1. Who is the speaker expressing desire in Rossetti’s poems and who is the object of that desire? a. In Rossetti’s poem “Calvin Klein” and “Wrangler Boy” the speaker expressing desire seems to be a woman however, the object of desire in both seems to be a man. In particular, the object of desire is the phallic part of a man.
2. Explain the strategies used to express this desire as well as those used to describe the object of desire. a. The strategies used to express desire are very vivid details in which more sexual characteristics are described. The desire is described with sensual words, description of body parts, words of strength and words of passion and craving. “If only I were molded around your stomach,” “tauten myself around your youthful turgidity,” “the dark abyss of your groin, if only I were the round capitals for your thighs.” The idea of being the closest to the sexual body parts, the wanting to be directly next to them is clearly shown in “Calvin Klein”, she wants to be so close to them that she wishes she were the underwear the men wear. The way the Wrangler boy is described gices a sense that he is being watched and lusted over by the speaker, “a cigarette sits in a mouth and moistens gradually in its silkiness,” “the very sharp shield of his chest.” She is watching every essence of him. The object of desire is also described within the strategies used to express the desire.
3. How does Rossetti’s poems compare to Garcilaso’s Renaissance sonnet? In other words, are there similarities? What are the main differences in terms of gender, desire, point-of-view/perspective, context, and purpose? a. The similarity between the poems and the sonnet is their desire for the opposite gender. Yet in both poems the restriction is expressed, the restriction most likely occurring because of the social context, women and men are expected to keep composure and class when showing their liking of a person but their true desires are not able to be expressed because of societal standards. The major difference is that the sonnet is in the point of view of a man with desire for a woman. I noticed that the sonnet is more romantic, the man describes the woman in a beautiful sense, he notices the gold strands of her hair, the soft parts as opposed to the sexual body parts that are noticed in the poems in reference to desire for the men. The purpose is to show the true desires of humans and to also notice the restrictions that are placed on gender desire because of society.
In the sonnet Garcilaso de la Vega: Sonnet 23 (Renaissance) I noticed that it is a run-on line. Why did they do this? The first sentence lasts for three stanzas. Ana Rossetti “Calvin Klein, Underdrawers” is also set up this way. Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz uses one sentence for Sonnet 145. What effect does this have?
I noticed that in both the sonnet Garcilaso de la Vega and "Calvin Klevin, Underdrawers", the symbolism of lily is used. I found out that white lilies represent chastity and purity. However, in both poems, sex is mentioned implicitly. For example, in the sonnet Garcilaso de la Vega, "gather the sweet fruit of you joyful springtime" and in "Calvin Klevin, Underdrawers", "could tauten myself around your youthful turgidity". What I don't understand is why the authors intentionally depict a contradiction between sex as well as lust and chastity and purity. What is the purpose of this depiction? In the sonnet Garcilaso de la Vega probably the contradiction serves to show the restriction of sex from church, but I totally have no idea about the purpose in "Calvin Klevin, Underdrawers".
In the Sor Juana intro, I don't quite understand why did the author have to become a nun for the reason of disliking the instituion of marriage? Just for this disliking, the author is enslaved and punished by being a nun
Garcilaso de la Vega's poem, along with others written in the Renaissance era, uses the speaker's perspective as a man to encourage a woman of interest not to waste her youth because time will "(cover) with snow (her) lovely peak." The desire expressed in Garcilaso's poem is much more subtle than that of Rossetti's "Calvin Klein, Underdrawers" and "Wrangler Boy," where the sexual desire is explicit.
By comparing these poems from two different time periods to one another, how has the poetic expression of sexual desire by different genders changed with time? Why do you think that happened?
I found anne rosettis poems very interesting because they are about desire for man, a thing that is not usual in poetry. my question is, why all the attention directed towards a piece of underware instead of the actual sexual organ? and why this specific brand of underware?
In Sonnet 23 by Garcilaso de la Vega, I see that the first three stanza's are admiring the beauty and elegance of this women. In the last stanza, the poet takes a difference stance and is more cold and kind of describes the women in a way that is very disenchanting. My question is, is the underlying theme of these poem the relentlessness of time?
I noticed that all of the authors used the image of some sort of flower (or other fruit-bearing plant) to allude to the object of their desires. I was wondering, does that have any significance in the meaning of the poem?
In the poetry by Garcilaso, I found that the poetry mainly described beauty of women by using analogy and compared women's appearance to nature. According to history, Renaissance emphasized humanity and human's beauty. I wonder why the poetry still payed much attention to nature?
In Rossetti's poet, "underdrawers" was used. Was it picked up because it is an indirect version of expressing sexual related terms? Is it because that it can help the leg parts to be emphasized? What was the original intention of the author?
