When we two parted

When We Two Parted

By Lord Byron 

When we two parted

In silence and tears,

Half broken-hearted,

To sever for years,

Pale grew thy cheek and cold,

Colder thy kiss;

Truly that hour foretold

Sorrow to this!

The dew of the morning

Sunk chill on my brow

It felt like the warning

Of what I feel now.

Thy vows are all broken,

And light is thy fame:

I hear thy name spoken

And share in its shame.

They name thee before me,

A knell to mine ear;

A shudder comes o'er me--

Why wert thou so dear?

They know not I knew thee,

Who knew thee too well:

Long, long shall I rue thee

Too deeply to tell.

In secret we met

In silence I grieve

That thy heart could forget,

Thy spirit deceive.

If I should meet thee

After long years,

How should I greet thee?

With silence and tears.

When We Two Parted was published in 1813, in the Poetical Works of Byron.It is one of the best and most poignant of all ‘break up’ or ‘missing you’ love poetry.

Stanza 1

The first stanza sets up the parting of the two lovers.  They parted in silence and tears.  They felt very sad that they didn’t even exchange a single word to each other.  Silence spoke volumes on the grief they shared.  They were Half broken-hearted when they decided to part.  Upon parting, the speaker’s beloved became physically cold and pale. When they kissed for the last time he felt her cheek cold.  Her kiss was as cold as her cheek, a change fore shadowing later sorrow which the poet feels at present.

Stanza 2

The poet felt the chill of the morning dew on his brow.  In a way, it was like a warning to him that their love also will grow cold and come to a sad end.  The poet says that his beloved had broken all her promises. She had lost her fame and become a subject of gossip.  He too heard those gossips and felt guilty and shame because he knew that he was also responsible for it.

Stanza3

People talk badly about her in his presence. He feels their words like a church bell tolling a funeral.  He shudders to think of the tragic end of their relationship. He wonders why he loved her so dearly.  Those who spread stories about her do not know that the poet loved her deeply.  The poet regrets of his past actions.  He can’t really express how he feels about it now.

Stanza 4

They met in secret. Now he grieves over it in silence.  He wonders how she can forget everything so soon and throw away his love and trust.  He even wonders how he should greet his beloved if he happens to meet her after many years. He concludes by saying may be ‘with silence and tears’.

Theme

1. Love

2. Betrayal 

3. Grief and pain

4. Silence 

5. Shame

1.How does the structure of the poem reflect the subject treated?

The poem tells about the parting of two lovers.  The lover feels very sad that his beloved had left him by denying his love and trust.  The poem consists of four stanza each with 8 lines with the rhyme scheme abab cdcd.  The structure of the poem is in keeping with this subject matter.

2.What is the tone of the poem? Is the poet divided between love and hate for the lady who has betrayed him?

The tone of the poem is melancholic.  The poet’s love is so deep and sincere that he felt extremely sad at the time of parting.  At the same time, he blames his beloved for betraying his trust. Yes, the poem is divided between love and hate for the lady who has betrayed him.

3.What evidence do you find in the poem to support the idea that the relationship the poet had with the lady was platonic?Platonic love means an emotional and spiritual relationship between two lovers that does not involve sexual desire. We can find no evidence in the poem to support the idea that the relationship between the poet and his beloved was platonic.

4.Find out the different meanings that “half broken hearted”conveys.  Does it, in anyway, tell you that the lady had no regrets?

The poet says that he and his beloved were half broken-hearted at the time of parting. ‘Broken-hearted’ means stricken with grief and sorrow.  Here the lovers are only ‘half broken-hearted’ but also their grief is not uncontrollable.  We can’t say that the lady had no regrets for she too felt sad at the time of parting.

5.How will the poet greet her if he happens to meet her after long years? Again “in silence and tears”?

The poet wonders how he should greet his beloved if he happens to meet her after long years. The poet himself is doubtful about it. May be he will greet her in silence and tears as he did at the time of their parting.

6.Do you think a detailed biography of Byron is necessary for a better understanding of the poem?

A detailed biography of Byron will help us to get a better understanding of the poem because the poem contains some personal elements of the poet.

