The Cure to Writer’s Block:
A Reader-Response Analysis of Philip Sidney’s Astrophil and Stella
On the surface Philip Sidney’s “Astrophil and Stella” is a poem about courting a young woman. It is a common assumption and an easily justified one. The title presumes as much as the “star lover” clings to hopes of attaining the “star”. Astrophil attempts to win the heart of Stella through his poetry. Although he is not short of emotion he is in search of adequate words. The true purpose of the poem reveals itself at the end, “look in thy heart, and write” (Sidney Line 14). This sonnet is about the courting of a lover, but it is more importantly the story of numerous writers throughout time. Sidney is portraying the writer with writer’s block and the method to subjugate this voluminous evil. Every writer, at one time or another develops a case of writer’s block. A period in which it becomes difficult to express your thoughts or ideas on paper with the qualities the writer desires. Astrophil and Stella is a metaphor for the relationship between a writer and his audience, a writer and his work, a writer at battle with writer’s block.
For the reader to grasp the concept that this sonnet is about writer’s block Sidney has to cement the idea that Astrophil is a writer. In this duality, being both the star lover and writer, we begin to see Stella as a metaphor for a writer’s work and audience. Opening the sonnet with a profession of love for Stella, the object of Astrophil’s affection, he is hurt that he does not have her love. In the view of a passionate writer it is as if some critic has said that you are or your work is inadequate and without their approval. In order to gain the critics or Stella’s love he w...
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...’s argument, that readings of a text are culturally constructed. Being an English major, I am thrust into an English student’s interpretative community, which enables to see or pushes for me to look past the simplicity of a work (surface meaning) and search for a deeper meaning. Enabling me to understand gaps that implied that Stella made it known that she did not feel the way Astrophil did but she was, in the least intrigued by Astrophil, as she is the one who tells him to just say what’s in his heart. With the eyes of a college English student and writer I looked deeper to find that Sidney was portraying a writer plagued by writer’s block and the solution to counter this evil. As I have faith in my interpretation of this poem I understand that even in my attempt at being impartial I am biased. I implore you to take this into account; I looked in my heart and wrote.
In Sir Philip Sidney’s sonnet, ‘Thou Blind Man’s Mark,’ he has a philosophy of desire that one might find to be filled with complexities. To convey this complex philosophy, Sidney employs a variety of poetic devices such as apostrophe, personification, metaphors, anaphora, and a paradox.
Good poetry provides meaningful commentary. One indication of a poem’s success in this is the depth of thought the reader has as a result of the poem. The poems I anthologized may take different
"Poetry is the revelation of a feeling that the poet believes to be interior and personal [but] which the reader recognizes as his own." (Salvatore Quasimodo). There is something about the human spirit that causes us to rejoice in shared experience. We can connect on a deep level with our fellow man when we believe that somehow someone else understands us as they relate their own joys and hardships; and perhaps nowhere better is this relationship expressed than in that of the poet and his reader. For the current assignment I had the privilege (and challenge) of writing an imitation of William Shakespeare’s "Sonnet 87". This poem touched a place in my heart because I have actually given this sonnet to someone before as it then communicated my thoughts and feelings far better than I could. For this reason, Sonnet 87 was an easy choice for this project, although not quite so easy an undertaking as I endeavored to match Shakespeare’s structure and bring out his themes through similar word choice.
Nearly four centuries after the invention of the sonnet, Oscar Fay Adams was born. He stepped into his career at the brink of the American civil war, a time when typically cold Victorian era romances were set in stark contrast to the passions of Warhawks. It was in this era when Adams wrote his sonnet: “Indifference”, which explores the emotional turmoil and bitterness a man endures as he struggles to move on from a failed relationship . Adams utilizes the speaker's story in order to dramatize the plight of an individual trying and failing to reconcile holding on to the joy that passionate love brings with the intense pain it bestows in conjunction with this joy . Adams employs various poetic devices in order to present a new view of indifference,
Canfield Reisman, Rosemary M. “Sonnet 43.” Masterplots II. Philip K. Jason. Vol. 7. Pasadena: Salem Press, 2002. 3526-3528. Print.
This essay is anchored on the goal of looking closer and scrutinizing the said poem. It is divided into subheadings for the discussion of the analysis of each of the poem’s stanzas.
