Poems Unit in Class 10 Reader CBSE 2016
Class 10th Literature Reader
The Text book has 6 Fictions / 6 Poems / and 2 Play / Drama. This document
covers on the Poems unit only . (a) two Sonnets P.3 and P4, (b) the long poem
P5 ( c) P6 (d) and D2 . In addition , one example each from Shakespeare,
Milton and Donne is given.
Antecedents
What is a Sonnet?
1)
Sonnet form :
The Sonnet, is a poetic form of fourteen lines , that
had reached England from Italy in the 16 th century. The greatest
Italian sonneteer was Petrarch in the 14th century, who created the
Italian Sonnet form. It had an eight line of an ‘octave’ and six line
‘sestet’. The rhyme scheme for the octave was fixed at abba, abba.
For the sestet it was cde,cde. , but variation was allowed only in the
sestet .
2)
In England, the Italian Sonnet was modified, The first twelve
lines could be in three quatrains of four lines each, ending with a
couplet. Alternatively, the octave could be followed by a quatrain and
a concluding couplet. This form was called the Elizabethan Sonnet.
3) Edmund Spenser, Sidney, William Shakespeare were the greatest
exponents of the Elizabethan sonnet. There was greater flexibility of
the rhyme scheme in the Elizabethan sonnet and Spenser used his
own scheme, leaving the ending couplet to stand alone with its own
idea. Most sonnets were written as love poems to woo real ladies.
For example, Spenser wrote ‘Amoretti’ meaning ‘Little love’ or
‘infant cupid’ to woo Elizabeth Boyle, whom he married in 1594. All
the sonnets of Shakespeare are addressed to the ‘Dark Lady’ with
whom he was in love, and whose identity was never revealed.
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Poems Unit in Class 10 Reader CBSE 2016
4) As Shakespeare wrote during the period when England as a nation
had defied the Roman Catholic Church and established the Protestant
Church of England, he adopted the English version of the sonnet form
that subsequently came to be known as the Shakespearean Sonnet in
English literature.
5) Milton was the poet representing the re-establishment of the
monarchy after the demise of Cromwell, Lord Protector of England.
He therefore, brought back the classical Italian Sonnet form of
Petrarch, that had an Octave and a Sestet. This came to be known as
the Miltonic Sonnet in English literature.
6) Please note that only the classical Italian sonnet form of Petrarch exist
in European literature, and Shakespearean or the Elizabethan sonnet
form exists only in English Literature.
PART 1 Sonnets P3 and P4 – Additional discussion for better understanding.
Before starting to write his plays from 1592 onwards, Shakespeare had
written 154 Sonnets. Sonnet is a special form of poetry in 14 lines, that has
two variations - named after Shakespeare and Milton. Shakespearean Sonnet
the first 12 lines are in 3 sets of 4lines each, called Quatrain, because 4 is a
Quarter or 25% of 100. The final two lines are called the Couplet. In Hindi
Book also, we have the couplets of Sant Kabir and Rahim in the form of
‘dohae’ of two lines each.
Miltonic Sonnet form was used by John Milton, whose classical work is the
epic poem called ‘Paradise Lost’. Miltonic Sonnet form has the first eight lines
called the Octave, followed by six lines called the Sestet. The sonnet by P. B.
Shelley – ‘Ozymandias’, is a Miltonic Sonnet (8+6) In sum, Sonnet 14 lines =
4+4+ 4 and 2 for Shakespeare and 8+6 = 14 for Milton .
ABOUT THE 154 SONNETS BY SHAKESPEARE
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Poems Unit in Class 10 Reader CBSE 2016
The first few Shakespearean Sonnets are addressed to his patron, as poets, in
those days, needed to please someone in the royalty, to get some payment and
patronage.
The remaining majority of the Sonnets are addressed to ‘the dark lady’, with
whom Shakespeare fell in love in London. Her name is not mentioned
anywhere by him, to avoid any scandal. Shakespeare, himself was a married
man, and the lady concerned, was due to marry a Lord, before leaving for
America.