Paragraph  question

1. What do  you feel  about the  poet’s  love to  his  beloved?

The  poet’s  love  to  his  beloved  is  deep and  sincere.  That  is  why  he  felt  very disappointed  at  the time of  their  parting.   The  poet  says that  his  beloved  had broken  all  her promises. His beloved had  lost  her  fame  and  became a subject  of  gossip. The  poet  too  felt  very  guilty  because  he  knew very  well  that  he  was  also  responsible  for  it .  people  talked  badly  about  his  beloved  in  his presence  and  he  felt  their  words  like  a  church  bell  tolling  a  funeral. Only  a  man  who  loved  his beloved  sincerely  could  have  such  a  feeling. He  says  that  those  who  spread  stories  about  her  do not  know  how deeply he loved  her. He  even  wonders how she can so  soon  forget  everything  and throw  away  his trust  and  love. He  still  longs  to  meet  his  beloved  and  wonders  how greet  her  if  he  happens  to  meet  her  after  many  years.

Essay

1. Write  a  critical  appreciation  of  the  poem The  poem When  We Two Parted

When  We Two  Parted is  written  by the  famous  romantic  poet  Lord  Byron  and it  is  taken  from the Poetical  Works  of  Byron ‘missing  you’  love  poetry. It  is  one  of  the  best  of  all  ‘break  up’ or missing you love poetry.

The  first  stanza  sets  up  the  parting  of  the  two  lovers.  They  parted  in  silence  and  tears . They felt  very  sad  at  the  time  of  parting  and  they  didn’t  tell  anything  to  each  other. Silence  spoke volumes  on the  grief  they  shared. They  were  half  broken  hearted.  Upon  parting,  the  poet's beloved felt physically cold and pale when she kissed him last time.

The  second  stanza  continues  the  sense  of  foreboding  as  he  felt  the  chill  of  the  morning dew  on  his  brow.    It  was  like  a  warning  to  him  that  their  love  also  will  grow  cold  and  come  to a sad  end.    The  poet  laments  that  his  beloved  had  broken  all  her  promises. She  had  lost  her  fame and  thus  became  a subject  of  gossip. The  poet  too  heard those gossips and felt guilty and ashamed because  he  knew  that  he  was  also  responsible  for  it.

The  poet  loved  her  sincerely  and  deeply , but people  talked  badly  about  his beloved  in  his presence.    He  feels  their words  like  a  church  bell  tolling  a funeral. He  shudders  to  think  of  the tragic  end  of  their  relationship. He wonders  why  she  was  so  dear  to  him.   The  people  who  spread stories  about  her  do  not  know  how  deeply  he  loved  her.  The  poet  regrets  of  words  fail him  to  express his true  feelings.

The  last  stanza  gives  an  expression  to the  poet’s  grief. They met in secret and now he grieves over it in silence. He wonders  how  she  can  forget  everything so  soon  and  give  up  his trust  and  love.   He  also  expresses  his  wish  to  see  his beloved  and  even  wonders  how greet  her if  he  happens  to  meet  her  after  many years.  May be he should greet again her with  silence  and  tears  as  he  did it at the time  of  parting.

2.Analysis of the poem When We Two Parted :

When We Two Parted is written in rhyming format, typical of much of Byron’s work . His choice of words throughout are evocative of sadness — the “silence and tears” imagery, as well as making more of the paleness and coldness of the lover’s face. The idea that the parting of the two left the narrator “half broken-hearted” is another deeply saddening idea, followed by the point that the fullness of separation is a severance that takes and lasts for years.

In the second half of the verse, an element of fate is entwined within the poem; the narrator remembers a time when the two kissed, and the kiss was cold, devoid of emotion, and realizes that the parting of the two was always inevitable; that the moment the warmth left the relationship, the separation and sorrow had been foretold.

The second verse carries on much like the first, maintaining the sobriety of the poem, and continuing the theme of looking back and thinking about the many warning signs throughout the relationship that suggested the parting was doomed to happen one way or the other. Saying “the vows are all broken” could be a reference to the promises a typical couple makes to each other, or it could be a more literal vow, a saddening realization that a marriage has ended. The second half of the verse further suggests that some kind of infidelity may have been the final break in the relationship; suggesting that there is a shame in the name of the other person, as well as the idea of breaking a marital vow could be a reference to a scandal that involved an affair.

The narrator finds himself discussing the apparently publicized figure they’ve recently split up with. The narrator finds himself worried when he hear his lover’s name , referencing the solemn toll of a funeral bell. The line “why wert you so dear?” is a powerful one; despite the scandal and the evident betrayal, the narrator still shudders to hear the name of their lover, and realizes that their pain is going to last for a very long time, and such pain is inexplicably deep; they won’t be able to talk about it, nor will they be able to move on.