I found Rossetti's use of the brand Calvin Klein at the end of his poem "underdrawers" interesting. Evidently Calvin Klein is a well know underwear designer in the present day. After reading the other renaissance poetry and the John Frog plays, I wonder how the association with Calvin Klein will, or will not, change as time passes. Will the poem have as much meaning to future generations as it does to us?
It is interesting that in both of Rossetti's poems, the speaker appears to be a female and is expressing her desire not for the male himself but merely his penis. The speakers in Rossetti's poems focus on describing the males' lower body, avoiding the face, whereas the speaker in Garcilaso's Renaissance sonnet does the opposite; he focuses on the woman's upper body instead. Why did Rossetti and Garcilaso make their speakers so different?
Garcilaso de la Vega in Sonnet 23 encourages women to enjoy their youth before the time destroys it. While talking about the inevitable loss of beauty, the poem keeps repeating the beginning part of the lines. What would be the effect of such repetition? and what would be the social context in that time period that the female beauty led the audience to?
I'm sure it's not a coincidence that both of the authors of this weeks readings use nature as a metaphor for the subject of their writing. Garcilaso uses nature in his poem to talk about about beauty and aging while Rossetti uses nature as a metaphor in her poems to talk about sexual desire and physical lust. My question is why do both of these authors use almost identical metaphors to discuss different subjects and what is the significance of assigning these two readings together?
In Garcilaso's poem, the speaker is object of the desire is female, while in Rossetti's poems the object is male. They both have similar theme of sexual lust and covering their body with snow and undergarments respectively. By using cover, is the point of the poems about controlling their desire? Also, what is the significance of using "nature" for cover, like snow and cotton made clothing
In Garcilaso's poem, the speaker focuses only on the beauty of the woman, while Rossetti's poems focus more on the relationship between the speaker and the object of their attention. Garcilasco's speaker never refers to himself/herself, while Rossetti's speakers use words such as "I" and "me" almost every line. Is there a reason for this? Is it because of the time difference or because of something else?
1. Who is the speaker expressing desire in Rossetti’s poems and who is the object of that desire?
ReplyDeletea. In Rossetti’s poem “Calvin Klein” and “Wrangler Boy” the speaker expressing desire seems to be a woman however, the object of desire in both seems to be a man. In particular, the object of desire is the phallic part of a man.
2. Explain the strategies used to express this desire as well as those used to describe the object of desire.
a. The strategies used to express desire are very vivid details in which more sexual characteristics are described. The desire is described with sensual words, description of body parts, words of strength and words of passion and craving. “If only I were molded around your stomach,” “tauten myself around your youthful turgidity,” “the dark abyss of your groin, if only I were the round capitals for your thighs.” The idea of being the closest to the sexual body parts, the wanting to be directly next to them is clearly shown in “Calvin Klein”, she wants to be so close to them that she wishes she were the underwear the men wear. The way the Wrangler boy is described gices a sense that he is being watched and lusted over by the speaker, “a cigarette sits in a mouth and moistens gradually in its silkiness,” “the very sharp shield of his chest.” She is watching every essence of him. The object of desire is also described within the strategies used to express the desire.
3. How does Rossetti’s poems compare to Garcilaso’s Renaissance sonnet? In other words, are there similarities? What are the main differences in terms of gender, desire, point-of-view/perspective, context, and purpose?
a. The similarity between the poems and the sonnet is their desire for the opposite gender. Yet in both poems the restriction is expressed, the restriction most likely occurring because of the social context, women and men are expected to keep composure and class when showing their liking of a person but their true desires are not able to be expressed because of societal standards. The major difference is that the sonnet is in the point of view of a man with desire for a woman. I noticed that the sonnet is more romantic, the man describes the woman in a beautiful sense, he notices the gold strands of her hair, the soft parts as opposed to the sexual body parts that are noticed in the poems in reference to desire for the men. The purpose is to show the true desires of humans and to also notice the restrictions that are placed on gender desire because of society.
In the sonnet Garcilaso de la Vega: Sonnet 23 (Renaissance) I noticed that it is a run-on line. Why did they do this? The first sentence lasts for three stanzas. Ana Rossetti “Calvin Klein, Underdrawers” is also set up this way. Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz uses one sentence for Sonnet 145. What effect does this have?
ReplyDeleteI noticed that in both the sonnet Garcilaso de la Vega and "Calvin Klevin, Underdrawers", the symbolism of lily is used. I found out that white lilies represent chastity and purity. However, in both poems, sex is mentioned implicitly. For example, in the sonnet Garcilaso de la Vega, "gather the sweet fruit of you joyful springtime" and in "Calvin Klevin, Underdrawers", "could tauten myself around your youthful turgidity".
