Affliction (I) by George Herbert

“Affliction” (I)

from The Temple (1633), by George Herbert

When first thou didst entice to thee my heart,

I thought the service brave:

So many joyes I writ down for my part,

Besides what I might have

Out of my stock of naturall delights,

Augmented with thy gracious benefits.

I looked on thy furniture so fine,

And made it fine to me:

Thy glorious houshold-stuffe did me entwine,

And ‘tice me unto thee.

Such starres I counted mine: both heav’n and earth

Payd me my wages in a world of mirth.

What pleasures could I want, whose King I served,

Where joyes my fellows were?

Thus argu’d into hopes, my thoughts reserved

No place for grief or fear.

Therefore my sudden soul caught at the place,

And made her youth and fiercenesse seek thy face.

At first thou gav’st me milk and sweetnesses;

I had my wish and way:

My dayes were straw’d with flow’rsand happinesse;

There was no moneth but May.

But with my yeares sorrow did twist and grow,

And made a partie unawares of wo.

My flesh began unto my soul in pain,

Sicknesses cleave my bones;

Consuming agues dwell in ev’ry vein,

And tune my breath to grones.

Sorrow was all my soul; I scarce beleeved,

Till grief did tell me roundly, that I lived.

When I got health, thou took’st away my life,

And more; for my friends die:

My mirth and edge was lost; a blunted knife

Was of more use then I.

Thus thinne and lean without a fence or friend,

I was blown through with ev’ry storm and winde.

Whereas my birth and spirit rather took

The way that takes the town;

Thou didst betray me to a lingring book,

And wrap me in a gown.

I was entangled in the world of strife,

Before I had the power to change my life.

Yet, for I threatned oft the siege to raise,

Not simpring all mine age,

Thou often didst with Academick praise

Melt and dissolve my rage.

I took thy sweetned pill, till I came where

I could not go away, nor persevere.

Yet lest perchance I should too happie be

In my unhappinesse,

Turning my purge to food, thou throwest me

Into more sicknesses.

Thus doth my power crosse-bias me, not making

Thine own gift good, yet me from my wayes taking.

Now I am here, what thou wilt do with me

None of my books will show:

I reade, and sigh, and wish I were a tree;

For sure then I should grow

To fruit or shade: at least some bird would trust

Her houshold to me, and I should be just.

Yet, though thou troublest me, I must be meek;

In weaknesse must be stout.

Well, I will change the service, and go seek

Some other master out.

Ah my deare God! though I am clean forgot,

Let me not love thee, if I love thee not.

Astrophil and Stella by Philip Sidney

Astrophil and Stella by Philip Sidney

Sonnet 1

 Loving in truth, and fain in verse my love to show

That she (dear She) might take some pleasure of my pain:

Pleasure might cause her read, reading might make her know,

Knowledge might pity win, and pity grace obtain;

I sought fit words to paint the blackest face of woe,

Studying inventions fine, her wits to entertain:

Oft turning others’ leaves, to see if thence would flow

Some fresh and fruitful showers upon my sun-burn’d brain.

But words came halting forth, wanting Invention’s stay,

Invention, Nature’s child, fled step-dame Study’s blows,

And others’ feet still seem’d but strangers in my way.

Thus, great with child to speak, and helpless in my throes,

Biting my truant pen, beating myself for spite--

“Fool,” said my Muse to me, “look in thy heart and write”.

“The Canonization” by John Donne

“The Canonization” by John Donne

For God’s sake hold your tongue, and let me love,

         Or chide my palsy, or my gout,

My five gray hairs, or ruined fortune flout,

         With wealth your state, your mind with arts improve,

                Take you a course, get you a place,

                Observe his honour, or his grace,

Or the king’s real, or his stamped face

         Contemplate; what you will, approve,

         So you will let me love.

Alas, alas, who’s injured by my love?

         What merchant's ships have my sighs drowned?

Who says my tears have overflowed his ground?

         When did my colds a forward spring remove?

                When did the heats which my veins fill

                Add one more to the plaguy bill?

Soldiers find wars, and lawyers find out still

         Litigious men, which quarrels move,

         Though she and I do love.

Call us what you will, we are made such by love;

         Call her one, me another fly,

We're tapers too, and at our own cost die,

         And we in us find the eagle and the dove.

                The phoenix riddle hath more wit

                By us; we two being one, are it.

So, to one neutral thing both sexes fit.

         We die and rise the same, and prove

         Mysterious by this love.

We can die by it, if not live by love,

         And if unfit for tombs and hearse

Our legend be, it will be fit for verse;

         And if no piece of chronicle we prove,

                We’ll build in sonnets pretty rooms;

                As well a well-wrought urn becomes

The greatest ashes, as half-acre tombs,

         And by these hymns, all shall approve

         Us canonized for Love.

And thus invoke us: “You, whom reverend love

         Made one another’s hermitage;

You, to whom love was peace, that now is rage;

         Who did the whole world’s soul contract, and drove

                Into the glasses of your eyes

                (So made such mirrors, and such spies,

That they did all to you epitomize)

         Countries, towns, courts: beg from above

         A pattern of your love!”

