Suggestions For Honours 3rd year, 16th and 17th Century Poetry (Part B & C) Notes & Explanations
Short Questions
Edmund Spenser
1. What is allegory? Discuss in brief the moral and spiritual allegory in Canto I of The Faerie
Queene Book-1. [See A Study Guide, Page-26]
2. In what sense is Spenser a pictorial artist? [See A Study Guide, Page-28]
3. Write a short note on Spenserian stanza. [See A Study Guide, Page-29]
4. Who is monster Error? Describe the fight between the monster Error and the Red Cross Knight.
[See A Study Guide, Page -31]
5. What is the allegorical significance of the fight between the monster Error and the Red Cross Knight? [See 4 Study Guide, Page 32]
6. Who is Archimago? Describe the encounter between the Red Cross Knight and Archimago.
[See A Study Guide, Page-33]
7. What is the allegorical significance of the encounter between the Red Cross Knight and Archimago? [See A Study Guide, Page-33]
8. Who is Morpheus? Describe his house in the underworld. [See A Study Guide, Page-34] gilidan boiling on voce a
9. What is the significance of vomiting by the monster Error? [See A Study Guide, Page -35]
extratest: W
10. Show how the Red Cross Knight had his victory over the monster Error.
[See A Study Guide, Page-38]
11. Describe how Archimago fails in his intrigue against the Red Cross Knight and Lady Una.
[See A Study Guide, Page-39]
12. How does Lady Una inspire the Red Cross Knight? [See A Study Guide, Page-42]
[1 ? hoon 50
13. Why is "The Faerie Queene" called a romantic epic? [See A Study Guide, Page-29]
Bosch woaded m
14. What impression of Lady Una do you have from "The Faerie Queene"?[See Study Guide, Page-31]
17. Write a short note on Gloriana. [Sec A Study Guide, Page-62]
18. Who is the Red Cross Knight? Give your impressions of the Knight. [See A Study Guide, Page -30]
John Donne A
1. Write a short note on the salient features of metaphysical poetry. [See A Study Guide, Page-109]
2. Trace metaphysical qualities in the poetry of John Donne. [See A Study Guide, Page-110]
3. What do you mean by Petrarchan tradition of love/ of woman worship? [See A Study Guide,
Page-110]
5. Why is the love between the poet and his beloved compared to the Phoenix Riddle? [See A Study Guide, Page-114]
6. Explain the conceit of twin-compasses. [See A Study Guide, Page-116] ?
7. How does Donne discard/refute the pride of death as a mighty and dreadful power?
[See A Study Guide, Page -117]
8. What kind of relationship does Donne want to establish with God in the sonnet, "Batter My Heart, Three-Personed God"? [See A Study Guide, Page-119]
9. Write a short note on 'Unified sensibility' in metaphysical poetry. [See A Study Guide, Page-120]
10. Write a short note on Donne's use of conceits in his love poems. [See A Study Guide, Page-112]
11. How does Donne differ from the Petrarchan tradition in his love
poetry? [See A Study Guide, Page-111]
12. How does the poem 'A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning' celebrate the spiritual quality of love?/ What kind of love do you find in the poem? [See A Study Guide, Page-116]
13. What is the poet's idea about the immortality of the soul in 'Death Be Not Proud'?/ How can the soul achieve immortality? [See A Study Guide, Page-118]
14. Why and how does the poet rebuke the sun in the poem 'The Sun Rising"? [See A Study Guide, Page -113]
15. How can the poet and his beloved be canonized for love? [See A Study Guide, Page-115]
Andrew Marvell
1. What is the role of 'Time' in human life? [See A Study Guide, Page - 181]
2. In what ways does the poem "To His Coy Mistress" look like a syllogism? [See A Study Guide, Page-182]
3. Trace Petrarchan/Elizabethan elements in Marvell's poem, "To His Coy Mistress".
[See A Study Guide, Page-184]
4. How does Marvell define love in his poem 'The Definition of Love'?[See A Study Guide, Page-187]
5. What is the nature of love between the poet and his beloved in "The Definition of Love". [See A Study Guide, Page-185]