The words of this verse largely speak for themselves, carrying the sorrowful theme of the poem to its close by repeating the earlier theme of silence and tears. We learn that the lovers met in secret and so the narrator must grieve alone, feeling as though they have been forgotten and betrayed by their former lover. They realize that if they were to meet their lover again, there would be nothing to say, and nothing to do except to cry, and that would be all there could ever again be.

Longing

LONGING
MATTHEW ARNOLD

Come to me in my dreams, and then
By day I shall be well again!
For so the night will more than pay
The hopeless longing of the day.

Come, as thou cam'st a thousand times,
A messenger from radiant climes,
And smile on thy new world, and be
As kind to others as to me!

Or, as thou never cam'st in sooth,
Come now, and let me dream it truth,
And part my hair, and kiss my brow,
And say,My love why sufferest thou?

Come tome in my dreams, and then
By day I shall be well again!
For so the night will more than pay
The hopeless longing of the day.

Analysis of the poem
In this poem, the poet expresses his longing for the presence of his beloved.  He wants her to come to him in his dreams and fulfil his desires- at least an imaginary fulfillment of his wishes.

The poet begins the poem by expressing his longing for the presence of his beloved. He wants her to come to him in his dreams and he hopes that it will make his day happy. During the day he strongly desires for the company of his beloved.  But she doesn’t come.  So he says that if she comes in his dreams at night then it can compensate the hopeless longing of the day.

He wants his beloved to come to him as she has visited him a thousand times. He considers her as one who comes from a new world which is bright and shining.  As she is new to this world, the poet requests her not to be strange but to smile on her new world. He also wants her to be so kind to everybody as she is to him.

In reality, his beloved has never come to him. And so his desires are left unfulfilled. Hence he wants to materialise his wishes through his dreams. He pleads her to part his hair and kiss him on his forehead and say she is with him and there is no need to suffer any more.

The poet once again asks his beloved to come to him in his dreams for he hopes that it will make him happy during the day.  He wants to compensate his wishes of the day by dreaming about his beloved at night.

Theme
1. Love
2. Waiting passionately
3. Dreams are to fulfil desires
4. Faith in love
5. Desires

Question and answer
 1. Who  is  the  “thou”  in  the  poem?  A  dream  girl?  A  dear  departed?  A  dame  sans  Mercy” Discuss.
The  “thou”  in  the  poem  is  the  poet’s  beloved. She  may  be  a  dream  girl  for  she  visits  the poet  only  in  his  dreams.    She  may  also  be  a  dear  departed  for  the  poet  is  much  worried during  the  day  because  of  her  absence. She  can’t  be  a  dame  sans  mercy  because happiness and relief to the poet in his dream at night.

2. “... and  be/As  kind  to  others  as  to  me! explain the  poet’s stance?
The  poet’s  love  for  his  beloved  is  sincere  and  genuine  that  there  can she  brings ”  Lovers  are  often jealous  by  nature. How  do  you be  no  place  for jealousy.  That  is why  he  wants her  to be  so kind to everybody  as she  is to him.

3. “As thou never  cam’st  in  sooth”.  Was she  a  deceitful  woman?
The  beloved  may  be  a  dear  departed  and  that  is  why  she  couldn any  mo re.  She  was not  a deceitful woman. ’ t  come  t o  him  in reality.

4.“And let  me  dream  it  truth”. How  does it  help to reflect  the  intensity  of  his  longing?
The  poet  longs  for  the  presence  of  his  beloved  but  she  never  comes  to  him  in  reality.    So  he wants her  to  come  to him  in his dreams and  caress  him.  His love  is so intense  that  he  wants to believe  his dreams to  be  true.

Essay
1.Theme  of  love  and longing  in the  poem

The  poem Longing Longing. by the famous Victorian poet This poem Matthew Arnold is a typical love poem. is an expression of the  poet’s  longing  for the presen poet’s l ce of  his  beloved. The ove is very intense and sincere. The poet seems to be much worried about  the  absence  of  his beloved  during the  day. So the poet wants his beloved to come to him in his dreams and he hopes that it will make him happy throughout the day. He really wants to have a great time with his beloved during day time, but she doesn’t come to him. He pleads his beloved to visit him in his that he can compensate his hopele dreams so ss longing  of the day through his dreams at night. The poet wants her to come as she has visited him a thousand times. He considers her as one who comes from a new world which is bright and shining. She brings happiness and relief to the poet’s life. He does not want his beloved to show any hostility as she is new to this world but to smile on her new world. His love is so sincere that he tells  her to be as kind to others as to him self . The  poet  sadly her admits the fact that his beloved  has never come to him in reality. Even then he does not reject love. He believes that what he sees in  his dreams are real. He pleads his beloved to come  to him  in his dreams and delight  him by parting  his hair  and kis sing  his brow and wants her to say  there is no need to suffer any  more as she  is with him  always. The poet  once again asks his  beloved to visit him  in his dreams and to make his day happy. This poem  is a true expression of the  poet’s love  and longing for his beloved.

