 Come live with me, and be my love.

The shepherds' swains shall dance and sin^ 21 swains: youths.

For thy delight each May morning:

If these delights thy mind may move,
Then live with me and be my love.

Thinking Through the Literature

1. What is your opinion of the gifts that the shepherd offers to his
beloved?

2. How serious or realistic do you think the shepherd's offer is?

THINK / * tne wa Y ne describes the setting

ApUU'1 I • the gifts he promises
3. Why do you think Marlowe chose the setting described in the
poem?

THE PASSIONATE SHEPHERD TO HIS LOVE 291

 Sir Walter Raleigh The
Nymph's Reply to

the Shepherd

If all the world and love were young,

And truth in every shepherd's tongue,
These pretty pleasures might me move
To live with thee and be thy love.

5 Time drives the flocks from field to fold 5 fold: a pen for animals,
When rivers rage and rocks grow cold, especially sheep.

And Philomel becometh dumb; 7 Philomel: the nightingale; dumb:

silent.
The rest complains of cares to come.

The flowers do fade, and wanton fields 9 wanton: producing abundant

10 To wayward winter reckoning yields; crops; luxuriant.

A honey tongue, a heart of gall,

Is fancy's spring, but sorrow's fall.

Thy gowns, thy shoes, thy beds of roses,

Thy cap, thy kirtle, and thy posies
15 Soon break, soon wither, soon forgotten—
In folly ripe, in reason rotten.

Thy belt of straw and ivy buds,

Thy coral clasps and amber studs,
All these in me no means can move
20 To come to thee and be thy love.

But could youth and love still breed,

last

Had joys no date nor age no need, 22 date: ending.

Then these delights my mind might move
To live with thee and be thy love.

292 UNIT TWO PART 1: ASPECTS OF LOVE

07iinAinq '« LITERATURE
Connect to the Literature
Literary Analysis
1. What Do You Think? Comprehension Check
Were you surprised • What images in Marlowe's poem 1
PASTORAlTI A pastoral is a

by the nymph's are repeated in Raleigh's poem? poem presenting shepherds in rural

response in "The • Does the nymph in Raleigh's settings, usually in an idealized

Nymph's Reply to poem agree or disagree with the manner. The style of pastorals may
the Shepherd"? shepherd's arguments in seem unnatural, since the suppos-

Share your thoughts Marlowe's poem? edly simple, rustic characters tend to

with a classmate. use very formal, courtly language;

however, Renaissance poets were
drawn to this form not as a means
Think Critically of accurately portraying rustic life

2. How would you describe the nymph's attitude toward life?

but as a means of conveying their
own emotions and ideas in an artis-
the connection she makes between youth and
tic way. Marlowe's "The Passionate
love
ABOUT Shepherd to His Love" is a perfect

k
• her descriptions of the effects of time example of a pastoral.

3. Do you agree with the nymph's reasons for not accepting Paired Activity With a partner,

the shepherd's offer? Why or why not?

decide on the mood that the pas-

toral evokes in you. What are the

4. On the basis of the first and last stanzas, what do you think details that the poet provides to cre-
might convince the nymph to accept the shepherd's offer? ate a pastoral feeling or atmos-
phere? How do these details help to
ACTIVE READING COMPARING SPEAKERS IN POETRY
create the mood? Use a chart like
Look back at the details you noted in your
the one below to organize your
nCS reaper's notebook about the speakers'
ideas. Compare your findings with
perspectives. What is the debate between the two speakers
those of your classmates.
of these poems all about? Which of the two speakers'
attitudes is closer to your own attitude? Details Mood
"The
Passionate
Shepherd
Extend Interpretations His Love"
to

6. Comparing Texts Who do you think would be more likely to

"The Nymph's
share the shepherd's attitude toward love— the speaker of Reply to the
Wyatt's "My Lute, Awake!" or the speaker of Elizabeth I's "On Shepherd"

Monsieur's Departure"? Explain your opinion.

7. Connect to Life Think about the different ways love is

depicted in current music. Do these depictions usually

reflect a romantic or realistic view of love?

THE PASSIONATE SHEPHERD TO HIS LOVE THE NYMPH'S REPLY TO THE SHEPHERD
/ 293
 v/kMa CHALLENGES
appropriate setting. Place the conversation in which the
Writing Options
parody in your shepherd tries to persuade the
A Modern
or humorous
Parody Write a parody,
imitation, of "The
Working Portfolio. Q nymph
~
to accept his offer.
SPEAKING AND LISTENING
Passionate Shepherd to His
Love." In place of the shepherd, Activities & 2. Drawing Shepherds and Nymphs
Create a single drawing or
substitute a person with a
Explorations painting that depicts the
different job (for example, an
1. Telephone Dialogue With a contrasting scenes described in
accountant, a truck driver, a
partner, act out a modern phone the two poems. ~ ART
plumber, or a chef) and select an

Christopher Sir Walter Raleigh

15527-1618
Marlowe
1564-1593 Other Works
"Epitaph of Sir Philip Sidney"
Other Works The History of the World
The Tragedy of Dido, Queen of
Carthage
Edward II
Hero and Leander

Talent and Intrigue Christopher Marlowe is best An Active Life Sir Walter Raleigh was a man of
remembered for writing plays in which his use of action and intellect. He attended Oxford University,

what Ben Jonson dubbed his "mighty line," or studied law, and was widely read in chemistry,
blank verse, transformed the British theater. The mathematics, and medicine. He also wrote history
son of a shoemaker, Marlowe attended Cambridge and poetry. By helping to quell an Irish rebellion

University on a scholarship but was almost denied in 1580, he won the affection of Queen Elizabeth.

his master's degree because he was suspected of As the queen's favorite, he was granted land, made
conspiring against the queen. A letter from the a vice-admiral, knighted, and appointed governor
queen's Privy Council excused the young man, of Jersey, an island in the English Channel.
hinting that he was active in Elizabeth's secret
Exploration and Imprisonment Raleigh fell out of
service.
favor with the queen in 1592 but continued to
Brief but Influential Life Marlowe wrote his first pursue ambitious projects. Among his activities

successful play, Tamburlaine the Great, at the age were the establishment of the short-lived Roanoke
of 23. He lived only six more years but wrote five colony in North America and the leading of an
plays during that time, including The Jew ofMalta expedition to South America in search of gold. In
and Dr. Faustus, works that would profoundly 1603, during the reign of James I, he was charged
influence the development of Elizabethan drama. with treason and imprisoned for 13 years.
Like his friend Sir Walter Raleigh, Marlowe was a Afterward, Raleigh led another expedition to South
freethinker who was suspected of treasonous and America but fell into disfavor once again when his

antichurch sentiment. In 1593, at the age of 29, soldiers burned a local settlement. On his return

Marlowe was murdered in a tavern, allegedly to London, he was imprisoned and executed.
during an argument over the bill.

294 UNIT TWO PART 1: ASPECTS OF LOVE