Sir Philip Sidney at Penshurst (miniature by Isaac Oliver)
I realize that some of you won't see this before we meet for class. That's fine--hopefully some of you will. I really just want to get some thoughts down. As I re-read these two wonderful poems, I'm struck by the fact that they seem to have some core attributes, some essential imaginative and functional qualities, in common with the epistolary epigrams we were working with on Monday. (Do you agree?)
At the same time, it's probably easier to talk about what's different about these two poems. I'm going to resist being overdetermined and making specific claims on that front right now, but I will say that there seems to me to be some new conceptual keywords that have become important, which weren't terribly important on Monday. These include "place," "hospitality," "environment," "practice," and "nature/culture." You may be thinking of others, too--if so, I'd love to hear about them. At any rate, mull this over.
One more thing. In each of these poems, the last line contains a single word that strikes me as difficult, multifaceted, and very consequential to the poem overall. Here they are:
"Inviting a Friend to Supper": "liberty"
"To Penshurst": "dwells"
Let's make sure we talk about those words at some point today.
