<p>Thoughts...?</p>
<p>not too bad. was unsure about the poem (from 1980) that dealt with satisfaction and the vine? it had something with the word "stitch" in the title. also mrs. todd...what did she represent? the human elemental condition?</p>
<p>that's wut I said, I'm unsure though... all the things were pretty cryptic, I boy was I under time pressure, haha... lets get this discussion here started</p>
<p>sure. </p>
<pre><code> Sonnet to Sleep
</code></pre>
<p>O soft embalmer of the still midnight,
Shutting with careful fingers and benign
Our gloom-pleas'd eyes, embower'd from the light,
Enshaded in forgetfulness divine:
O soothest Sleep! if so it please thee, close,
In midst of this thine hymn, my willing eyes,
Or wait the Amen ere thy poppy throws
Around my bed its lulling charities.
Then save me or the passed day will shine
Upon my pillow, breeding many woes:
Save me from curious conscience, that still hoards
Its strength for darkness, burrowing like the mole;
Turn the key deftly in the oiled wards,
And seal the hushed casket of my soul.</p>
<p>to maintain the iambic pentameter, you had to give 2 syllables to "oiled" and "hushed," right?? and was the answer to other style question: "each stanza had four rhymes?" i was running out of time, too, so i just guessed on that one.</p>
<p>also, what was the light imagery in the poem symbolic of?? it was symbolic of all the wordly problems and NOT his salvation, which was another possible answer, right???</p>
<p>BLASTED with sighs, and surrounded with tears,
Hither I come to seek the spring,
And at mine eyes, and at mine ears,
Receive such balms as else cure every thing.
But O ! self-traitor, I do bring
The spider Love, which transubstantiates all,
And can convert manna to gall ;
And that this place may thoroughly be thought
True paradise, I have the serpent brought.</p>
<p>'Twere wholesomer for me that winter did
Benight the glory of this place,
And that a grave frost did forbid
These trees to laugh and mock me to my face ;
But that I may not this disgrace
Endure, nor yet leave loving, Love, let me
Some senseless piece of this place be ;
Make me a mandrake, so I may grow here,
Or a stone fountain weeping out my year.</p>
<p>Hither with crystal phials, lovers, come,
And take my tears, which are love's wine,
And try your mistress' tears at home,
For all are false, that taste not just like mine.
Alas ! hearts do not in eyes shine,
Nor can you more judge women's thoughts by tears,
Than by her shadow what she wears.
O perverse sex, where none is true but she,
Who's therefore true, because her truth kills me.</p>
<p>what was this poem about!?</p>
<ol>
<li><p>why did he call himself a traitor? (was it because his feelings prohibited him from getting the calm that the garden usually proviides)</p></li>
<li><p>also there was another question...can't remember the question but can remember my answer: he wishes it were winter instead of spring. did anyone else put this answer?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>3 also, at the end of the first stanza, he is comparing this garden to the garden of eden and his discontent to the serpent right?</p>
<p>When the family pictures were wrapped again in a big handkerchief, we set forward in a narrow footpath and made our way to a lonely place that faced northward, where there was more pasturage and fewer bushes, and we went down to the edge of short grass above some rocky cliffs where the deep sea broke with a great noise, though the wind was down and the water looked quiet a little way from shore. Among the grass grew such pennyroyal as the rest of the world could not provide. There was a fine fragrance in the air as we gathered it sprig by sprig and stepped along carefully, and Mrs. Todd pressed her aromatic nosegay between her hands and offered it to me again and again.</p>
<p>"There's nothin' like it," she said; "oh no, there's no such pennyr'yal as this in the state of Maine. It's the right pattern of the plant, and all the rest I ever see is but an imitation. Don't it do you good?" And I answered with enthusiasm.</p>
<p>"There, dear, I never showed nobody else but mother where to find this place; 'tis kind of sainted to me. Nathan, my husband, an' I used to love this place when we was courtin', and"--she hesitated, and then spoke softly--"when he was lost, 'twas just off shore tryin' to get in by the short channel out there between Squaw Islands, right in sight o' this headland where we'd set an' made our plans all summer long."</p>
<p>I had never heard her speak of her husband before, but I felt that we were friends now since she had brought me to this place.</p>
<p>"'Twas but a dream with us," Mrs. Todd said. "I knew it when he was gone. I knew it"--and she whispered as if she were at confession--"I knew it afore he started to go to sea. My heart was gone out o' my keepin' before I ever saw Nathan; but he loved me well, and he made me real happy, and he died before he ever knew what he'd had to know if we'd lived long together. 'Tis very strange about love. No, Nathan never found out, but my heart was troubled when I knew him first. There's more women likes to be loved than there is of those that loves. I spent some happy hours right here. I always liked Nathan, and he never knew. But this pennyr'yal always reminded me, as I'd sit and gather it and hear him talkin'--it always would remind me of--the other one."</p>
<p>She looked away from me, and presently rose and went on by herself. There was something lonely and solitary about her great determined shape. She might have been Antigone alone on the Theban plain. It is not often given in a noisy world to come to the places of great grief and silence. An absolute, archaic grief possessed this countrywoman; she seemed like a renewal of some historic soul, with her sorrows and the remoteness of a daily life busied with rustic simplicities and the scents of primeval herbs. </p>
