By John Wilmot Earl of Rochester 16471680 A Song Absent from thee I languish still What do we understand from the title of the poem Absent from thee I languish still Then ask me not When I return ID: 742550
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Slide1
A Song: ‘Absent from thee I languish still’
By John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester
1647-1680Slide2
A Song: ‘Absent from thee I languish still’What do we understand from the title of the poem?Slide3
Absent from thee I languish still, Then ask me not, When I return? The straying fool ’twill plainly kill To wish all day, all night to mourn.
Dear, from thine arms then let me fly, That my fantastic mind may prove The torments it deserves to try, That tears my fix’d
heart from my love.
When, wearied with a world of woe,
To thy safe bosom I retire,
Where love, and peace, and truth does flow,
May I, contented, there expire.
Lest once more wandering from that heaven,
I fall on some base heart
unblest
,
Faithless to thee, false, unforgiven,
And lose my everlasting rest.Slide4
AO3: ContextSlide5
In 1660, after 19 years of exile, Charles II took the throne and the monarchy was restored. Historian Roger Baker argues it was, “as though the pendulum [of England's morality] swung from repression to licence more or less overnight.”
Theatres reopened after having been closed, Puritanism lost its momentum, and the bawdy ‘Restoration comedy’ became a recognisable genre. In addition, women were allowed to perform on the commercial stage as professional actresses for the first time.
Charles was popularly known as the Merry Monarch, in reference to both the liveliness and hedonism of his court and the general relief at the return to normality after over a decade of rule by Oliver Cromwell and the Puritans.
Charles had no legitimate children but acknowledged over a dozen illegitimate offspring by various mistresses, including Nell Gwyn – also a mistress of Rochester!
The RestorationSlide6
John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester1647-1680
Restoration poet and rakeJohn Wilmot rarely met his father but did inherit his title – his father had been a loyal servant to the King in exile and had saved his life, so John also inherited the King’s goodwill and indulgence.
The second Earl of Rochester was the embodiment of the new era, becoming as infamous for his wild behaviour as he was celebrated for his poetry.
Andrew Marvell described him as “the best English satirist”.
His life was divided between domesticity in the countryside and a riotous existence at court, with his behaviour leading to his reputation as ‘the wickedest man in England’.
He died, aged 33, from the effects of venereal disease and alcoholism. He was reported to have recanted his atheism and libertinism on his death bed.Slide7
Rochester’s ‘extravagant
frolics’
His wild behaviour included:
the abduction of a wealthy heiress whom he wished to marry (3 weeks in the Tower
) – he later married her;
being drunk for 5 years, leading to such ‘extravagant
frolics’, lewd pantomimes, genital exposure and drunken violence at
court that he was banished, then
recalled;accidentally giving Charles a satirical verse that criticised him for being sex-obsessed at the cost of his Kingdom (banished from court, then recalled
);
smashing Charles’ treasured and extravagant glass sundials in drunken ‘rant’ (fled from court, then recalled);
d
isguising himself as a ‘Doctor
Bendo
’ who specialised in curing fertility issues in women – he also disguised himself as ‘Mrs
Bendo
’ so he could examine women without raising their husbands’ suspicions;
fleeing the scene after a scuffle with the watch ended with his friend dead, killed by a pike-thrust – this gave him a reputation for cowardice, despite recorded bravery during war;
boxing the ears of the King’s jester – an act of treason (got away scot free much to Samuel Pepys’ disgust).Slide8
AO2: Language and ImagerySlide9
Absent from thee I languish still,
Then ask me not, When I return? The straying fool
’twill plainly kill
To wish all day, all night to
mourn
.
What is the poet saying here?
What links can we make to ‘The Scrutiny’ in this first stanza?Does the speaker feel in control of his own actions?
What does the speaker not want to be asked?
What does this language suggest about his feelings regarding his infidelity?
The theme of the poem is established – he will ‘stray’ when he is ‘absent’ from her.Slide10
Dear, from thine arms then let me fly,
That my fantastic mind may prove The torments
it
deserves
to try,
That
tears
my
fix’d heart from my love.
This term of endearment begins a passionate exclamation
In this sense, fantastic means subject to fantasies or sudden changes of mood/ behaviour
What is the poet saying here?
How do
‘torments’
and
‘tears’
continue the idea of a man in pain?
Wh
y does his mind
‘deserve’
these torments?
Note the idea of a violent separation from his ‘love’ – almost as if he has no control over his actions! Slide11
When, w
earied with a world of woe,
To thy
safe bosom
I retire,
Where
love
, and
peace, and truth does flow
,
May I,
contented
, there expire.