How do I love thee

How  do I Love Thee
Elizabeth barrett browning

How do  I  love  thee?  Let  me  count  the ways.
I  love  thee  to the  depth  and breadth and height
My soul  can  reach, when  feeling  out  of
sight
For  the  ends of  Being  and  ideal  Grace.
I  love  thee  to the  level  of  every  day's Most  quiet  need, by  sun  and candle-light.
I  love  thee  freely,  as men  strive  for Right.
I  love  thee  purely, as they  turn from Praise.
I  love  thee  with a passion put  to use
In my  old  griefs, and with my  childhood's faith.
I  love  thee  with a  love  I  seemed to lose With my  lost  saints,- I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of  all  my  life !--and, if  God choose,
I  shall  but  love  thee  better  after  death.


Introduction to the poem
Elizabeth Barret Browning’s Sonnets from the Portuguese is a collection of 44 Petrarchan sonnets.  This sonnet How do I Love Thee,being the 43rd sonnet, expresses the courtship between Robert Browning and Elizabeth. The theme of this sonnet is that love is not an earthly concept but an eternal, everlasting thing that lasts well beyond the cold grave. Though it is a Petrarchan sonnet,it violates many of the characteristics of the traditional form.

Petrarchan Sonnet
Petrarch, the Italian humanist and writer developed the Italian sonnet pattern, which is known as the petrarchan sonnet or the Italian sonnet.  The original Italian Sonnet divides the poem’s 14 lines into two parts octave and a sestet.  The octave (first eight lines) typically introduces the theme or problem using a rhyme scheme of abba, abba.  The sestet (last six lines)provides resolution for the poem and rhymes variously, sometimes cde cde or cdc

Summary of octave
The poetess wants to express her love for her husband.  Her love for her husband is deep,noble and it transcends space.  She wants to measure her love though it is an abstract feeling.  With her soul, she tries to measure the depth, breadth and height of her love.  The very essence of her existence is to attain salvation and to her, salvation is belonging to her love.

She loves him enough to meet all of his simple needs during the day and also during the night.  She loves him just as intensely as men who fight for freedom. She loves him genuinely without any desire for praise.  Her love is true and sincere.

Summary of sestet
She  even  loves  him  with  an intensity  of the  suffering  during  times  of grief.    She loves  him with  the  blind faith of  a child. She  loves  him  with  a  childlike fervour for  saints  and  holiness.    She loves him  in every  breath.  She  also says that  she  loves him  always, both in happiness and sorrow.

In  the  concluding  lines,  the  poet  says that  if  God  favours  then  she  will continue  to  love  him and also says that even  after  death her  love  will  remain the same.

Theme of the sonnet 43
1. Love
2. Admiration
3. Identity
4. Mortality
5. Passion

Question and answer

1. “ I love  thee  to  the  depth  and breadth and  height/ my soul  can  reach” , says  the poet.    Do  you find  anything illogical  to think  of  logic  in  poetry?  Comment  on her  attempt  to  describe  the immeasurable nature  of  her  love, by measuring  the immeasurable?
       The  poet  loves  her  husband  so  intensely  that  she  tries  to  measure  the  depth,  breadth  and height  of  her  love  with  her  soul.    Love  is  an  abstract  feeling  and  not  a  concrete  object  and therefore it  is  illogical  to  think  that  it  can  be  measured.    But,  in  poetry,  imagination  is  more important  than logic.  A  poet’s imagination cannot  be  bound by  logic.  So it  can be  said that it  is  illogical  to  think  of  logic  in  poetry.    The  poet  only  wants  to  show nature  of  love, by  measuring  the  immeasurable. the  immeasurable

2. The  poet  speaks  of  “everyday’s  most  quiet  need”.  Discuss  the  various  possible interpretations.
     By  “everyday’s  most  quiet  need”,  the poet  means  the  simple  needs  in  a person’s  daily  life. The  poet  wants  the presence  of  her  husband  in  everything that  she  does.    She  wants  to  take care  of him  and assist  him  in his every  needs.

