"My Love is Like to Ice" Paragraph

In "My Love is Like to Ice" by Edmund Spenser, Spenser utilizes the distinctive sonnet form in order to phrase rhetorical questions about the power and confusion that love entails in order to set up the respondant couplet. In the sonnet, Spenser disscusses the troubles and hardness of love through asking rhetorcal questions. He is confused because "[his] love is like to ice, and [him] to fire"(l. 1), but "how come it then that this her cold is so great is not dssolved through [his] so hot desire"(ll. 2-3). He is confused by the fact that although he loves her and has burning desire for her, she feels nothing of that sort, but rather the opposite. He also wonders how it is that his desire for her is not lessoned by the fact that she does not share that desire with him, "but that [he] burn[s] much more in boiling sweat, and feel [his] flames augmented manifold"(ll. 7-8). He questions the idea that it is so "miraculous"(l. 9) that when she does not like him, "that fire, which is congealed with senseless cold, should kindle fire by wonderful device"(ll. 10-11). All these questions lead up to the final couplet in which he makes the realization that he believes love is the most powerful emotion that it can overcome obstacles that normally occur. He believes that "such is the power of love in gentle mind, that it can alter all the course of kind"(ll.12-13). Edmund Spenser uses the sonnet form in order to frame questions about the complications of love and finalizes the sonnet with a couplet that explains why love is so complicated.

The Kiss Paragraph

In "The Kiss" by dante Gabriel Rossetti, Rossetti includes numerous amounts of imagery and allusion within the sonnet in order to demonstrate a certain idea and fully illustrate to the reader how that idea is portrayed. In the octave, Rossetti makes an allusion to Greek mythology. "Even now my lady's lips did play... such that constant interlude as laurelled Orpheus longed for when he wooed"(ll. 5-7). He refers to Orpheus, a Greek musician, in order top further show the greatness of the kiss in which the author took part. During the sestet, he uses imagery to demonstrate the passion that he had for the woman in which he shared the kiss. "I was a child beneath her touch, -- a man when breast to breast we clung"(ll. 9-10). Through imagery, the author describes the feeling that he had when he was with this girl, and how he felt weak in her power because he was in such awe of the woman. Through writing extrememly descriptive, giving the reader an image of the emotion in the sonnet, and making allusions to Greek history, Rossetti shows the godliness and amazement of the kiss.

A Sonnet- #2

In "A Sonnet" by Dante Rosetti, the octave in the beginning of the sonnet explains the problem that a sonnet is like a moment in time, and at line 9, the sonnet begins to change and answer that problem faced in the octave. "A Sonnet is a moment's monument... to one dead deathless hour"(ll. 1-3). Rossetti explains that a sonnet captures a moment in time and never allows it to die. "Whether for lustrial rite or dire portent...carve it in ivory or in ebony" (ll. 4-6). He explains that whether a sonnet is for a pure ceremony or a bad omen, "let Time see its flowering crest impearled and orient" (ll. 7-8). He believes that a sonnet is beauty and as time goes on it will prove its beauty. But in line 9, the sonnet takes a turn and begins to solve the problem of never letting a sonnet die or a moment pass. "A Sonnet is a coin: its face reveals the soul"(ll. 9-10). A sonnet is compared with a coin, and when you flip the coin over, "whether for tribute to the august appeals of life, or dower in Love's high retinue"(ll. 11-12). The sonnet posseses a fate that is the underworld, and must pay a coin to cross the river styx. "In Charon's palm it pay the toll to Death"(l. 14). In "A Sonnet" by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, his sonnet explains and puts forth a question as to the fate of a sonnet, and in the sestet, the answer is solved.

Sir Walter Raleigh Paragraph #1

In "Sir Walter Raleigh to his Son", Sir Walter Raleigh uses the English sonnet form to warn about the pit falls of growing older through the use of showing the relationship of the wood, the weed, and the wag. Sir Walter Raleigh makes it clear that these "three things there be that prosper up apace, and floursih while the grow asunder far" (ll.1-2). When the wood, the weed and the wag are apart, all is good, "but on a day, they meet all in a place, and when they meet, they one another mar"(ll.3-4). He warns "the wag"(l. 5), young people, that when these three things come together, there will be danger. He believes that "when they meet, it makes the timber rot, it frets the halter, and it chokes the child"(ll. 11-12). Sir Walter Raleigh uses this sonnet as a warning for the younger generation to stay out of trouble and "let us pray we part not with thee at this meeting day"(ll.13-14). Sir Walther Raleigh urges the young to stay out of trouble through showing the dangers of when the wood, the weed, and the wag all come together.

In the Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer, Chaucer intertwines his opinions and views of society throughout his various tales. In each of his tales he expresses his multifarious conceptions of different groups and feelings of his community during his time. In The Pardoner's Tale, Chaucer satirizes the Church by showing the corruption of the Church through the Pardoner's dishonest, greedy and slanderous characteristics.

Chaucer illustrates his views of society in his time through the characters that he creates. In the Pardoner's Tale, he satirizes the Church through the characteristics that the Pardoner possesses. Although the Pardoner is an official sanction of the Church, he does not portray the honesty and justness that a Church official should possess. The Pardoner wants to "preach and beg from kirk to kirk and never do an honest job of work"(pg 244). He does not care about doing an honest day of work as long as when the end of the day comes, he receives his money and priveleges as an official. The Pardoner receives "bulls from popes and cardinals" (pg 241), although he is committed to the Church and the Church vows, he "preach[es]... and tell[s] a hundred lying mockeries more" (pg 242). The Pardoner receives the title from the pope and high authorites that he is part of the Church community, yet he preaches lies in order to gain a profit. Although he preaches the beliefs of the Church, he mocks those ideas at the same time. The Pardoner uses the papal bulls given to him by higher Church officials as an excuse to do as he pleases, "however guilty of that sin" (pg 243). The Pardoner takes advantage of his authority within the Church for his greater benefit and gain. A Church official should act with honesty and integrity, and should want to help out his community by absolving sins and preaching truthful concepts. Chaucer satirizes the Church by writing about the fakeness of the Church and how the Church is not as glorious and virtuous as some may believe true.

