Want to Learn Something New?: Understand Classic Poems in Two Minutes or Less! a Comparative Table of Wordsworth, Shelly, Coleridge and Lord Byron

Something I put together to summarize a few common poems. If there is any term that you do not know wikipedia does a great job of explaining; at least for the term Petrarchan sonnet.

Name of Poem

The Tables Turned

1978

Author

Wordsworth

Structure

Petrarchan sonnet

Memorable lines

UP! up! my Friend, and quit your books;

Or surely you’ll grow double:

Up! up! my Friend, and clear your looks;

Why all this toil and trouble?

Devices?

Alliteration: why all this toil and trouble.

Themes/terms to remember

Let nature be your teacher.

Ozymandias

Shelly

Petrarchan sonnet

Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away”.

Connotation:

Double meaning of words. ex “Lifeless”

Nothing lasts forever.

Christabel

Coleridge

Gothic

Discontinuous

Patterns.

There she sees a damsel bright,
Dressed in a silken robe of white,
That shadowy in the moonlight shone :
The neck that made that white robe wan,
Her stately neck, and arms were bare ;
Her blue-veined feet unsandal’d were ;
And wildly glittered here and there
The gems entangled in her hair.
I guess, ’twas frightful there to see
A lady so richly clad as she–
Beautiful exceedingly !

Allegory: Symbols that represent something. “tree” representing life, nature, rebirth, provision, ect.

Feminism, seeking forgiveness

She walks in Beauty

Lord Byron

Sonnet

First part explains her physical beauty, second explains her intelectual/spiritual beauty.

And on that cheek, and o’er that brow,

So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,

The smiles that win, the tints that glow,

But tell of days in goodness spent,

A mind at peace with all below,

A heart whose love is innocent!

Hyperbole: Exaggeration

“Grace

which

waves in every raven tress”

Love/romantic thoughts and feelings.

Strange fits of Passion Have I Known.

Wordsworth

(On the Industrialization impacts of country and city)

Ballad “horse part is a change of pace”

O mercy!” to myself I cried,
“If Lucy hould be dead

Simile:

Fresh as a rose in June

Metonymy vs symbolism: The love for home. Homesickness.

Have another minute? Read the definition of Petrachan Sonnet from Wikipedia and write your own.

This poem is written in Petrarchan sonnet form. This scheme divides the poem into two- the first eight lines (octave) and the next six (sestet). Between these two is a break called a volta which emphasises the traditional change in mood or subject between the octave and sestet. In the first eight, he describes early morning London in detail, and then goes on in the final six to compare the city in that moment to natural wonders. The rhyme scheme is ABBAABBA CDCDCD, as is fairly common for a Petrarchan sonnet.(”Majesty” in the third line of this poem is changed to sound like “by” in the second line, by the poet himself in order to fulfill the ABBAABBA, rhyme scheme of a Petrarchan sonnet.)

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  1. Posted January 15, 2012 at 6:42 pm

    Name of Poem
    The Tables Turned
    1978 Author

    Wordsworth
    Structure
    Petrarchan sonnet Memorable lines

    UP! up! my Friend, and quit your books;
    Or surely you’ll grow double:
    Up! up! my Friend, and clear your looks;
    Why all this toil and trouble?
    Devices?
    Alliteration: why all this toil and trouble. Themes/terms to remember

    Let nature be your teacher.
    Ozymandias Shelly

    Petrarchan sonnet Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
    Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
    The lone and level sands stretch far away”. Connotation:
    Double meaning of words. ex “Lifeless”
    Nothing lasts forever.
    Christabel
    Coleridge

    Gothic
    Discontinuous
    Patterns.
    There she sees a damsel bright,
    Dressed in a silken robe of white,
    That shadowy in the moonlight shone :
    The neck that made that white robe wan,
    Her stately neck, and arms were bare ;
    Her blue-veined feet unsandal’d were ;
    And wildly glittered here and there
    The gems entangled in her hair.
    I guess, ’twas frightful there to see
    A lady so richly clad as she–
    Beautiful exceedingly !
    Allegory: Symbols that represent something. “tree” representing life, nature, rebirth, provision, ect. Feminism, seeking forgiveness
    She walks in Beauty Lord Byron

    Sonnet
    First part explains her physical beauty, second explains her intelectual/spiritual beauty. And on that cheek, and o’er that brow,
    So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,
    The smiles that win, the tints that glow,
    But tell of days in goodness spent,
    A mind at peace with all below,
    A heart whose love is innocent!
    Hyperbole: Exaggeration
    “Grace
    which
    waves in every raven tress”
    Love/romantic thoughts and feelings.
    Strange fits of Passion Have I Known. Wordsworth

    (On the Industrialization impacts of country and city)

    Ballad “horse part is a change of pace” O mercy!” to myself I cried,
    “If Lucy hould be dead Simile:
    Fresh as a rose in June Metonymy vs symbolism: The love for home. Homesickness.

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