Thou Blind Mans Mark by Sir Philip Sidney

“Thou Blind Man’s Mark” by Sir Philip Sidney

Sir Philip Sidney: 1554 -1586 • Renaissance Man: Knight, soldier, diplomat, patron, ideal Elizabethan courier, Petrarchan sonneteer, politician; literary critic • Desires denied: Love, political appointments, inherited wealth • Sonnets show political, court and foreign policy tensions • Calvinist background; Humanistic education: Latin classics • 1598 Certain Sonnets (No. 31 “Thou Blind Man’s Mark”) • Major Works: Astrophel and Stella; Defense of Poesy • Dies of gangrene 26 days after thigh injury: “The Broken Thigh” "Among the gilded youth of Elizabethan England—he was one of the most promising young men of his time. " Biographer Allen Stewart “Sidney’s face was ‘spoiled with pimples’ says Ben Johnson “wryly distancing himself from the virtual Sidney cult that had arisen in the years after his death. ” (1619)

Sonnet Traits Sonnets = lyrics---they convey intense emotion 14 lines; iambic pentameter; two rhetorical parts Italian/Petrarchan Octave + (volta) Sestet abba cdcdcd or cdecde English/Shakespearean 3 Quatrains + abab cdcd efef (volta) Couplet gg Spenserian 3 Quatrains + abab bcbc cdcd (volta) Couplet ee Sidney (Quatorzain) 2 Quatrains + abab baba (volta) 2 Tercets* bcc *(always ending in a couplet) Volta (turn) = main shift in all sonnets Two Rhetorical Parts of an Argument Question—Answer Problem—Solution

“Thou Blind Man’s Mark”: Quatorzain Rhyme Scheme Thou. . . snare, Fond. . . thought; Band. . . care; Thou. . . wrought; a b Desire. . . bought, With. . . ware; Too. . . brought, Who. . . prepare. b a But. . . sought; In. . . aspire; In. . . fire; b c c For. . . taught— Within. . . hire, Desiring. . . desire. b c c

The Prompt In the following poem by Sir Philip Sidney (1554 -1586), the speaker addresses the subject of desire. Read the poem carefully. Then write a welldeveloped essay in which you analyze how poetic devices help to convey the speaker’s complex attitude toward desire. Prompt Clues: Sidney--Renaissance 1554 -1586 Renaissance; English Counter Reformation; Mary Elizabeth I Which poetic devices? Complex=more than one

Beginning Analysis: Diction, Imagery, Language Circle HOT tone words (nouns, adjectives, adverbs) Bracket imagery Box figurative language Underline other observations (e. g. , repetition, alliteration, point of view) Categorize—What are the effects?

Evidence for the Best Argument Which poetic devices reveal meaning the best? Where are they in the poem? Embed quotations. What does each device do? Effects? How does the device accomplish its effect? Use 2 -3 sentences to explicate/analyze. Use 2 -3 pieces of evidence per paragraph.

What Do You Want Students to See? Who is the speaker? Who is addressed? What is the situation? Poetic devices? What are the attitudes? How do you know? Poetic Terminology Complexity: (more than one) of Attitude toward desire Irony: Title--What is a blind man’s mark (target)? Final couplet Classical Allusion: Cupid (blind man) Structure: sonnet; shift; recognize problem/solution argument; irony of final couplet Figurative Language: alliteration, apostrophe, personification, metaphors Imagery: Not just visual Rhetorical Devices: repetition, parallelism, anaphora (repetition of initial words, phrases), puns, paradoxes/opposites, juxtaposition, Syntactical: anastrophe (inversion); length of line Point of View: 1 st; 2 nd person familiar (thou, thee, thy, thine) Analysis: Use poetry terminology and textural support; show HOW you know

