Hello students, I'mSandhya N Bhandarre from

M.E.S. College of Arts and Commerce, presenting to you the sonnet

by Michael Drayton.

Titled ‘The Parting’.

Well, the paper is titled Introduction to Literature.

Outline of the module : theme of the sonnet Octet and Sestet,

rhyme scheme and meter. Volta is The turning point, comparison to

similar poems by other poets.

Learning outcomes: At the end of
the module, the student will describe the situations the
Lovers are in.

The student will differentiate between the past and the present

situations, will analyze the rhyme scheme and meter. Cite

examples of Shakespeare and Robert Browning poems on the

similar theme. Well, this is Michael Drayton Elizabethan

poet, 1563 to 1631.

Michael Drayton belonged to very humble origins. He was the son

of a tenor at the age of 10, he joined the House of Sir Henry

Goodere as a page boy.

Overtime he fell in love with the daughter of Sir Goodere by

name Anne, but as you understand, the Union could not

be materialized because of the family status and they had to

part ways. However, he worshipped her in his poems

called the idea poems and remained devoted to her all his

life. Michael Drayton never married. Let's go to the Sonnet

The Parting. A Sonnet is a poem of 14 lines. A sonnet may

consist of an octet meaning 8 lines and Sestet, meaning 16 lines. The creative technique

is called Volta. Volta is the twist in the sonnet. Let's read the poem ----
Since there is no help,Come let us kiss and part.
Nay I have done, you get no more of me.
And I'm glad, yeah glad with all my heart.
That so clearly. I myself can free.

Cancel all our vows and when we meet at anytime again

Let it be not seen in either for brows
that we one jot of former love retain.

The poet wants to say that he has given up his faith in love.
He's sort of his resigned to his fate.He has no other option but to part ways with his beloved.

And therefore he has decided that he shall be free of her.

He tells her that if at all they ever meet in future, let it

not be revealed in their faces,they that they still retain a

jot of their former love.

So let's now changeover to the sestet--- the gap

between the octet and the sestet is called Volta.. Volta

is the drastic change in the tone of the poet.

The poet has parted ways,

but then... Several years have passed by.

And now he is on his deathbed. That is, a time the

beloved comes to meet him.

And then it is her turn to speak and she says...

Now at the last gasp of Love's latest breath,

When his pulse is failing. Passion Speechless lies
When faith is kneeling by his bed of death.
And innocence is closing his eyes

Now, if thou wouldst,when all have given him over,

From death to life, thou mightest him yet recover.

She says,

He is counting the last few moments of his life. His pulse

is failing. He's on his deathbed, all his family and

friends are kneeling by the side of his bed.

And perhaps they are praying for his easy delivery.

But then she the reincarnation of Faith, also kneels by

the side of his bed and prays to the Almighty.

Now, if thou wouldst, when all have given him over from death

to life, thou mightest him, yet recover, she prays. Oh almighty,

Lord. Although everyone has lost hope in his life, all his

friends and family members have given up over him.

If it be your will myLord, he can still be restored to life.

Be it your will, if it is your will, he can still be restored

to life. He can be revived. He can come back to life.

A Sonnet as you know has14 lines, There are several

poetic techniques used in poetry. Generally, the meter,

called iambic pentameter, is used in sonnets.

An IAMB is a sound unit of 1 unstressed

Syllable, followed by one stressed syllable.

It is one unstressed and one stressed. A cluster of five

Iambs is called an iambic pentameter. Five iambs… iambic pentameter. In fact, each line

of a sonnet is an iambic pentameter. You have the

unstressed syllable and stressed syllable.Unstressed- stressed, unstressed-

Stressed, and so on. This is the iambic pentameter.

The first line goes as---
Since there's no help come let us kiss and part.
One unstressed syllable, followedby a stressed syllable. This

should have been done stressed,but it is not because there is

emphasis, emphasis on the word ‘no’. Since there is no help, so

there is emphasis. So this is a strange syllable over here. Come

let us kiss and part. The last line goes as ---

From death to life,Though might’st him yet recover.

Normally, the iambic pentameter has

10 syllables. There are11 syllables over here.

One extra syllable. There are 11syllables over here that is for

the sake of emphasis from death to life. Thou might’st him yet recover.

The third syllable is usually not

stressed, but it is stressed in the first line.

However, in the last line, the third last
Syllable is stressed…. Thou might’st him yet recover. There is stress on ‘yet’ and

this is an extra syllable over here.

The rhyme scheme used is ABABCDCDEFEFGG,

This rhyme scheme ABABCDCDEFEFGG. As you can see....

Come let us kiss and part.
You get nomore of me but me.
Glad with all my heart
I myself can free.

You can see part- me-heart -free ABAB.

In the next quatrain, we see Shake hands forever

cancel all our vows and at any time we meet again.

Either of our brows, a jot of our former love retain.

So you can see

Vows--again-brows- retain. It is CDCD.

And now at the last gasp of Love’s latest breath

When his pulse is failing, and passion speechless lies,
When Faith is kneeling by the bed of his death,
When innocence is closing his eyes.

So you have EFEF.

And you have the last couplet.

When all have given him over.

Though might’st him yet recover.This is G&G so the rhyme scheme

is ABAB CDCD EFEF GG.

Volta is the function of the

form of the sonnet. There must be a drastic change of ideas

after the eighth line. For Example, there is the brutally

aggressive you get no more of me in the second line.

And a much gentler now at the last gasp of love’s

latest breath.

The order in the octet, such as - be it not seen, has been replaced

in the sestet with conditionals such as if it be your will..

meaning she's pleading with theAlmighty. Also worth noting is

The way the aggressive U is used and it turns much gentler

after the Volta. Let's see now the similar poems by other

poets. The last Ride together is a poem by Robert.

Browning. The theme is love and loss. The narrator blames the

end of his romance on fate.Despite this, he blesses her

name and he asked, only for the memory of the time they shared

together and one last ride before she goes away.

We have William Shakespeare ---

Let me not to the marriage of

true minds admit impediments.

Admit impediments. Love is not love which alters when it

alteration finds or bends with the remover to remove, but bears

it out even to the edge of Doom.

If this be false and upon me proved, I never writ, nor no man

ever loved.
What Shakespeare Wants to say, that love is

something which bears to the edge of Doom. If this be false,

he says ,then all his writing is in vain and that will only mean that there has been no love
in this world at all.

Students,Shakespeare had an irresistible faith inLove.

These are the references for you. You

could find more information through that andI hope this module

has been useful to you.Thank you very much.