What was your favorite of the poems in this segment? What was your least favorite? Why?
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FAVORITE
“The Passionate Shepherd to His Love” – You got me; I am a sucker for love. I thought this piece was so cute. Ok let’s see, I am going to get a homemade bed, a cap, a dress, a gown of the finest wool, slippers, linings, buckles of pure gold, and a belt. Sounds like my kind of guy! He describes a life full of intense sensuality in order to seduce an individual. Who would not want to be charmed? The shepherd’s attempt at seduction is both beautiful and idealized. While it embraces details of real relationships, it still leaves out some of the pain and complexity that mark real relationships.
LEAST FAVORITE
“Whoso List to Hunt”- Although not romantic, who could ignore the thirst for another woman? I am not a fan of admiring things that are taken already. I was taught you are what you read. But seriously, intriguing as it was, I just could not get into it as I would like due to what it was about. Not bad, just not my favorite.
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My favorite was the response the Nymph’s response poem. I enjoyed how he returned the same AABB structure back to the shepherd, but I really am just amused by the fact that one poet was so inspired by the shepherd’s poem that he decided to write to complete the verse. I do not know their history, but to me it seems like that is a sign of friendship. It reminded me of Van Gogh painting Gauguin. It is really hard for me to pick a least favorite, but it would probably have to be They Flee From Me. I do not have strong feelings of disdain for it, but I don’t particularly like that he brags about being a homewrecker. ” That sometime they put themself in danger/ To take bread at my hand” just reeks of undignified self importance to me. But I also think our job as readers is not to judge the poet. Wyatt is only trying to convey his earnest feelings, and if that’s the way he felt, that’s how he should write it.
