English Literature Project

Kudakwashe Pasipamire
Contains the poems; Gods grandeur and Sonnet 116. Read carefully. Contains two pages.

Isaiah 40:31 (KJV)

AMAZING ACADEMY ERF1366 ONDANGAURA STREET CIMBEBASIA

But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. God Bless.

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11/13/2013

English Literature

Higher level

Question 1

Gods Grandeur
This poem is an Italian sonnet. It contains fourteen lines divided into an octave and a sestet. The word grandeur is French for greatness. The poem starts with the metaphor of Gods grandeur as an electric force. The figure suggests an undercurrent that is not always seen, but which builds up a tension or pressure that sometimes flashes out in ways that can be amazing and dangerous. The visual effect of shook foil is one example of this magnificence. The image of the oil being pressed out of an olive represents another kind of richness, where saturation and built-up pressure eventually conclude in a wholesome overflow. The image of electricity makes a slight return in the fourth line, where the rod of Gods punishing power calls to mind the lightning rod in which electricity in the air will seldom flame out. Electricity was an area of scientific interest during Hopkinss day, and is an example of a happening that had long been taken as a sign of divine power now explained in naturalistic, terms. Hopkins is defiant in his status that Gods work is still to be seen in nature, if men will only take their time and observe. He suggests modern discoveries are evidence of Gods grandeur. Hopkinss amazement at the effects of a piece of foil attributes revelatory power to a man-made object; gold-leaf foil had also been used in recent influential scientific experiments. The olive oil, on the other hand, is an ancient sacramental substance, used for centuries for food, medicine and religious purposes. This oil thus traditionally appears in all aspects of life, much as God suffuses all branches of the created universe. Moreover, the slowness of its oozing contrasts with the quick electric flash; the method of its extraction implies such spiritual qualities as patience and faith. Thus both the images of the foil and the olive oil bespeak an all-permeating divine presence that reveals itself in flashes or droplets of magnificence. The question in the fourth line focuses readers onto considering why men are no longer Godfearing; the emphasis is on now. The second quatrain contains a comment of the way a cultures neglect of God translates into a neglect of the environment. But it also suggests that the previous generations are also to blame; they have soiled and seared our world, further limiting our ability to access the holy. Yet the sestet affirms that, in spite of the interdependent degradation of human beings and the earth, God has not withdrawn from either. He attains an infinite power of renewal, to which the regenerative natural cycles testify. The poem reflects Hopkinss conviction that the world is like a book written by God, in which the a person can always come across signs of a benevolent creator.

Sonnet 116
The first four lines display the poet's pleasure in love that is constant and strong, and will not "alter when it alteration finds." The following lines proclaim that true love is indeed an "everfix'd mark" which will survive any crisis. In lines 7-8, the poet claims that we may be able to measure love to some extent, but this does not mean we fully understand it. Love's actual worth cannot be known it will always remain a mystery. The remaining lines of the third quatrain (912), confirm the perfect nature of love that is unshakeable throughout time and remains so "ev'n to the edge of doom", or death.
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English Literature

Higher level

Question 1

In the final lines, the poet states that, if he is wrong about the constant, unshakable nature of love, then he must take back all his writings on love, truth, and faith. Moreover, he adds that, if he has in fact judged love inappropriately, no man has ever really loved, in the appropriate sense that the poet writes of.