I CIA 2016 I MA MODERN LITERATURE I Question Bank

I MA  MODERN LITERATURE I

I. Donne’s “Canonization”

1. Who coined the term “metaphysical poetry”?

A) Andrew Marvell B) John Donne C) Samuel Johnson D) Henry Vaughan

2. What is the “stamped face” referred to by Donne in “Canonization”?

A) face in a stamp  B)holy face C) Coin D)real face

3. Fill in the blank: “For God's sake hold your tongue, and let me ________”.

A) love B)live C)tell D)give

4. Fill in the blank: “Call her one, me another _______”. 

A) taper B) moth C) candle D) fly

5. What is a phoenix?

A) Mall B)Bike C)Mythological plant D) Mythological bird

6. According to Donne, why should a person “take a course”?

a. To get a job  b For running c. For higher studies d. To begin family life

7. “We’ll build in sonnets pretty rooms”. What is the meaning of “room” here?

a. a place in a house b. stanza in a poem c. room in a mansion d. veranda

8. What is canonization?

a. accepter of a canon b. Having a gun c. to make saint of d. a priest

9. According to Donne, what do soldiers find?

A. Army b. House c. Country D. War

10. According to Donne, what do lawyers get?

 A. Litigious men b. Car c. Dress d. Robe

II Donne’s “Extasie”

1. What is meant by ek stasis?

A) Stand outside B) experience of joy C) experience of love D) to stand

2. Who is the “Great Prince in prison”?

A) Body B) The soul C) Earth D)Donne

3. After the “concoction”, who will depart as a “purer” person?

A) Man B) Onlooker C) Lover D) Lady Love

4. A “metaphysical _____” is a particular type of poetic metaphor of the sort developed by the “metaphysical poets”.

A) simile B) conceit C) poem D) song

5. “This Extasie doth unperplex”. What does “unperplex” mean?

a. resolve b. complex c. confuse d. compound

6. “We owe them thanks”, who are “them” according to Donne?

A. Bodies b. souls c. faces d. gods

7. “Yielded their senses’ force to us,/ Nor are dross to us, but allay”. Which is referred to as an “allay” by Donne?

A. soul b. body c. sprit d. sense

8. Who are “weak men” according to Donne?

 A. Physically weak B. Those who cannot write poetry C. Those who look for manifestation d. Dull-headed

9. Which are “firmly cemented / With a fast balm”?

a. Sick person’s legs b. a house c. a window d. Lovers’ hands

10. Fill in the blank: “A single violet _______,/ The strength, the colour, and the size,/…Redoubles still, and multiplies”.

A. plant b. sapling c. bud D. Transplant

III Richard Lovelace’s “To Althea, from Prison”

1. With whom did Richard Lovelace side during a power struggle in England?

a. The Church b. The Parliament c. King Charles I d. The Prince of Persia

2. Why cannot the walls and iron bars that surround Lovelace imprison him?

a. protected by God b. Physically free c. protected by a strong person d. Free in mind

3. What are the “Committed linnets”?

a. caged birds b. cunning birds c. dead birds d. those committed to work

4. What is the main theme of Richard Lovelace’s “To Althea from Prison”?

A. Love for Althea B. No one can imprison the human mind C. Love for the King D. Prison life

5. What is a “Hermitage” according to Lovelace?

A. hut B. a place where hermits live C. mind D. sages live

V Sir Philip Sidney’s “Astrophil and Stella” - Sonnet 1: 

“Loving in truth, and fain in verse my love to show”

1. no month but May1. What does “Stella” mean?

A. sun B. star C. moon D. Astrophil

2. “Loving in truth, and fain in verse my love to show...”. What does Philip Sidney mean by “fain”?

A. faint B. prepare to cheat C. prepare to take a risk D. full of pain

3. Who calls Philip Sidney a fool?

A. Stella B. Muse C. Sidney’s father D. Pan

4. Whose brain is “sun burned”?

A. Stella B. Astrophel C.Philip Sidney D. Muse

5. Why does Philip Sidney fail to write a love poem in the beginning?

A. Relies on his love B. Relies on his heart C. Relies on his songs D. Relies on books.

V Herbert “Affliction”

1. What does George Herbert mean by “furniture” in “Affliction”?

a. humans b. house c. college d. nature

2. What does George Herbert refer to as a “lingring book”?

a. A collection of poems b. Drama c. The Bible d. Poems of Herbert

3. From which game has the metaphor “cross-bias” been taken?

A. cricket B. foot ball C. Dart-board D. bowling

4. Who is the “some other master” referred to by Herbert?

A. Jesus B. Jehovah C. devil D. Little Master

5. What is the “way that takes the town”?

A. Spiritual life B. worldly life C. God-fearing life D. Religious life

VI Herbert “Pulley”

1. What is the only positive thing in the Pandora’s Box? 

a. Wealth b. Hope c. Beauty d. Sorrow     

2. What is the “jewel” referred to by Herbert in “Pulley”?

a. rest b. gold c. ring d. beauty