6. What do you mean by 'Carpe-Diem' theme? [See A Study Guide, Page-179]
7. How does Marvell propose to his beloved to enjoy life in 'To His Coy Mistress'? [See A Study Guide, Page-180]
8. What role is played by fate in 'The Definition of Love"? [See A Study Guide, Page-186]
George Herbert
1. What do you know of 'Anglicanism'? [See A Study Guide, Page - 227]
2. How was George Herbert associated with Anglicanism/ the Church of England?
[See A Study Guide, Page-227]
3. What is the significance of larks flying upwards in the poem, "Easter Wings"? [See A Study Guide, Page -230]
4. What spiritual conflict does Herbert reveal in the poem The Collar? [See A Study Guide, Page-232]
5. How does Herbert deplore the loss of worldly life in "The Collar"? [See A Study Guide, Page-234]
6. What arguments does Herbert place to recover his loss of worldly pleasures in "The Collar"?
[See A Study Guide, Page-234]
7. How is Herbert reconciled with God after a course of rebellion against Him? [See A Study Guide, Page-233]
8. Enlighten the religious aspect of complete submission to God in the poem 'The Collar'. [See A Study Guide, Page -235]
9. Define Herbert's relationship with God. [See A Study Guide, Page 228]
10. Write a note on Herbert's use of metaphysical conceits. [See A Study Guide, Page-229]
11. How does Herbert want to celebrate Christ's victory over death? [See A Study Guide, Page-231]
John Milton
1. Briefly describe the cosmology of Paradise Lost. [See A Study Guide, Page-272]
2. How does Milton invoke the Heavenly Muse at the beginning of his epic? [See A Study Guide,
Page-272]
3. Discuss the characteristics of Milton's blank-verse. [See A Study Guide, Page-275]
4. How does Satan welcome his dwelling in hell? [See A Study Guide, Page-274]
5. How did Satan try to revive/rouse Beelzebub from his stupefied condition in Hell? [See A Study Guide, Page-276]
6. How does Satan call his legion to action? [See A Study Guide, Page 279]
7. Write a short note on Beelzebub. [See A Study Guide, Page-281]
8. Describe how Moloch became a 'cruel pagan god. [See A Study Guide, Page-283]
9. What are the characteristic features of Belial? [See A Study Guide, Page-284]
10. Who was Mulciber? What role did he play among the fallen angels? [See A Study Guide, Page-285]
11. Write a short note on Milton's use of epic similes in Paradise Lost. [See A Study Guide, Page-275]
12. Describe the leadership qualities in the character of Satan. [See A Study Guide, Page-289]
13. What are the epic qualities in "Paradise Lost"? [See A Study Guide, Page-290]
14. What evil design do you find in Satan's character? [See A Study Guide, Page-278]
15. Give a description of hell as described in 'Paradise Lost' Book-1. [See A Study Guide, Page -273]
Broad Questions
Edmund Spenser
1. What pictorial quality do you find in The Faerie Queene? [See A Study Guide, Page -67]
2. What is the allegorical significance of the fight between the Monster of Error and the Red Cross Knight? [See A Study Guide, Page-81]
3. Comment on the character and role of Archimago. [See A Study Guide, Page -83]
4. Discuss 'The Faerie Queen' (Book-I) as an allegorical piece of writing. [See A Study Guide, Page -66]
John Donne
1. Evaluate John Donne as a metaphysical love poet./ Mention and analyze metaphysical traits in Donne's poetry./ Donne as a metaphysical poet [See A Study Guide, Page138]
2. Consider Donne as a religious poet with reference to the poems you have read. [See A Study Guide, Page-159]
3. How does John Donne blend passion and thought in his poetry?/ How does Donne combine emotion and reason [See A Study Guide, Page-145]
4. Discuss how Donne has brought novelty in love poems./ Donne as a poet of love [See A Study Guide, Page-140]
5. Write a critical appreciation of 'A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning'. [See A Study Guide, Page-156]
Andrew Marvell
1. What is 'Carpe-Diem' theory? How does Marvell use this theory in his poem "To His Coy Mistress"? [See A Study Guide, Page-201]
2. Write a critical appreciation on Marvell's poem "To His Coy Mistress". [See Study Guide, Page-212]
3. Critically comment on Marvell's treatment of love with reference to his poems you have read. [See A Study Guide, Page -202]
4. How does Marvell treat time and fate in his poems? [See A Study Guide, Page-209]
George Herbert
1. Write a critical appreciation of The Collar. [See A Study Guide, Page -253]
2. Discuss Herbert's use of imagery in the poems you have studied. [See A Study Guide, Page-248]
3. How has Herbert used metaphysical conceits in his poems? [See Study Guide, Page-244]
4. Comment on the spiritual conflict which is dominant in Herbert's poem 'The Collar'. [See A Study Guide, Page-251]
5. Evaluate Herbert as a religious poet./ Herbert as a metaphysical poet [See A Study Guide, Page-242]
John Milton
1. How does Milton portray Satan's character in Book I of Paradise Lost? [See A Study Guide,
Page-3221
2. Give after Milton's "Paradise Lost" a description of Hell. [See 4 Study Guide, Page -323]
3. Write a note on the use of epic similes in "Paradise Lost. Book I". [See 4 Study Guide, Page-333]
4. Describe the significance of Satan's first speech in Paradise Lost (Book-1). [See 4 Study Guide,
Page -337]
5. Evaluate Satan as a leader with renaissance qualities. [See A Study Guide, Page-338]
Short Notes
1. The Red Cross Knight
2. Archimago
3. Spenserian Stanza
4. Lady Una
5. Metaphysical conceit
6. Beelzebub
7. Blank verse
8. Monster Error
9. Allegory
10. Carpe Diem
Explanations
Edmund Spenser
1. But wander too and fro in wayes unknowne,
Furthest from end then, when they nearest weene,
That makes them doubt, their wits be not their owne:
So many pathes, So many turnings seene,
That which of them to take, in diverse doubt they been.