3.Treat  the  poem  as  a  prayer  of  a  devotee before  his/her  deity.    How  will  your  reading  of  the poem alter?
       If  the  poem  is  considered  as  a prayer,  then  the  poet’s  love  for  her husband  can  be  taken  as her  devotion to her  deity.    Her  devotion  is  three dimensional  which  is  deep,  noble  and transcends space.


4. Compare  the  sonnet  with Shakespeare’s Sonnet  116 in style  and treatment.
         Shakespear's sonnet 116 glorifies  ideal and eternal  love  which  withstand  the ravages of time. This  sonnet  is  addressed to  a  young  man  whom  the  poet  is emotionally  bound to True  love  is constant  and  permanent  which  never alters  with  the  passage  of  time. Shakespeare  uses  two  metaphors  to bring out  the  nature  of  true  love.    First he says that  love is  an  ever fixed mark, a light house  that  looks on tempest but is never shaken. Then he says  that  love  is like the pole  star  that  guides  the wandering  ships  in  the  ocean.    Time  is personified as  a  reaper  carrying  a  sickle with  which  he  cuts  man’s  life,  looks and possessions.    The  rhyme  scheme used  in this  sonnet  is  abab,  cdcd,  efef, gg.   Elizabeth Barret  Browning’s sonnet How do  I  love  Thee is  a  Petrarchan sonnet and it  is  addressed  to her husband.    Its theme is  that  love  is  not an  earthly  concept  but an  eternal, everlasting thing  that  lasts well beyond the  cold  grave.   She  expresses her intense love  for  her  husband. She  tries  to measure  the  depth,  breadth  and height of her  love  with  her  soul. Her love is shown in three  dimensional,  i.e, deep,  noble  and transcending space.  She loves  him  as genuinely as men  who struggle  for freedom  without  expecting any  personal gains. She  loves  him both in happiness and sorrow. If God choose she will continue her love towards her husband even after her death.

 Essay
1. Explain the sonnet he  also says that  her  love  will  continue  even  after  death. How do I  love:
The  sonnet How do  I  Love  Thee Thee as a love  poem is  written  by  the  famous Victorian  poet  Elizabeth  Barret Browning. This  poem  is  the  43rd sonner in her collection Sonnets  from  the  Portuguese. The poet addresses  the  poem  to  her husband  Robert  Browning.  Love  is  the most  prominent theme  of  this sonnet. She wants to express her  love  which is intense and sincere.
The  poet  deeply  loves  her  husband  and she  wants  to  measure  her  love.    Love  is not  a concrete  object  but  an  abstract feeling  which  can’t  be  measured.    But the  poet  says  that with  her  soul  she  can measure  the  depth,  breadth  and  height of  her  love.    Her  love  is  three dimensional,  i.e.,  deep,  noble  and  that transcends  space.    The  very  essence  of her  existence is to attain salvation and to her, salvation is belonging  to her  love.
The  poet  goes  on  to  explain  how  much she  loves  her  husband.    She  loves  him enough to meet  all  his  simple  needs during  the  day  and  also  during  the night.    She  loves  him  sincerely as  men who  struggle  for  freedom.  Her  love  is so genuine  that  she  does  not  expect  any personal  gain from  it.
She  even  loves  him  with  an  intensity  of the  suffering  during  times  of  grief.    She loves  him with  the  blind  faith  of  a  child and  her  love  is  so  innocent  as  a  child.   She  loves  him  with  a child  like  fervour for  saints  and  holiness.    Happiness and sorrow  do  not  make  any difference  in her  love  for  her  love  is not  an earthly concept  but  it  is eternal  and sincere.
The  poet  proclaims  that  she  will continue to  love  him  and  also  says  that  she  will love  him better  after  death.  This sonnet celebrates true love  which will  go beyond the  cold  grave.

Sonnet 116

SONNET 116


By 

William Shakespeare

Let  me  not  to the  marriage  of  true minds 

Admit  impediments. Love  is not  love Which alters when it  alteration finds, 

Or  bends with the  remover  to remove:
Oh no!  it  is an ever fixed mark 

That  looks on tempests and is never shaken; 

It  is the  star  to  every  wandering  bark, Whose  Worth's unknown,  although his height  be  taken.

Love's not  Time's  fool, though rosy  lips and  cheeks 

Within his bending  sickle's  compass come: Love  alters not  with his brief  hours and weeks, 

But  bears it  out  even to the  edge  of doom.

If  this be  error  and upon  me  proved,

I  never  writ, nor  no man  ever  loved.