Poetry Analysis Cheat Sheet LEAD (Diction Analysis) L=Low or Informal (dialect, slang, jargon) E=Elevated or Formal A=Abstract or Concrete D=Denotation or Connotation Monosyllabic Polysyllabic Colloquial (Slang) Informal (Conversational) Formal (Literary) Old-Fashioned/Antiquated Euphonious Cacophonous (Any new words? Look them up!) Other Poetry Elements form (e. g. , sonnet, sestina) figurative language: figures of speech figures of sound rhyme scheme meter rhetoric syntax symbols details Imagery: visual gustatory olfactory kinetic tactile auditory organic kinesthetic Perrine’s Question Who is the speaker? Who is addressed? What is the situation? What is the tone? Are there any shifts? ***HOW does the language convey the COMPLEX TONE, MEANING, AND THEME? ****_____________ TONE HOT Tone words convey emotion COMPLEX = MORE THAN ONE (+ ) (-) IRONY TP-CASTT T=title P=paraphrase C=connotation A=attitude S=shifts T=title T=theme HUMOR________ DIDLS D=Diction I=Imagery D=Details L=Language S=Sentence Structure

“Thou Blind Man’s Mark” Thou blind man’s mark, 1 thou fool’s self-chosen snare, Fond fancy’s scum, and dregs of scattered thought; Band of all evils, cradle of causeless care; Thou web of will, whose end is never wrought; Desire, desire! I have too dearly bought, With price of mangled mind, thy worthless ware; Too long, too long, asleep thou hast me brought, Who should my mind to higher things prepare. But yet in vain thou hast my ruin sought; In vain thou madest me to vain things aspire; In vain thou kindlest all thy smoky fire; For virtue hath this better lesson taught— Within myself to seek my only hire, 2 Desiring naught but how to kill desire. 1 target 2 reward

Poetry Analysis: Diction Thou blind man’s mark, thou fool’s self-chosen snare, Fond fancy’s scum, and dregs of scattered thought; Band of all evils, cradle of causeless care; Thou web of will, whose end is never wrought; Desire, desire! I have too dearly bought, With price of mangled mind, thy worthless ware; Too long, too long, asleep thou hast me brought, Who should my mind to higher things prepare. ------But yet in vain thou hast my ruin sought; In vain thou madest me to vain things aspire; In vain thou kindlest all thy smoky fire; For virtue hath this better lesson taught— Within myself to seek my only hire, Desiring naught but how to kill desire. A B B A B C C

Imagery and Alliteration Thou blind man’s mark, 1 thou fool’s self-chosen snare, Fond fancy’s scum, and dregs of scattered thought; Band of all evils, cradle of causeless care; Thou web of will, whose end is never wrought; Desire, desire! I have too dearly bought, With price of mangled mind, thy worthless ware; Too long, too long, asleep thou hast me brought, Who should my mind to higher things prepare. But yet in vain thou hast my ruin sought; In vain thou madest me to vain things aspire; In vain thou kindlest all thy smoky fire; For virtue hath this better lesson taught— Within myself to seek my only hire, 2 Desiring naught but how to kill desire. 1 target 2 reward

“Thou Blind Man’s Mark”: Metaphors and Anastrophe Thou = Desire Thou blind man’s mark, 1 thou fool’s self-chosen snare, Fond fancy’s scum, and dregs of scattered thought; Band of all evils, cradle of causeless care; Thou web of will, whose end is never wrought; Desire, desire! I have too dearly bought, With price of mangled mind, thy worthless ware; Too long, too long, asleep thou hast me brought, Who should my mind to higher things prepare. But yet in vain thou hast my ruin sought; In vain thou madest me to vain things aspire; In vain thou kindlest all thy smoky fire; For virtue hath this better lesson taught— Within myself to seek my only hire, 2 Desiring naught but how to kill desire. 1 target 2 reward

“Thou Blind Man’s Mark”: Repetition and Parallelism Thou blind man’s mark, 1 thou fool’s self-chosen snare, Fond fancy’s scum, and dregs of scattered thought; Band of all evils, cradle of causeless care; Thou web of will, whose end is never wrought; Desire, desire! I have too dearly bought, With price of mangled mind, thy worthless ware; Too long, too long, asleep thou hast me brought, Who should my mind to higher things prepare. But yet in vain thou hast my ruin sought; In vain thou madest me to vain things aspire; In vain thou kindlest all thy smoky fire; For virtue hath this better lesson taught— Within myself to seek my only hire, 2 Desiring naught but how to kill desire. 1 target 2 reward

Show How You Know Author uses x to reveal y, implying z. x = language element (quote it) y = effect, meaning, tone z = theme, thoughtful inference