The speaker reflects on the teenage girl’s childhood as she recalls the girl played with “dolls that did pee-pee” (2). This childish description allows the speaker to explain the innocence of the little girl. As a result, the reader immediately feels connected to this cute and innocent young girl. However, the speaker’s diction evolves as the girl grew into a teenager as she proclaims: “She was healthy, tested intelligent, / possessed strong arms and back, / abundant sexual drive and manual dexterity” (7-9). The speaker applies polished language to illustrate the teen. This causes the reader not only to see the girl as an adult, but also to begin to grasp the importance of her situation. The speaker expresses what the bullies told this girl as she explains: “She was advised to play coy, / exhorted to come on hearty” (12-13). The sophisticated diction shifts towards the girl’s oppressors and their cruel demands of her. Because of this, the reader is aware of the extent of the girl’s abuse. The speaker utilizes an intriguing simile as she announces: “Her good nature wore out / like a fan belt” (15-16). The maturity of the speaker’s word choice becomes evident as she uses a simile a young reader would not understand. This keeps the mature reader focused and allows him to fully understand the somberness of this poem. The speaker concludes the poem as she depicts the teenage girl’s appearance at her funeral: “In the casket displayed on satin she lay / with the undertaker’s cosmetics painted on” (19-20). The speaker elects not to describe the dead girl in an unclear and ingenuous manner. Rather, she is very clear and
...e speaker admits she is worried and confused when she says, “The sonnet is the story of a woman’s struggle to make choices regarding love.” (14) Her mind is disturbed from the trials of love.
In Bright Star, Keats utilises a mixture of the Shakespearean and Petrarchan sonnet forms to vividly portray his thoughts on the conflict between his longing to be immortal like the steadfast star, and his longing to be together with his love. The contrast between the loneliness of forever and the intenseness of the temporary is presented in the rich natural imagery and sensuous descriptions of his true wishes with Fanny Brawne. The structure of Bright Star is unique in that it breaks free of the limitations of the sonnet form, a form that is notorious for its strict and constrained nature. The rhyme scheme falls very close to the Shakespearean rhyme scheme of ABABCDCDEFEFGG, in which the last two lines represent the final heroic couplet. However, the rhyme of the ninth line (‘unchangeable’) is never continued, as the eleventh line (‘swell’), which the Shakespearean form dictates should rhyme with the ninth line, doesn’t rhyme fully.
Through the use of contrasting diction, between light and dark, sharp and soft, colloquial and poetic, the clash between a myriad of emotion that the moon incites in the speaker is illustrated. The poem open in a very shocking and colloquial manner. The use of the phrase “Groping back to bed after a piss” (1) creates a gritty tone, that alludes to the youth. This explicitness and vulgarity is rare for a poem and thus, removes the reader from the usual poetic, romanticized mind set. However, as the poem advances, the total opposite of this vulgarity occurs, and highly lyrical and romantic language is used. Descriptions such as “preposterous” (10) and “lozange” (11) and “medallion” (11), all allude to poetic and over the top language mostly used by orthodox poets. This divergence in diction creates the conflicting tone, that mirrors the internal fight Larkin has between believing in eternal youth versus cynically accepting that life is meaningless and imminently tragic. Furthermore, other contradicto...
The use of the word “heart” emphasises this passion as the heart is considered the most important organ and so demonstrates how his passion (the “summer” in the sentence) is alive. Within these three poems, the use of nature as a mechanism impacted the poems, allowing them to convey meanings in an ambiguous sense yet still get across the general meaning of the poem.
The speaker uses metaphors to describe his mistress’ eyes to being like the sun; her lips being red as coral; cheeks like roses; breast white as snow; and her voices sounding like music. In the first few lines of the sonnet, the speaker view and tells of his mistress as being ugly, as if he was not attracted to her. He give...
Renaissance poets Sidney and Spenser convey their messages with the help of the literary element symbolism. In “Sonnet 75” and “Astrophel and Stella” there is the presence of symbolism. This element is a cornerstone to these poems and helps the reader think deeper beyond the literal meanings of words, and how they represent something greater. The use of symbolism also makes the readers mind think about how the sentences state something literally, but also have a deeper meaning. If this element were not to be used, then the poems would lose some of their charisma because most sonnets have a deeper meaning to be conveyed with the use help of symbolism.
"Prose and Verse Criticism of Poetry." Representative Poetry On-line: Version 3.0. Ed. D. F. Theall. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2009. .
In “Sonnet XVII,” the text begins by expressing the ways in which the narrator does not love, superficially. The narrator is captivated by his object of affection, and her inner beauty is of the upmost significance. The poem shows the narrator’s utter helplessness and vulnerability because it is characterized by raw emotions rather than logic. It then sculpts the image that the love created is so personal that the narrator is alone in his enchantment. Therefore, he is ultimately isolated because no one can fathom the love he is encountering. The narrator unveils his private thoughts, leaving him exposed and susceptible to ridicule and speculation. However, as the sonnet advances toward an end, it displays the true heartfelt description of love and finally shows how two people unite as one in an overwhelming intimacy.