Introduction

A Sonnet is a short poem  of  14  lines. The term  ‘sonnet’  is  derived from  the Italian word sonetto’  which means “little sound”. It has its origin in Italy and it was perfected by  the  Italian poet Petrarch. Later Shakespeare modified the Petrarchan sonnet form into English sonnet. The Shakespearean sonnet is made up of three decasyllabic quatrains rhyming alternatively followed by a concluding couplet. It has the rhyme scheme  abab, cdcd, efef, gg.

Shakespeare’s Sonnets are a collection of 154  sonnets, dealing with  themes  such  as the passage of  time, love, beauty  and mortality. They  were  published  together in  1609. The  first 126 sonnets  are addressed  to  an  unnamed  young nobleman  with  whom  the  poet  is helplessly emotionally  bound. The final sonnets  are  addressed  to  a  mysterious woman, whom the  speaker loves,  hates and  lusts  for  simultaneously. The  young nobleman  is  referred  to  as  ‘Mr.  W.H’ and the mysterious woman is referred to  as the ‘dark lady’.

In  this  sonnet  Shakespeare  glorifies ideal and  eternal  love  which stands with the ravages of Time. The  predominant themes of  this sonnet is true  love  which is constant  and permanent. 

Theme 
1. Love 
2. Loyalty 
3. Time 
4. Immortality 
5. Permanent and constant 
6. Relationship 


Quatrain 1 says:
The poet is talking of the marriage of true minds. The first two lines draw us to the Christian marriage service and its accompanying ceremonies. Love is not love if it changes under changed circumstances. Love is not true if it agrees with the one who wants to dissolve the lover’s union.

Quatrain 2
Love is an ever fixed mark, a light house which looks on tempests but is never shaken.True love is like the pole star which guides every passing ship. Its value is unknown though its height be calculated.

Quatrain 3
True love is not Time’s fool. Time can destroy the rosy lips and cheeks which are indicative of youth and physical beauty. Time is personified as a reaper carrying a sickle with which he cuts man’s life, looks and possessions. But true love is constant and it never alters with the passage of time. It can surmount all the obstacles. True love lasts till the end of the world.Nothing can destroy true love. 

Final couplet 
The poet justifies and reaffirms his statement that true love is constant and permanent.  If any one proves this statement to be false, then the poet says that he had never written anything and no man ever experienced true love.

 1. What  are  the  different  aspects of  love  that  the poet discusses in the  sonnet?
 The poet distinguishes  between  true  love  and unfaithful love. Love is not love which  alters under changed  circumstances. True  love is constant and permanent  which  never alters with the passage  of  time.  Nothing can destroy it.

2. How will the mutual transfer of the lines5 and 7 affect the appreciation of the poem?
The mutual transfer of the lines5 and 7 does not make any difference in the appreciation of the poem. The lighthouse, an ever fixed mark is replaced by  the pole star  which guides every  passing  ship in  the  ocean.   Both  the  light  house  and the  pole  star refer  to  the permanence  of true  love.

3. How  many  syllables  are  there  in  each line?  How  many  words  contain  more than  two syllables?
There  are  ten  syllables  in  each  line. Words  like  ‘impediments’,  ‘alter ‘wandering’  contain more  than two syllables.

4. Majority of the words (more than 75 per9cent) in the sonnet  are monosyllabic. Do they produce any special  effect? 
The use of monosyllabic  words in each line gives a special  tone  and rhythm  to the poem.

5. Did  you closely  examine  the  content words? Are  they  simple  and  familiar?
The  content  words like  love, time, ever-fixed mark, star  are  simple  and familiar.

6. Spot instances of Alliteration, personification, internal rhyme.
Alliteration : It is a series of words in a row have the same first consonant sounds.
a)  Love  is not  Love
b)  alters when it  alteration
c)  remover  to  remove 
Personification: When a thing or an animal is given human qualities or attributes. To act like a human.
Time  is  personified  as  a man  carrying  a sickle  with  which  he cuts man’s life, looks and possessions. 
Internal rhyme: It is rhyme that occurs within a single line of verse, or between internal phrases across multiple lines.
a) Which  alters  when  it  alteration  finds. b) Bends  with  the  remover  to remove

7. What  is t The he  rhyme  scheme  of  the sonnet ?
Rhyme  scheme  of  this sonnet  is abab, cdcd,  efef,  gg

Paragraph question:

1.Write a note on the theme of the poem.
Love is the predominant theme of sonnet 116.The poet describes true love as constant and  permanent. True love never alters under  any  changed circumstances.   It never changes  even when  one  of  the lovers  become unfaithful  to  the  other.   The  poet  makes use of  two  metaphors  to bring  out  the nature  of  true  love.    True love  is  an ever fixed  mark, that  looks  on tempests but  is  never  shaken.    It  is  the pole  star that  guides  every wandering ship. Love is not  subject  to  the  ravages of time. Time can  destroy  the  rosy  lips and cheeks which  is  indicative  of  youth  and beauty. But  true  love  never  changes with the passage  of time. It  can surmount all the obstacles  and it  lasts till  the  end of  the world.