Not only does the Pardoner lie and deceive, but he also is full of greediness and rapacity. The Pardoner does not care about absolving others sins, but rather his "exclusive purpose is to win and not at all castigate their sin"(pg 243). He does not care about helping people as long as he gets money for his job. He "preaches for nothing but for greed and gain... and thus "[he] preache[s] against the very vice, [he] make[s] [his] living out of - avarice"(pg 243). The only reason the Pardoner performs the duties of his job is because he gets paid and he gets the benefits from being part of the clergy and higher authority. The Pardoner's job entails that he "will shrive them by the authority committed in this papal bull to [him]"(pg 242). However, the only reason he pardons people from their sin is because it has "been worth a hundred marks a year"(pg 242). The Pardoner preaches the ideas of the Church although he does not believe in what he preaches, because his "principal intent"(pg 243) is "covetousness"(pg 243), because "covetousness is both the root and stuff of all [he] preach[es]"(pg 243). He preaches only because he gets large sums of money in return; he looks upon his job for all the wrong reasons. He does not preach because he believes in what he preaches, but because "the curse of avarice and cupidity is all [his] sermon, for it frees the pelf. Out come the pence, and specially for [him]self, for [his] exclusive purpose is to win"(pg 243). Chaucer satirizes the Church by making his characters completely fake and making the Church seem true and just, yet they hire people that are there for the wrong reasons.

The Pardoner is not only full of lies and greediness, two characteristics that the Church does not approve of, but he also uses slander against the Church. "In churches where [he] preach[es], [he] cultivate[s] a haughty kind of speech"(pg 241) and "flaunt[s] the papal seal for [people's] inspection"(pg 241). He uses his position within the Church for his advantage and does not care about the damages he bestows upon the Church's reputation through his words and in what the people of the Church believe. The Pardoner slanderizes the idea of celebacy within the Church by admitting to the idea that "two or three clergy had enjoyed her love"(pg 242). He defames the name of the Church because he "spit[s] [his] venom forth, while [he] profess[es] holy and true - or seeming holiness"(pg 243). Another activity that the Church disagreed with was excessive drinking and prostitution, despite this the Pardoner "drink[s] the liquor of the grape and keep[s] a jolly wench in every town!"(pg 244). He even tells a tale of three men who engage in "riot and gambling"(pg 244) and "kindle and blow the fires of lechery that are so close annexed to gluttony"(pg 245). The Pardoner slanderizes the Church by engaging in conduct that is against Church beliefs and telling tales that are about people engaging in policies that the Church despises.

In The Pardoners Tale, Chaucer attacks the Church by creating a character that engages in ideas and concepts that the Church does not believe in and then using that person as an embodiment of the Church. Chaucer uses lying, greediness, and slander to satirize the Church because he does not agree with the ways and concepts that the Church looks upon. Especially in The Pardoner's Tale, he mocks the entities of the Church and therefore ridicules it throughout his writing.

Question for the Canterbury Tales essay:

In The Canterbury Tales, how does Chaucer satirize the Church within the Pardoners tale.

Thesis:

In the Pardoner's tale, Chaucer satirizes the Church by showing the corruption of the Church through the ideas of lying, greediness and slandering.

In the Pardoner's Tale by Geoffrey Chaucer, the Pardoner reveals himself as a liar, full of greed and a slanderer. Although the pardoner works for the Church and "preaches"(pg 242), he manages to "tell a hundred lying mockeries more"(pg 242). The Pardoner wants to "preach and beg from kirk to kirk and never do an honest job of work"(pg 244). He discloses himself as a person who not only deceives people with lies, but does not, although working for the Church, want to do honest work. As well as a liar, he also portrays himself with being full of greed. He does not care about others sins and wrongdoings because "specifically for [him]self"(pg 234), his "exclusive purpose is to win and not at all to castigate their sin"(pg 243). He does not preach for the purpose of helping others but "for nothin but but for greed and gain"(pg 243) and to make a "living out of - avarice"(pg 243). The Pardoner also depicts himself as a slanderer for his "tongue will be a dagger"(pg 243). He demeans the reputation fo the Church and "spit[s] my venom forth, while [he] profess[es] holy and true- or seeming holiness"(pg 243). The Pardoner uncovers his faults of being a liar, greedy, and full of slander.

Chaucer is poking fun of the Church in the Pardoner's Tale because he reveals all of the bad attributes that the Pardoner, an employee of the Church, holds. The Pardoner is corrupt and Chaucer is satirizing the Church because of it. The Pardoner reveals that his "exclusive purpose is to win and not at all to castigate their sin"(pg 243). The Church believes in chastity and against sin, but the Pardoner, who represents the Church, preaches to "let [him] drink the liquor of the grape and keep a jolly wench in every town"(pg 244). Those are two acts that are highly against Church conduct. Chaucer poses to make fun of the Church by creating a character that represents the Church in a bad manner to prove that the Church is not as high and mighty as it seems to be.