Passage Of Verse In 1590-1700

The Analysis of a Passage of Verse in 1590-1700 An analysis of a passage of verse or prose written between 1590-1700, explaining the meaning and quality they would aim to bring out in speaking the passage aloud.

“To Anthea who may command him anything”- Robert Herrick

The way we speak poetry must reflect the emotion of the poet, when writing it. To do this the reader must draw on their personal emotions, thought and feelings.

Herrick has written this to be a sincere declaration of love from himself to Anthea, speaking of how he would do anything for her. Herrick is very earnest in his pleas to her, and so we can determine that

The poem is iambic and so the stress falls on each second word.

The first verse, as with all poems should make the most impression on the audience. Therefore it should be spoken with emphasis, clearly and should start the poem in the way that the speaker means to go on. The first line of this particular poem would need to be spoken powerfully, by lowering the speakers voice, as it talks of him asking her if he should live of not. This is also the most important line of the poem as it starts it, and is the line that will if any entrap the audience so that they listen to the poem. It should be spoken clearly and slowly. The third and fourth lines of the first verse are about the poet, bidding him love and he would love her. This should be spoken in a imploring manner, showing the poets earnest devotion to Anthea.

The second verse is talking about the heart, and how no heart could be found in the world that is as kind or free as his. When speaking poetry punctuation has to be taken into account. In the second verse, at the end of the second line there is no punctuation at this

Sheridan died in 1816 at the age of 64.

I find that by understanding about that period of time I can enjoy and understand both plays better.

In The Rivals the military men are portrayed as would have been typical of the time. Captain Jack Absolute embodies the traditional military man of the C18th. In that period of time the military wouldn’t have been embroiled in a war, and so would have been mainly constructed for public safety of mind and for show. The play shows the different classes of the time, with Sir lucius O’Trigger portraying the upper class, and the various servants and maids for example Lucy showing the lower classes.

The setting is Bath and the play shows how at the time it was popular to have a home in the country at weekends at a home in a main town during the week. Much as the upper class do in modern day.

The tangled love affair between Lydia Languish and jack Absolute is the centre of the play, many C18th novels or plays were written to have star-crossed lovers as their centre piece. This was most likely to be because of the need to escape from reality in some way, now a days we have television or cinema, in those days reading was one