Essay:

Write  a  critical  appreciation of  the  poem sonnet  116.
Shakespeare  has  written  154  sonnets  and they  all  deal  with  the  theme  of  love, time, beauty, friendship  and  mortality.   Sonnet  116  is  one  of  the  most  widely read  poems  among them.    The  first  126 sonnets  are  addressed  to  a  young  man with  whom  the  speaker  of poem  is emotionally  bound. The  rest  of  the sonnets are  addressed to ‘the  dark lady’.

The Love  is  the  most  prominent  theme of sonnet  116. The poet glorifies the meaning of true  love  which  can  surpass all  the obstacles  and  thus  remains unchanged even  with the passage  of  time. The  poet begins  this  sonnet  with  a  reference  to the  Christian  marriage  service  and its accompanying  ceremonies. He talks of the union of true minds. The poet makes a distinction between true love and unfaithful  love. According  to  him, love  is not love which alters  under  changed circumstances. True  love  never  changes even  when  one  of  the  lovers becomes unfaithful  to the  other.

In the next quatrain Shakespeare makes use of two metaphors to bring out the permanence of true love. First, the poet says that love is  an ever fixed mark that looks upon tempests but is never shaken. Next  he says  that  love  is  the  pole star which guides  every  wandering  ship in the ocean. Its value is unknown though its height be calculated. In the  third  quatrain, the poet brings  out  the  ravages  of  time. Time is personified  as a  reaper carrying a sickle with  which  he  cuts  man’s  life, looks and possessions. Time  can destroy the rosy lips and cheeks but  true  love does not depend on  physical  beauty True love will remain unchanged  even with the passage of  time. It  will  remain the same till the end of  the world. It  is constant and permanent  and nothing  can change it. The last two lines reaffirm the poet’s statement that  true  love is constant and permanent. If  this statement is proved wrong  by  any one, then  the poet says that  he  had never written any poems and no man ever experienced true love.

2. Shakespeare’s veiw about true love
Sonnet 116 is one of the most famous of the sonnets for its stalwart defense true love. The sonnet has a relatively simple structure, with each quatrain attempting to describe what love is (or is not) and the final couplet reaffirming the poet's words by placing his own merit on the line. Note that this is one of the few sonnets in the fair lord sequence that is not addressed directly to the fair lord; the context of the sonnet, however, gives it away as an exposition of the poet's deep and enduring love for him.

The opening lines of the sonnet dive the reader into the theme at a rapid pace, accomplished in part by the use of enjambment - the continuation of a syntactic unit from one line of poetry to the next without any form of pause, e.g., "Let me not to the marriage of true minds / Admit impediments ..." This first quatrain asserts that true love is immortal and unchanging: it neither changes on its own nor allows itself to be changed, even when it encounters changes in the loved one. Quatrain two embarks on a series of seafaring metaphors to further establish the permanence of true love: in line 5 it is an "ever-fixed mark," a sea mark that navigators could use to guide their course; in line 7 it is a steadfast star (the North Star, perhaps), whose height we are able to measure (as with a quadrant) although we may know nothing of its nature (the science of stars had hardly progressed by Shakespeare's Sonnet 116 is one of the most famous of the sonnets for its stalwart defense of true love.

The sonnet has a relatively simple structure, with each quatrain attempting to describe what love is (or is not) and the final couplet reaffirming the poet's words by placing his own merit on the line. Note that this is one of the few sonnets in the fair lord sequence that is not addressed directly to the fair lord; the context of the sonnet, however, gives it away as an exposition of the poet's deep and enduring love for him.

Finally, quatrain three nails home the theme, with love's undying essence prevailing against the "bending sickle" of Time. Time's "hours and weeks" are "brief" compared to love's longevity, and only some great and final destruction of apocalyptic proportions could spell its doom.

