{"id":432,"date":"2023-04-14T04:27:07","date_gmt":"2023-04-14T04:27:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/britishpoetry\/?p=432"},"modified":"2023-04-14T04:27:07","modified_gmt":"2023-04-14T04:27:07","slug":"a-loftier-song-rethinking-the-carpe-diem-tradition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/britishpoetry\/2023\/04\/14\/a-loftier-song-rethinking-the-carpe-diem-tradition\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cA Loftier Song:\u201d Rethinking the Carpe Diem Tradition"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the fourth poem in Christina Rosetti\u2019s\u00a0\u201cMonna Inominata\u201d sequence, the speaker\u2019s paced, contemplative structure combats the hypermasculine <\/span>carpe diem<\/span><\/i> tradition. The speaker untangles the \u201cus\u201d so favored by Andrew Marvell in his poem, \u201cTo His Coy Mistress\u201d to engage in a genuine discussion of identity and mutual love.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The first four lines of the poem are a direct address to the <\/span>carpe diem<\/span><\/i> poets of the past: \u201cI <\/span>loved<\/span><\/i> you <\/span>first<\/span><\/i>: but <\/span>af<\/span><\/i>ter<\/span>wards<\/span><\/i> your <\/span>love<\/span><\/i> \/ Out<\/span>soar<\/span><\/i>ing <\/span>mine<\/span><\/i>, sang <\/span>such<\/span><\/i> a <\/span>loft<\/span><\/i>ier <\/span>song<\/span><\/i> \/ As <\/span>drowned<\/span><\/i> the <\/span>friend<\/span><\/i>ly <\/span>coo<\/span><\/i>ings <\/span>of<\/span><\/i> my <\/span>dove<\/span><\/i>. \/ Which <\/span>owes<\/span><\/i> the<\/span> ot<\/span><\/i>her <\/span>more<\/span><\/i>?\u201d (l. 1-4). The speaker professes how her love is quiet\u00a0and\u00a0her concern that the poet loves her too loudly, too performatively in regimented, iambic pentameter lines. The bird imagery of these lines both recalls Marvell\u2019s poetry, in which he describes \u201cdevouring…birds of prey\u201d: a violent, rushing image meant to supplement his argument for casual sex because he claims that time is running out in a woman\u2019s sexual prime. The speaker takes issue with the idea that this \u201clove\u201d is lauded over a more tender connection, emphasized in the figure of the dove and the gentle phonemes of the word \u201ccooing.\u201d To further combat this insistence on fast paced love, the speaker interrupts the fourth line with a rhetorical question which is visually shocking and forces the reader to contemplate the implications of a casual sexual relationship, particularly for a woman.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The speaker continues,\u00a0\u201cMy love was long \/ And yours one moment seemed to wax more strong; \/ …you construed me\u201d (l. 4-6). The speaker emphasizes the fluctuations of the male persona\u2019s actions of love, contrasting them with her own using a distinctly Renaissance masculine euphemism, \u201clong.\u201d Whereas a male speaker may use this slight of hand to refer to an erection, the female speaker uses it to testify to the security of an emotionally invested relationship. The long-ness further engages the desires of Marvell\u2019s male speaker, who wishes to \u201cmake [our] sun run\u201d since they cannot \u201cmake [him] stand still.\u201d Rosetti\u2019s speaker is concerned with the way that the lover\u2019s affections \u201cwax\u201d in accordance with her willingness to engage with him sexually, the same preoccupations of Marvell\u2019s speaker. Neither man is\u00a0patient. They wish instead to make of the lover what they wish to achieve this end, emphasized by the enjambed lines.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

However, the final couplet struggles with the format: \u201cBoth<\/span> have<\/span><\/i> the <\/span>strength<\/span><\/i> and<\/span> both<\/span><\/i> the<\/span> length<\/span><\/i> thereof, \/ <\/span>Both <\/span><\/i>of <\/span>us<\/span><\/i>, of the <\/span>love<\/span><\/i> which <\/span>makes<\/span><\/i> us<\/span><\/i> one\u201d (l. 13-14). Scanning these lines indicates a break in the highly structured format of the poem, particularly in the final line. The first line emphasizes how both partners\u00a0must commit to the stability and endurance of their love. But to reinforce this claim, there is a spondaic substitution\u00a0at \u201cmakes us\u201d\u00a0which replaces the iambic foot. Until this moment, the speaker has been restricted to formal iambic pentameter, and perhaps this moment is an extension of the volta break where the speaker finds a way to actually say what she needs to. Emphasizing \u201cmakes us\u201d in the line conveys a set of requirements that must be met before the partners become one, likely the mutual, reliable expressions of love. Leaving\u00a0\u201cone\u201d unaccented in this line negates the compulsory short-term \u201ccoupling\u201d that Marvell suggests in his couplet forms. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In the final lines, the formal structure struggles to contain the speaker\u2019s sentiments. Rosetti writes a skillful sonnet response which challenges\u00a0Petrarchan silencing of female subjects and Marvell\u2019s participation in a sexually charged tradition at once.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Marvell, Andrew. “To His Coy Mistress.” Poetry Foundation<\/em>, https:\/\/www.poetryfoundation.org\/poems\/44688\/to-his-coy-mistress. Accessed 14 April, 2023.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the fourth poem in Christina Rosetti\u2019s\u00a0\u201cMonna Inominata\u201d sequence, the speaker\u2019s paced, contemplative structure combats the hypermasculine carpe diem tradition. The speaker untangles the \u201cus\u201d so favored by Andrew Marvell in his poem, \u201cTo His Coy Mistress\u201d to engage in a genuine discussion of identity and mutual love.\u00a0 The first four lines of the poem … Continue reading \u201cA Loftier Song:\u201d Rethinking the Carpe Diem Tradition<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4758,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-432","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-spring-2023"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/britishpoetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/432","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/britishpoetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/britishpoetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/britishpoetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4758"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/britishpoetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=432"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/britishpoetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/432\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/britishpoetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=432"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/britishpoetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=432"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/britishpoetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=432"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}