Stanza 3 offers a romantic image of a wanderer reunited with his lost love…
What is the poet saying here?
What is the effe
ct of the
alliteration
in the first line of this stanza?
How does the imagery of faithfulness contrast with the imagery of infidelity in the previous stanzas? Slide12
May I, contented, there expire
.
The word ‘may’ suggests he is wishing for this, but not that he is actively choosing it.
Is this hypothetical romantic scenario likely?
1. He can breathe easily
2. He can die happy
3. Connotations of sexual climax
How do these possible interpretations add to our understanding of the speaker’s argument? Slide13
Lest
once more wandering from that heaven,
I fall on some
base heart
unblest
,
‘Lest’ means ‘in case’
What is the significance of the phrase ‘once more’?
What connotations does ‘heaven’ have when referring to his true love?
1. This language creates a sense of sin
2. It also holds a connotation of sexually transmitted infection
How does this compare with the ‘safe bosom’ in stanza 3?
In this final stanza the speaker presents the alternative life he will lead if he fails to return to his true love.Slide14
Faithless to thee, false, un
forgiven, And lose my everlasting rest.
The harsh ‘f’ sounds are almost curse-like – does this reflect the self-loathing of the speaker?
This is the final consequence of his infidelity. He will lose:
The contentment of being with his true love
His afterlife in heaven
How does this compare with the freely-chosen death in stanza 3? Is death in her arms his only way of avoiding infidelity?
N.B. The speaker never considers the possibility his true love may reject him! It seems that
constancy
is possible – just not for him.
How does this compare to The Scrutiny? Slide15
“His mind possesses no power to keep him off certain misery and it obviously unlikely ever to gain such strength; in other words, only death can stop his straying.” (Marianne Thormahalen
, 2000). Does you agree? Does this view add to our understanding at all? The language in the poem is ultimately ambiguous – the speaker argues his infidelity is foolish and that it causes him mental torture and ultimate damnation
but
he also suggests he is unlikely to change and that he is choosing to act this way.
Do we feel his suffering is real? Slide16
AO2: Form / StructureSlide17
Can you identify the rhyme scheme?
ABSENT from thee I languish still, Then ask me not, When I return? The straying fool ’twill plainly kill To wish all day, all night to mourn.
Dear, from thine arms then let me fly,
That my fantastic mind may prove
The torments it deserves to try,
That tears my
fix’d
heart from my love.
When, wearied with a world of woe, To thy safe bosom I retire,
Where love, and peace, and truth does flow,
May I, contented, there expire.
Lest once more wandering from that heaven,
I fall on some base heart
unblest
,
Faithless to thee, false, unforgiven,
And lose my everlasting rest.Slide18
A ABSENT from thee I languish still, B
Then ask me not, When I return? A The straying fool ’twill plainly kill B To wish all day, all night to mourn.
A Dear
, from thine arms then let me fly,
B
That my fantastic mind may prove
A The
torments it deserves to try, B That tears my fix’d
heart from my love.
A When
, wearied with a world of woe,
B
To thy safe bosom I retire,
A Where
love, and peace, and truth does flow,
B
May I, contented, there expire.
A Lest
once more wandering from that heaven,
B
I fall on some base heart
unblest
,
A Faithless
to thee, false, unforgiven,
B
And lose my everlasting rest.Slide19
A ABSENT from thee I languish still, B Then ask me not, When I return? A The straying fool ’twill plainly kill
B To wish all day, all night to mourn. This form is standard for a Restoration song:
Quatrains
ABAB
Iambic tetrameter
So… where’s the bawdiness? Slide20
AO4/5: Links and InterpretationsSlide21
The use of religious language and imagery throughout the poem means that “the relationship between the speaker and his addressee resembles the one between an errant sinner and God.”
(Marianne Thormahalen, 2000). Rochester has taken a standard form and filled it with language
designed to offend. We have already noted the deliberate ambiguity of the language. Now recognise that much of the romantic and religious language relies on cliché – for example:
Romantic: “from thine arms”
Religious: “lose my everlasting rest”
So, it is clear whether he is
talking to God or to a whore?
Remember that he was writing in a society where most people were religious and some puritanically so.
A contemporary audience would be shocked in a way that simply wouldn’t occur to a modern audience, i.e. us! Once religion is a
choice
and that denying God takes no great act of courage, the poem doesn’t work in the same way.Slide22
Examine
the view that Rochester presents the speaker in this poem as having
an inconstant attitude
to love.
Think about:
The characteristics of love
The representation of the people involved
The feelings of the speaker
Any imagery or language used
The way the structure and form reflects thisSlide23
Fill in your CLIFS sheet for this poem. Remember, this will be a revision aid!