Sonnet 116 closes with a rather hefty wager against the validity of the poet's words: he writes that if what he claims above is proven untrue, then he "never writ, nor no man ever loved."In comparison with most other sonnets, sonnet 116 strikes readers as relatively simple. The metaphors are reasonably transparent, and the theme is quickly and plainly apparent. The overarching sentiment of true love's timeless and immutable nature is presented and developed in the first eight lines, but there is no twist at the third quatrain - rather a continuation of the theme. Even the couplet is but a simple statement like "there you have it." The simplicity is noteworthy, and perhaps it was deliberate: Shakespeare's goal may have been unaffected candor, sincerity of conviction. It should come as no wonder that the lines of sonnet 116 often are quoted as Shakespeare's authentic definition of love.undying essence prevailing against the "bending sickle" of Time. Time's "hours and weeks" are "brief" compared to love's longevity, and only some great and final destruction of apocalyptic proportions could spell its doom.

In comparison with most other sonnets, sonnet 116 strikes readers as relatively simple. The metaphors are reasonably transparent, and the theme is quickly and plainly apparent. The overarching sentiment of true love's timeless and immutable nature is presented and developed in the first eight lines, but there is no twist at the third quatrain - rather a continuation of the theme. Even the couplet is but a simple statement like "there you have it." The simplicity is noteworthy, and perhaps it was deliberate: Shakespeare's goal may have been unaffected candor, sincerity of conviction. It should come as no wonder that the lines of sonnet 116 often are quoted as Shakespeare's authentic definition of love.

A brief note about the growth and development of English novel

The growth and development of English Novel

So we are going to dive a little bit deeper into the victorian era. .. its hard to imagine a time when the novel as we know it was not a common literary form in the long history of literature. The rise of novel as a popular genre is a relatively recent phenomenon. It is an extented fictional narrative written in prose something that you already know. Its a book, fictional piece typically the narrative depicts the development of a character who revolves around the plot and a theme which act as it organizing principles.

The novel is came into being after Daniel Dafoe published Robinson crusoe in 1719, during this time the novel was viewed primarily as a form of entertainment. In the mid 18th century a few steps forwarded in the development of plot and characterization and then Samuel Richardson 's  novel Pamela,  Clarrissa is also a wonderful fiction during that period. Following that Henry Fielding’s Tom Jones in 1749 published. Lawrence sterne's  work focused on the character's conversation and remembrance intead of action  for example his work Tristram shandy. So these writers inspired other writers to take the novel form in a new direction.

The Victorian period from 1832-1901 is often called the age of the novel. This period asured in the focus on realistic depictions of life that continues to this day. Victorian novels are known for the Realism that detailed on the presentation of everyday life and continued social concern, it began playing a greater role in the general society
and thus the novel became a tool for exposing societ's ills no other writers use this tool as effectively as did Charles Dickens.Dickens’s novels Oliver Twist, A Christmas Carol, David copperfield and A Bleak house describes in riveting detail or the troubles faced by the lower classes in England.

In the 19th century a remarkable variety of English fictions were raised,where writers gave  rise to several popular new subgenre. That is historical novels combined historical facts with fictional elements to recreate the spirit of past age, Charles Dickens’s the tale of two cities in 1859, where he recorded the historical account of the French revolution. At the same period the Gothic novels became extremely popular in England. The horror effect in Mary Shelley 's Frankesistein (1818) is one of them. Then Detective novels raised where mystery is the major ingredient in that Arthur Conan Doyle, who mastered this form and created Sherlock Holmes- which is still the world’s most famous detective novel. Finally then the period focused on criminals and their motives attracted the growing audience these were called Newgate fiction, which was named after a famous London prison and explore the nature of crime and violence.Thomas Hardy's Tess of D'uderbervilles (1891),which portrayed a hostile world were only the fittest prospered. So as novels developed and continued... on the way we see women novelist such as Jane austen, Elizabeth Cleghorn, George Eliot and Brontè sisters and so... women begin to develop a voice stronger than they have seen before.

In the twentieth century, the bad results of the two world wars brought great changes in the writings of fiction, new sub genre raised such as science fiction, dystopian fiction etc. In this period the authors focused on the impact, growth and development of science and technology. Eg. H.G.Wells's  The time machine,The invisible man. Some revealed the darker side of human nature or dehumanising effects of modernity as well as psychological issues related to sexuality. Eg. D.H.Lawrence’s sons and lovers, women in love. Finally at the end of the period we can see the fiction developed much more some rejected the structure of the plot. This era also witnessed the growth of Feminist writers.