ReplyDeleteWhat I don't understand is why the authors intentionally depict a contradiction between sex as well as lust and chastity and purity.
What is the purpose of this depiction?
In the sonnet Garcilaso de la Vega probably the contradiction serves to show the restriction of sex from church, but I totally have no idea about the purpose in "Calvin Klevin, Underdrawers".
In the Sor Juana intro, I don't quite understand why did the author have to become a nun for the reason of disliking the instituion of marriage? Just for this disliking, the author is enslaved and punished by being a nun
ReplyDeleteGarcilaso de la Vega's poem, along with others written in the Renaissance era, uses the speaker's perspective as a man to encourage a woman of interest not to waste her youth because time will "(cover) with snow (her) lovely peak." The desire expressed in Garcilaso's poem is much more subtle than that of Rossetti's "Calvin Klein, Underdrawers" and "Wrangler Boy," where the sexual desire is explicit.
ReplyDeleteBy comparing these poems from two different time periods to one another, how has the poetic expression of sexual desire by different genders changed with time? Why do you think that happened?
I found anne rosettis poems very interesting because they are about desire for man, a thing that is not usual in poetry. my question is, why all the attention directed towards a piece of underware instead of the actual sexual organ? and why this specific brand of underware?
ReplyDeleteIn Sonnet 23 by Garcilaso de la Vega, I see that the first three stanza's are admiring the beauty and elegance of this women. In the last stanza, the poet takes a difference stance and is more cold and kind of describes the women in a way that is very disenchanting. My question is, is the underlying theme of these poem the relentlessness of time?
ReplyDeleteI noticed that all of the authors used the image of some sort of flower (or other fruit-bearing plant) to allude to the object of their desires. I was wondering, does that have any significance in the meaning of the poem?
ReplyDeleteIn the poetry by Garcilaso, I found that the poetry mainly described beauty of women by using analogy and compared women's appearance to nature. According to history, Renaissance emphasized humanity and human's beauty. I wonder why the poetry still payed much attention to nature?
ReplyDeleteIn Rossetti's poet, "underdrawers" was used. Was it picked up because it is an indirect version of expressing sexual related terms? Is it because that it can help the leg parts to be emphasized? What was the original intention of the author?
ReplyDeleteI found Rossetti's use of the brand Calvin Klein at the end of his poem "underdrawers" interesting. Evidently Calvin Klein is a well know underwear designer in the present day. After reading the other renaissance poetry and the John Frog plays, I wonder how the association with Calvin Klein will, or will not, change as time passes. Will the poem have as much meaning to future generations as it does to us?
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting that in both of Rossetti's poems, the speaker appears to be a female and is expressing her desire not for the male himself but merely his penis. The speakers in Rossetti's poems focus on describing the males' lower body, avoiding the face, whereas the speaker in Garcilaso's Renaissance sonnet does the opposite; he focuses on the woman's upper body instead. Why did Rossetti and Garcilaso make their speakers so different?
ReplyDeleteGarcilaso de la Vega in Sonnet 23 encourages women to enjoy their youth before the time destroys it. While talking about the inevitable loss of beauty, the poem keeps repeating the beginning part of the lines. What would be the effect of such repetition? and what would be the social context in that time period that the female beauty led the audience to?
ReplyDeleteI'm sure it's not a coincidence that both of the authors of this weeks readings use nature as a metaphor for the subject of their writing. Garcilaso uses nature in his poem to talk about about beauty and aging while Rossetti uses nature as a metaphor in her poems to talk about sexual desire and physical lust. My question is why do both of these authors use almost identical metaphors to discuss different subjects and what is the significance of assigning these two readings together?
ReplyDeleteIn Garcilaso's poem, the speaker is object of the desire is female, while in Rossetti's poems the object is male. They both have similar theme of sexual lust and covering their body with snow and undergarments respectively. By using cover, is the point of the poems about controlling their desire? Also, what is the significance of using "nature" for cover, like snow and cotton made clothing
ReplyDeleteI wonder how desire differs in regards to females and males. How do these things relate to nature?
ReplyDelete-Merry Chin
In Garcilaso's poem, the speaker focuses only on the beauty of the woman, while Rossetti's poems focus more on the relationship between the speaker and the object of their attention. Garcilasco's speaker never refers to himself/herself, while Rossetti's speakers use words such as "I" and "me" almost every line. Is there a reason for this? Is it because of the time difference or because of something else?
ReplyDeleteTo me, the Calvin Klein poems seemed a bit more on the explicit side. According to me, a woman's desire is love and not lust.
ReplyDelete