[See A Study Guide, Page-45]
2. A lovely ladie rode him faire beside,
Upon a lowly Asse more white than snow,
Yet she much whiter, but the same did hide
Under arele, that wimped was full low.
[See A Study Guide, Page – 44]
4. So pure an innocent, as that some lambe
She was in life and every virtuous lore,
And by descent from Royall lynage came
Of ancient Kings and Queenes [See A Study Guide, Page 48]
5. But full of fire and greedy hardiment,
The youthful knight could not for ought be staide,
But forth unto the darksome hole he went,
And looked in. [See A Study Guide, Page -50]
6. Her vomit full of bookes and papers was,
With loathly frogs and toades, which eyes did lacke,
And creeping sought way in the weedy grass;
Her filth parbreake all the place defiled has.
[See A Study Guide, Page-45]
John Donne
1. Love, all alike, no season knows nor clime,
Nor hours, days, months, which are the rags
of time. (The Sun Rising) [See A Study Guide, Page -122]
2. She is all states and all princes I
Nothing else is. [See A Study Guide, Page-122]
3. Our two souls, therefore, which are one,
Though I must go, endure not yet
A breach, but an expansion,
Like gold to airy thinness beat. (A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning)
[See A Study Guide, Page-125]
4. If they be two, they are two so
As stif twin compasses are two
Thy soul the fixed foot, makes no show,
To move, but doth, if the other do. [See A Study Guide, Page-126]
5. One short sleep past, we wake eternally
And death shall be no more, Death thou shalt die. [See A Study Guide, Page-130]
Andrew Marvell
1. Let us roll our strength and all
Our sweetness up into one ball
And tea our pleasures with rough strife
Thorough the iron gates of life
Thus, though we cannot make our sun
Stand still, yet we will make him run. (To His Coy Mistress)
[See A Study Guide, Page-190]
2. As lines, so loves oblique may well
Themselves in every angle greet;
But ours so truly parallel,
Though infinite can never meet. (Definition of Love) [See A Study Guide, Page-193]
3. Therefore the love which us doth bind,
But Fate s enviously debares,
Is the conjunction of the mind,
And opposition of the stars. [See A Study Guide, Page-193]
4. Had we but World enough, and time,
This coyness, Lady, were no crime. (To His Coy Mistress)
[See A Study Guide, Page-188]
5. But at my back I always hear
Time's winged chariot hurrying near. [See A Study Guide, Page-188]
6. An age at least to every part,
And the last Age should show your Heart. (To His Coy Mistress) [See A Study Guide, Page -191]
George Herbert
1. But as a raved and grew more fierce and wilde
At every word,
Methoughts I heard one calling Childe?
And I reply'd My Lord. (The Collar) [See A Study Guide, Page-239]
2. For, if I imp my wing on thine
Affliction shall advance the flight in me. (Easter Wings) [See A Study Guide, Page-237]
3. O Let me rise
As larks, harmoniously
And sing the day of the victories. [See A Study Guide, Page-236]
John Milton
1. The mind is its own place, and in itself
Can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heav'n. [See A Study Guide, Page-299]
2. He Spake, and to confirm his words, out flew
Millions of flaming swords, drawn from the thighs
Of mighty cherubim; the sudden blaze
Far round illumined Hell. [See A Study Guide, Page-304]
3. He above the rest
In shape and gesture proudly eminent,
Stood like a tower; his form had yeat not lost
All her original brightness, nor appeared
Less than Archangel ruined, and the excess
Of glory obscured. [See A Study Guide, Page-302]
4. Is this the region, this the soil the clime,
Said then the lost Archangel, "this the seat
That we must change for heaven, this mournful gloom
For that celestial light." [See A Study Guide, Page-298]
5. Infernal world and thou profoundest Hell
Receive thy new possessor. One who brings
A mind not be changed by place or time. [See A Study Guide, Page - 299]
6. To reign is worth ambition though in Hell,
Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven. [See A Study Guide, Page-300]