In England under the Tudor Dynasty, it was the Queen or the King who
decided which Lord could marry which Lady. King’s permission was necessary
as each noble was owner of vast lands and other property. Queen Elizabeth I, in
this case, decided the marriage of the lady, in whose honour Shakespeare wrote
his Sonnets. After the lady left for America, Shakespeare stopped writing
Sonnets. Perhaps, he wrote one sonnet for each meeting he had with her. As his
meetings stopped, so did his inspiration for love based poetry. So he began
writing Drama from 1592 onwards. Both his Sonnets and his plays were
published for the first time only after his death. For over 300 years, the
Shakespearean Sonnets remained the most important source for bachelors to
woo their ladies for marriage.
Sonnet No. 55
‘Not Marble, nor the Gilded
Monuments’ by William
Shakespeare
1
In Ancient and Medieval
historical periods, it was
normal to display one’s
wealth, by constructing a
monument in stone or
marble, or to cover it with
precious metal and stones
over one’s grave.
1.1 Robert Browning, in the
19th century, has written
a monologue on an
expensive tomb got,
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‘Ozymandias’
by
Bysshe Shelley
Percy Additional
Comments
2
All the conquerors would erect
some monument with a statue
of themselves, to leave their
name behind in history.
3
The ‘Taj Mahal’ is
the best known such
monument,
constructed over the
grave of a queen,
that has survived till
The Pyramids of Egypt are the today.
most
ancient
of
such
monuments.
Many such As the Taj Mahal,
tombs
have
also
been and the Humayun
excavated in China in the last Tomb, are among
few decades.
the
few
burial
monuments
that
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Poems Unit in Class 10 Reader CBSE 2016
constructed by a Roman
Bishop, to immortalize
himself.
It expresses his pride
in
his worldly status
and wealth,
and
indicates
the
deterioration of character
of even those holding
high religious positions,
such as a Bishop .
As Shakespeare was a
struggling poet at the time
and was not a rich nobleman,
he is stating a fact in this
Sonnet, that he will not be
able to make for his lady
love,
any
expensive
monument. He claims that
instead
of
immortality
through a monument, his
lady love would become
immortal through his poetry,
that he has written for her.
The marble or stone
monuments would decay due
to ravages of Time, or could
get destroyed in war, but the
love
expressed
through
poetry would remain forever.
This Sonnet expresses the
confidence of the poet in the
survival of his immortal love
through his poems. The
poems will not be ravaged by
time in the manner that
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have survived, they
have been declared
as World Heritage
Sites,
by the
UNESCO.
The statue in this Sonnet was
built by the conqueror
‘Ozymandias’ who declared
himself as the ‘king of kings’.
Yet, time had converted his
achievements into sand. His
statue itself had broken down
and was a ‘colossal wreck,
boundless and bare’
The
Sonnet
essentially
highlights that man and his
best achievements are very
fragile in the face of Time.
Time is able to devastate all
the material achievements of
which a man could be proud
of.
The expressions on the fallen
‘visage’ of the colossal statue
is described as a ‘frown’ and
‘a sneer of cold command’
that is stamped on the lifeless
stone face
In Geography we
have studied how
the
action
of
sunlight, water and
wind
degenerates
huge rocks into
small pebbles and
sand. As such, the
expression – “sands
of time’- . But even
finer than sand is
‘dust’. T. S. Eliot in
his
poem
‘The
Waste Land’ gives a
vivid imagery – “I
can show you fear in
a handful of dust’.
This is because
every living being
knows that it will
turn to dust, after
death.
In
India,
the
Ashokan
Pillar
Edicts,
are the
oldest
surviving
stone structures.
Please notice that in
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Poems Unit in Class 10 Reader CBSE 2016
monuments of stones are
damaged. .
ancient
times
structures
were
religious, and were
meant for the good
of all. They were
means
of
communication of
information
from
the king to the
people.