<p>this is the passage about mrs. todd. again, who did she represent in the last paragraph?? an element of the human condition?? </p>
<p>also, her personality is best described by her dialogue and NOT by her showing the narrator the pennyroyal or by the narrator's description of her in the last paragraph, right???</p>
<p>also when she says "My heart was gone out o' my keepin'" does she mean that a) her love is unpredictable and subject to change or b) her love was fleeting and fading?? those two choices seemed so similar to me....</p>
<p>thanks; let the discussion begin!</p>
<p>I got the same answers as all of you. With regards to the post above me, I got something about her emotions being out of her control. </p>
<p>1 What did you all say "soothest" meant in the poem quoted above? </p>
<p>2 Also, what did you all say the vine in that one poem symbolized? </p>
<p>3 Another question, whatd you all say was the authors intention with "hither with crystal vials lovers come", did you say he implied that lovers would venerate his tears or that lovers could use his tears to compare to see the genuine affection of their mates? </p>
<p>4 for the one passage about slavey/reading, did you all say the author used parallelism and contrast in those last two paragraphs? </p>
<p>5 Also, did you say that the author was suprised at the naivette of the woman or sorrowful at her capitulation to slavery?</p>
<p>I did not take the test, but I'm intrigued :) To me, "soothest" would mean most calming, for it steals away all the speaker's suffering.</p>
<p>I got all the answers as profundity did... for the out o' my keepin one I put something like it was out of her control... for the soothest one, I put something like very calm if I remeber correctly... gosh I can't believe we all got the same answers, I'm soooo relieved now, we can't be all wrong, right? wut did u guys score on the practice tests?</p>
<p>about the Mrs. Todd text, does anyone remember putting something like "visiting a place leads to her unfolding her feelings"? I kno it was worded kinda like that, not sure how they worded it exactly, but I guess u can get an idea... also, does anyone remember that question about "Twas a dream with us" quote? I think I put something like it was a missed oppurtunity or something similar to this</p>
<p>anyone get a bunch of Es from 41-46? for the soothest one, i didn't say calm cause it was the same as another answer...figured they must both be tricks</p>
<p>wut did u say then?</p>
<p>:) it seems as if we're all looking good. a few things:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>for the soothest one, i actually put "most lulling." i just thought that one fit the best in the context. </p></li>
<li><p>for the "hither with crystal vials lovers come" one i said that a lover could use his tears to compare to see the genuine affection of their mates</p></li>
<li><p>for the one passage about slavey/reading, i indeed said that the author used parallelism and contrast. </p></li>
<li><p>for the same one, i said that the author was sorrowful for her capitulation to slavery. </p></li>
<li><p>ahh..i wasn't sure about the "Twas a dream with us" question, but i think I put something about a fantasy land that could not exist in reality. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>to pearfire's other question, i got a 760 on the last practice test i took. it was one of collegeboard's formerly administered tests....</p>
<p>what do you guys think of my responses???</p>
<p>for the slavery one, I didn't put parallelism/contrast b/c there were some pretty intense similies and one of the answers had similies as an answer choice. I almost put parallelism/contrast though...so maybe it is right.</p>
<p>ok, not sure about the soothest one anymore... lulling would make sense, but then calming would make sense too, cos it's his restless consciousness that prevents him from falling asleep, dunno 50/50 I guess...</p>
<p>for the tears one, I said that a lover could use it to compare it, too...</p>
<p>I 2nd the parallelism and contrast answer, ^^</p>
<p>agree with u on that caputulation one, too</p>
<p>I cant agree with the dream one though... cos it could actually exist in reality... another answer implied that she missed out on an oppurtunity, I liked that one better... cos basically she could have told him before he departed... </p>
<p>guys, help me out with the vine one, wut was that about again? I can barely remember it</p>
<p>also, wut was the 1st poem about?</p>
<p>are yall sure about parallelism? it said that she was tigerlike and like a something (I forgot) and then there were a few other similes...</p>
<p>Do you know what answer went with simile?</p>
<p>it was something about biblical similies or metaphors...maybe?</p>
<p>the reason I chose para+contrasts, was becos of the way she structured her sentences, cos those were para structured... but then she would always contrast an idea with another one in the next sentence... similes were imo not that dominant... bib refs were imo pretty rare</p>
<p>nah, the simile answer didn't have anything to do with the Bible. The second word started with an "a." It wasn't allusion though.</p>
<p>I didnt put her capitulation to slavery. Something about it just seemed wrong to me. I remember the speaker in one line saying "She did not know that she was supposed to consider me inferior..."</p>
<p>He never seemed sorrowful about it but rather he seemed suprised that she didnt treat him the same way others did. She was good to everyone (naive) rather than acting like she "should" be in the society of slavery.</p>