Virginity in 17th and 18th Century Poetry Essay examples

Virginity in 17th and 18th Century Poetry Benjamin Franklin once said that there were only two inevitable things in life: death and taxes. He got it half right. They did, in fact, die with pretty regular certainty. However, what was inevitable was sex. Without it, there wouldnt be any new people to die and poor Ben Franklin would have been completely wrong. The only hindrance to this certainty was (and remains) virgins. The realm of the chaste has been explored in poetry throughout time, but never was the subject as thoroughly probed as in the 17th and 18th century. To judge by the poets of the time, one would conclude that--next to dying--the citizens of this era spent most of their time either praising the virtuous, trying to†¦show more content†¦Again, the virtue itself is not exactly being praised so much as being alluded to as a component of something good. The women also had their say. In Katherine Phillipss A Married State(1679), the many advantages of a life of chastity are listed. Phillips says A virgins state is crowned with much content; / Its always happy as its innocent. In addition to innocence, Phillips points out that there are no grouchy husbands, no screaming children and nothing else to distract you from your service to God. In fact, wistful women wishing theyd kept their virginity and wedding vows to themselves wrote many poems in this era. It is a telling social commentary that so many married women would wish themselves back to live a life of chaste penitence than to enter into so-called wedded bliss. The most common theme in virginity poems is that of men trying to get women to change their minds and go to bed with them. Many poets tried to use persuasion on their objects of desire. In Robert Herricks To the Virgins to Make Much of Time, the well-known first line Gather ye rosebuds while ye may appears. This poem is an appeal to virtuous women to use it while theyve got it, per se. In the proud tradition of soldiers who will be sent off tomorrow who just know they arent coming back and hedonists everywhere, Herrick emphasizes that time is short and virgins are wasting their youthsShow MoreRelatedComparing To his Coy Mistress by Andrew Marvell and To his Mistress Going to Bed by John Donne1511 Words   |  7 Pagestimes I have compared and contrasted two pieces of love poetry, both of which are exceptionally lyrical and full of intellectual language that bring the poems alive with elaborated metaphors that compare dissimilar things, as they Inare equally, yet somehow individually both metaphysical poems. The first of these poems that I comprehended was To his Coy Mistress; (written by Andrew Marvell during the 17th century), it reflects the epic of a man who is striving to enticeRead More Love Over the Centuries in Writing Essay2318 Words   |  10 PagesLove Over the Centuries in Writing Compare the different ways and forms in which poets have written about love over the centuries? Love is a universal theme throughout literature from past to modern day. Love has evolved over the centuries, in the way people feel it and show it and so has the way poets have written about love. Over centuries history has changed the values of love and what it is from the French Revolution to the First World War. Always love is an important theme in societyRead MoreAnalysis of Lord Byron ´s Epic Poem Don Juan1064 Words   |  4 Pagesthe time of Byron’s death, he had written 16 cantos and left an unfinished 17th. In the first canto, the reader finds out about Don Juan’s parents and goes on to talk about how Don Juan and his mother’s friend, Donna Julia, fall in love with each other and have an affair. This particular poem is not like many poems seen before. Lord Byron wrote this poem, to follow the satirical tradition of the Renaissance and 18th century neoclassicism. â€Å"Written in ottava rima and modeled on the comic poems by theRead MoreAlienation in WWII literature2652 Words   |  11 Pagesand `An Uncle shouting smut`. Larkin feels that the wedding and its guests are common. As he looks on at the guests who are waving their offspring off he takes note of their emotions. He even goes as far as to describe the newlywed women’s loss of virginity as a ‘religious woundi ng’. The final stanza describes the journey of the train into the station. â€Å"And as the tightened brakes took hold, there swelled A sense of falling, like an arrow- shower Sent out of sight somewhere becoming rain.† This sensoryRead MoreLogical Reasoning189930 Words   |  760 Pagesthe principles of mathematics you need to carry out the reasoning. 26 Snakes have gotten loose near you in the theater. 56 Here is an interesting dialogue that contains an obscure argument. Evidently this dialogue occurred several centuries ago. King: I told you to bring me a head of a witch, and you’ve given me the head of a necromancer. Executioner: The Inquisition has declared that all necromancers are witches. King: Oh, all right then. By saying, Oh, all right then, the