The ‘living record’ of her
memory in the poet’s
Sonnets,
will not be
destroyed by time or by war.
The Sonnet is the most
difficult format to use for
writing poetry. The entire
story is required to conveyed
in 14 lines. This is made
possible by extensive use of
imagery.
Ózymandias’ is a classical
sonnet because in 14 lines it
narrates the entire story along
with the moral, so vividly as if
it was a photograph or a
painting.
In Medieval times
structures became
personal
and
individual based.
Try to read history
or
art
and
architecture along
with such poems to
get
the
bigger
picture.
India is said to be a
‘living civilization’
because of religious
beliefs and faith,
tradition
and
practices of layout
of houses, that are
still existing in all
its towns and cities.
Conveying
deep
emotions in simple
language is the
common factor in
all great poetry in
the literature of all
languages.
This is the power of words.
Through their correct use they
Even in modern
The best of the 154 Sonnets can not only narrate a poetic form of the
of Shakespeare have this situation, but also ‘take a movie songs, that
quality of conveying deep photo’ –
touch the basic
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Poems Unit in Class 10 Reader CBSE 2016
emotions through simple yet Think about the saying – ‘ a
vibrant imagery that ‘brings picture is worth a thousand
the poem to life’.
words’Another very popular
Sonnet is given below for
reference.
human
emotion,
can easily bring
tears in the eyes of
the listener, or at
least make them
‘tearful’.
Recall the songs
that have moved
you deeply. Poetry
can be understood
more easily through
songs, just as drama
is
easy
to
understand
by
analyzing films .
This is because well
made movies are a
modern form of
literature.
In sum,
Shakespeare Shelley shows how the
believed that poetry was a structures made by the proud
more permanent medium for conquerors,
to
make
safeguarding the continuity themselves immortal, turn to
of his love in this world – as sand and dusts, because Time
thoughts expressed in poetry is the most powerful of all
are
beyond Time and
mortality.
Read only: Two other Sonnets, to get the feel of the theme of Time, and the
sonnet form:1. Sonnet by John Milton on his own birthday
‘ON HIS TWENTY-THIRD BIRTHDAY’
How soon hath Time, the subtle thief of youth,
Stolen on his wing my three and twentieth year !
My hasting days fly on with full career,
But my late spring no bud or blossom shew’th.
Perhaps my semblance might deceive the truth,
That I to manhood am arriv’d so near,
And inward ripeness doth much less appear,
That some more timely-happy spirit endu’th. ( 8 lines of Octave)
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Poems Unit in Class 10 Reader CBSE 2016
Yet be it less or more, or soon or slow,
It shall still be in strictest measure even,
To that same lot, however mean, or high,
Toward which Time leads me, and the will of Heav’n;
All is, if I have grace to use it so,
As ever in my great Task-master’s eye.
(Sestes)
Shakespeare SONNET 18
( this is one of his most popular sonnet )
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day ? 1.
Thou art more lovely and more temperate :
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer’s lease hath all too short a date? ( Quartet 1)
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm’d:
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature’s changing course untrimm’d; (Quartet 2)
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st;
Nor shall death brag thou wander’st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st; (Quartet 3)
So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee. ( Couplet)
1. Remember he lived in a frigid zone country, where sun appears
occasionally during 8 months, and clear days are rare even during the
4 months of spring and summer
Example of a Sonnet by John Donne ( 1573 -1631)
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Death be not proud, though some have called thee"
Death be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so,
For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow,
Die not, poor death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be,
Much pleasure, then from thee, much more must flow,
And soonest our best men with thee do go,
Rest of their bones, and soul's delivery.
Thou art slave to Fate, Chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell,
And poppy, or charms can make us sleep as well,
And better than thy stroke; why swell'st thou then?
One short sleep past, we wake eternally,
And death shall be no more; death, thou shalt die.
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