So let me begin by saying that I have really enjoyed the sonnet section of the poetry. This "sleep" poem is the best in my opinion. So Come sleep! Oh sleep! Since this poem was written in 1591 this "sleep" is death, "the prisoners release" you can use this support to show that this is also death. “the poor mans wealth", sleep, the wealth is his relief of poverty. The wealth is death for the poor man. “A chamber deaf to noise and blind to light" this right there seems like a burial chamber to me. So since there is a burial chamber wouldn't that mean a wealthier person? Sleep is the place where wit comes to stay and woe come to end. I can see how this could be a simple story of a very tired poem, but if it didn't have this deep meaning like I see, then we would be talking about it 491 years later. This sleep is the smoothest pillows and has the softest of beds; this sleep is the end all for everyone. This indifferent judge? Who? Is this more of a religious thing, because there is the line of "between high and low" am I the only one who instantly thought of heaven and hell? The civil wars in him? Is this man sick and dying? Is he wishing for death to come faster? “I will good tribute pay. If thou do so" so doesn't this mean I beg of you to end it for me? You will receive your reward if you do? So is this man really asking another person to kill him? Shield me from the darts of despair? So he really is asking someone to end his anguish for him. Is Sir Philip Sidney the afflicted person? Or is this just wondrous writing?
The title in itself is my life. "Come sleep! Oh sleep" these are the words I say to myself all the time in longing for the day to end and for an opprotunity to close my eyes.
ReplyDeleteThis Sir's words are dripping with the deep desire for the "smooth pillows [and] sweetest bed", to get away from the world and be lost in a dream better than the reality he lives. This SO compares to my life sometimes.
I would say that this sonnet is written more in a Shakespearean style, but it's sort of warped in the end; that's okay because it sounds super pretty. Now I really want to go curl up in a ball on my bed... Come time for sleep, come aready!
Okay, so for this poem I did some research because I really liked your view on the poem but I didn't agree with it. I thought this poem really was about sleep for a few reasons. Some of the phrases just didn't make sense to me if they were to be associated with death rather than a long desired sleep. This state is described as "The baiting place of wit" and "The indifferent judge between the high and low"; if you were dead, what use would wit be to you? If you were dead wouldn't you be worried of your final destination: Heaven or Hell? I know I would. Something that kind of stood out as funny to me was the " rosy garland" and the name "Stella". I know that in the sub notes it describes the garland as one of silence (and at this point I thought, Oh yeah, death) but then I looked it up. It's the rosy garland of silence, MADE UP OF THE SUB ROSA- which stands for secrecy. This got me curious so then I moved on to Stella. This poem comes from a collection of sonnets written by Sir Philip Sidney called Astrophel and Stella (or in modern terms: The Lover of Stars and the Star). That is when I decided that this poem really is about sleep. Sleep is the only right that Astrophel has in his life that will provide him with a chance to be happy. He can be allowed to forget about his secrets, silence the civil war within that comes from their love and dream of nothing more than her beautiful image. "High and Low" became social status and wit was explained. It is believed that all poems from this set were actually based on Sidney own tragic love affair with a married woman of much higher class then him. He was nothing but a simple writer, witty and poor, and they were unable to ever act upon their feelings. So yeah, I think it's about sleep in the avoidance of the cruel day. LONGEST COMMENT EVER.
ReplyDeleteLong but AWESOME
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