1. What are the major differences between Donne's poem and Herrick's?
2. What does the speaker in Herrick's poem seem to be urging Corinna to do, and why?
3. Do you think Herrick is being playful, or does he have a more serious message in his poem?
4. How does Herrick differ in his use of religious terminology? (You need not answer all of these questions. Choose one that appeals to you and builds upon the comments of your classmates.)
In the famous carpe diem poem, Corinna’s Going A-Maying” the speaker urges Corinna to enjoy the May day while it is here and share the delights of springtime while they are both still young. The first line in the poem reads “Get up! Get up for shame! The blooming morn.” By this we know that it is the morning time on this particular day in May, and Corinna is probably still laying in bed at this point. Herrick thinks it would be foolish to stay indoors on a day like this. He tells her in line 45 that, “There’s not a budding boy or girl this day but is got up and gone to bring in May.” He continues with this point and tells her in lines 47-54, what activities the other youths are engaging in already, while she is still home in bed. One action the speaker encourages Corinna to do is get married while she is still young (line 50). In the last paragraph the speaker encourages them to go enjoy the day while they are in their prime years because they will die before they know it. And the last line tells what he wants Corinna to do once again; “Come, my Corinna, come let’s go a-Maying,” which is to enjoy this particular day in May with him. Throughout this poem, the speaker urges Corinna to do an action that indicates the meaning of the phrase, carpe diem, which is ‘seize the day.’
ReplyDeleteThere are several differences between Donne’s poem, “The Flea”, and Herrick’s poem, “Corinna's Going A-Maying”. Donne’s poem is not exactly a poem that is centered on “carpe diem” or “seizing the day” like Herrick’s poem is. The two speakers of the poems have different motives as well. Donne attempts a sexual advance towards his lover by relating a flea to their not so intimate love life. He claims after a flea has bitten his lover and himself that their blood is innocently mingling in the flea. Donne attempts to equate the innocence of their blood mingling in the flea to how innocent sexually mingling would be also by saying “And this, alas! is more than we would do..”. Donne attempts to woo his lover into having sex with him in the poem by using the flea, which is meant to be clever and funny. In Herrick’s poem, “Corinna's Going A-Maying”, the speaker takes a slower approach to his lover by simply trying to get her out of bed and enjoy the spring day in May with him. The speaker tells Corinna, “Come, let us go, while we are in our prime; And take the harmless folly of the time.” I think the speaker in Herrick’s poem is just trying to spend time with the woman he is fond of rather than make a sexual advance like the speaker in Donne’s poem.
ReplyDeleteThe speaker in Herricks poem is urging Corrinna to get out of bed and to enjoy the beautiful may day with him and with the rest of the world. Herrick writes, “Rise and put on your foliage, and be seen/To come forth, like the spring-time, fresh and green,” (line 15-16). He is telling her to get out of bed, put on her clothes, and to come enjoy the day. I agree with icy-ME when they say that one of the main actions that the speaker is to get married while young. When I first read this poem I did not really get that out of the lines, but I can see where the thought comes from when Herrick writes about knots and white ribbons. However, I think Herrick also has a deeper meaning to the poem. In May the spring is definitely being celebrated, new plants are growing, baby animals are being born, and overall it’s a month that delights in fertility and new life. I think this is where Herrick is going with the poem. He tells her to come “A-maying.” While it may be somewhat far fetched, I definitely think that he is talking about her coming out and participating in sexual activities with him. He writes, “Come, we'll abroad ; and let's obey / The proclamation made for May: / And sin no more, as we have done, “ (line 41-43). The proclamations of May could be interpreted into the need for them to be reproducing and starting new life along with nature and the rest of the springtime world.
ReplyDeleteI agree with icy_ME and Watts Davidson that Herrick is without question attempting to get Corinna out of bed to come with him to enjoy the beautiful May day. Herrick's attitude throughout the poem is cheerful and playful. His attitude and description of May day give the reader a vivid mental picture of the exciting and beautiful May day. Herrick is so excited for this day and is begging Corinna to get out of bed and 'seize the day' with him, "Can such delights be in the street and open fields, and we not see 't?" I do not see an alternate meaning in this poem, just an excitement for Spring. So, I do not agree with Watts Davidson in that sense. Herrick's playfulness is genuine and helps the reader feel involved and excited for May day as well. I also see where he is convincing her to get married while that are young and have time to live a married life. He merely wanting Corinna to enjoy life in general. Like Donne, Herrick is emphasizing the 'seize the day' theme; however, he is not illustrating any sexual references towards Corinna. Herrick expresses a loving feeling towards Corinna in lines 64-68, "Once lost, can ne'er be found again, so when or you or I are made a fable, song, or fleeting shade, all love all liking, all delight lies drowned with us in endless night." He then, goes on to try once more to get her to join him while they have time to live.
ReplyDeleteHerrick's poem, "Corinna's Going A-Maying" and Donne's "The flee" seem to be similar at face value. Both consist of a man trying to convince a female to do something. Herrick's poem, "Corinna's Going A-Maying" however seems to be a tale of desperation by a man knowing of his ultimant fate attempting to capitalize on every moment forever fleeting and always leading to his death. The reason i say that it is in deperation is because his attempts to get the girl out of bed seem to be focused upon himself in a way.
ReplyDeleteHis desire to enjoy moments and his understanding that his moments are limited has lead him to associate disuse of moments with a negative connotation. "GET up, get up for shame, the blooming morn Upon her wings presents the god unshorn"
An example of something he associates with fleeting is the the day forever turning to night. In the last stanza," Our life is short, and our days run As fast away as does the sun."
His uring for them to take advatage of their prime is the strongest form of carpe diem because it emphasizes that moments are here then they are gone as we will all be soon.
THe Flee seemed to describe someone seeking pleasure, but Cornia goes A-maying seemed to be of someone seeking to find fullfillment and purpose in his ultamently limited time here. Every bud will whither, every day will experience a fleeting shades. It is however important to note the redeeming aspects and the cyclical nature of things. "Then while time serves, and we are but decaying,
Come, my Corinna, come, let's go a-Maying."
In Herrick’s carpe diem poem, Corinna’s Going A-Maying, he acts so exciting and playful that he almost seems impatient. Throughout the poem, he is urging Corinna to get out of bed and enjoy the beautiful May morning with him while they can. The way he describes a May morning makes it seem beautiful, perfect, and just like someone would want to imagine it. He describes the colors and the sun’s beams creating a beautiful sky and she is missing the life as each hour passes when she doesn’t get dressed. Herrick said she’s already missed the birds chirping by saying “when all the birds have matins said, and sung their thankful hymns.” I couldn’t agree more with what Anonymous said (the second comment between Icy_Me and Watts) about Donne just wanted to have sex with his lover and Herrick just wants to spend time with her; that actually never caught my attention. Donne seems so impatient, just as Herrick does, but in a more rude and unsettle way. He seems more frustrated that she will not give herself to him. Although, Herrick is more impatient that she is being lazy and won’t get out of bed, but it is not a bad way to be impatient. His poem is somewhat encouraging and seems more loving because he wants to spend time with her while they’re young and can enjoy what is right in front of them. He seems much more in love with his Corinna, which is very admirable in a man.
ReplyDeleteI agree with all of the previous bloggers in the since that Herrick is not trying to get with Corinna, but rather just get her out of bed to enjoy this time with him. I also believe this is a much better example of a carpe diem poem than “The Flea” because in this poem Herrick emphasizes how today is a new beautiful day, a new beginning to do whatever he or she wants, and what happened yesterday does not matter. An example of this is in lines 10-13, “When all the birds have matins said,/ And sung their thankful hymns , ‘tis sin,/ Nay, profanation to keep in,”. In the poem “The Flea”, Donne is using his wittiness to try to get the girl to sleep with him by hinting at the concept of carpe diem, by saying why not just sleep with me today. So although Donne does refer to carpe diem, I do not believe it should be used as to define what a carpe diem poem is. I feel that Herrick’s poem is a much better example of seizing the day, and one could define his poem as a carpe diem poem. Herrick states in the final stanza, “Come let us go while we are in our prime,/ And take the harmless folly of time.” This leads me to believe that he is not just talking about seizing this one beautiful day, but seizing every day while they are young because one day they will get old and die just as this beautiful day will turn into night.
ReplyDelete-Hawk