Renaissance Rhetoric and Poetics

In his support of poetry, Sidney likens it to a torch that illuminates the night. He views poetry as a means of instruction and of personal growth. In a similar vein, Plutarch emphasizes the value of verse. The young people must learn about poems and how to differentiate it from its literature. Therefore, the paper asserts that Plutarch and Sidney both regarded poetry as an important work that needed to be handled with care, and they did so by making an analogy to a current controversy. In Sydney’s defense of poetry, he terms the poetry as a material that should be handled with more than good-will than reason (Sidney 338). Arguing against ungrateful critics, Sydney acclaims poetry as educative and delightful. The knowledge, civilization and a form of ideals propeller is the value attached in poetry. Sidney stands firm that poesy should be nurtured as it is a universal and timeless show of universal genius. Plutarch was of the idea that poetry has to be handled with great care. A better interpretation and teaching of poetry defines the future of literature (Kennedy 29). According to Plutarch, sustaining fine poetry demands eradication of immoral, deluded and false poetic forms. The young have to appreciate and understand poetic works while employing high ethical standards when dealing with such works.

An analogy to the contemporary world reveals Sidney’s and Putriarch’s perspective as fairly truthful. The worthiness and value of poetry is untold. Moral philosophies, virtues and other educational instruments are spread through this art (Kennedy 30). Poetry has fallen and has been made a laughing stock by those who do not know its true meaning. Some poems are either borrowed or copied for instance ‘Nine Muses’ which was copied by Herodotus or those who came after him (Sidney 340). The society today envisions these forms of behavior as people steal copy and even misinterpret messages in various works. It is the responsibility of all members of the society to nurture, protect and develop poetry as it is a delicate material for all humans.

Language Exceeding Control

Donne argues that poetry is an expression of imagination which uses language to infuse communication. The rhetoric language can be epic, tragic, lyric, comic and so forth .Poetic is designed mainly to delight and teach. Language is a conspicuous element that defines men, controls relationships, enhances humanity and evidently cannot be controlled. With examples from the works of Donne, a prominent poet, the power of language and its influence on man’s life will be looked into in the paper.

Poetry is language that embeds human behaviors. It is a man’s creation but in many ways exceeds his control. Poetic language includes the creation of the reader’s point of view from the poet’s original view and the creation of a second nature by the poets exceeding the reality. John Donne’s poetry for instance depicts intellectualism, boldness, directness of language and use of rhetoric (Donne 11). Donne uses metaphysical ideologies to make people believe that there is more beyond the physical world. Manipulation of language especially by influential people prompts the shaping of one’s beliefs, morals and general view of life.

Donne’s poems were edited severally since his death. Evidently, new ideologies, and other creative measures come to place with time. Work such as Divine Poems by the poet outline the theory of life after death. In modern era, poetry is narrowed down to verbal art in which the wordings matter in its formation of thematic contribution to the significance of the poem which may be negative or positive. Poets have a difference in codes in which different interpretations penetrates. The art of poetry is spoken through the message conveyed and at least some component of reference is involved (Donne 4). Language therefore is a control mechanism, a tool for communication and a central point to glorification and definition of humanity.

Relationship between Rhetoric and Poetic in Milton’s Comus

There is a nexus between rhetoric and poetic discourse. The ability of poets to produce powerful and remarkable art necessitates the employment of rhetoric. A good poem not only informs but entertains, through rhythmic and other patterns formed by the use of rhetoric. John Milton’s Comus is a perfect outline of the use of rhetoric in art. The thesis seeks to discuss the relationship between poetry and rhetoric.

Comus by John Milton has been described in many ways such as: A drama, a lyric poem, epic piece and even a philosophical poem. To initiate belief without knowledge is the skill of rhetoric in poetics. This is done by giving information from a personal and consequentially individually unusable. Scholars such as Milton have made wide use of rhetoric poetry. Milton’s Comus for instance is lyrical, dramatic narrative which hails its greatness in the use of rhetoric. In Comus, the setting of the stage reveals the use of rhetoric. As the Lady and Comus enter the stage, they use a powerful language of great concern. Comus boasts, “wel plac’t words of glozing courtesies/Baites with reasons not unplausibel” (Milton 175). This figure of speech is consistent in the piece pointing out that the speech is central to the pair throughout the story. Comus further depict the use of neo-platonism, imagery, culmination in speech, and certain ambiguity (Milton855). Poetic and rhetoric are two principles of language that when well used, a memorable art work will be the result. A good practical example is AurdeLorde’s statement saying ‘the difference between poetry and rhetoric is being ready to kill yourself (poetry) instead of your children (rhetoric) (Hollis 160). ‘In the morning of Christ’s Nativity’, a poem written by Milton, the rhetoric and the poetic part is realized where Mary, in her poem mystifies the virgin birth by retaining her purity despite being impregnated by the godhead.

Poetics and rhetoric work go hand in hand. Rhetoric gives a brighter expression of the poetics leading a good reception of the message. This leads to a faster flow of information poetically (Milton 241). This system of flow educates all poem readers and upcoming poets. It is therefore correct to state that rhetoric has undying power if correctly used.

The relationship between the addressor and addressee in The Temple

The addressor and the addressee are defined by time and proximity when on face to face conversation. The relationship between the speaker and the respondent in The Temple by George Herbert is debatable. As themes of passion, love and sacrifice are depicted in these works, the relationship between the addressor and addressee is clear. A focus on the relationship between the addressor and addressee in the temple by George Herbert will be further elaborated in this section.

The temple is a collection of poems that reveal the relationship between man and God. Man is the addressor and God is the addressee in the Temple. Herbert recommends that for the relationship between man and God to be sustainable, man has to conduct himself uprightly (Kelley 5). In the poem titled the storm, the speaker addresses God in a personal, emotional and private manner. The form of respect given to God by the speaker outlines the superiority given to the addressee. The bond that sustains the addressor and addressee’s relationship is love which is viewed as shared meal. Herbert recognizes the importance of constant communication with God as it sires equivocal relationship with God (Herbert 13).

The addressor and addressee relationship may be coded in different forms. In The Temple the code is English. The referential is the Biblical analysis and poetry is seen through the message of modernization of Christianity. Principally, there is a struggle for reconciliation with God by the writer. The addressor and addressee relationship is shaped by Christian beliefs. The struggle for the addressor to reach out to the addressee is striking and sometimes even hard to understand. Particular assumption can generally be made; Herbert is an honest poet who uses his art to maintain his friendship or closeness to God (Kelley 2).

Works Cited

Donne, John. Poetry Foundation. Luminarium. 1572.

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/john-donne

Herbert, George. The Temple. Penguin Classics. 2017

https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/305248/the-temple/

Hollidas, Hilda. Without Charity: An intertextual Study of Milton’s Comus. Milton Studies. 1997: 159

Kent, Kelley The Typology of Sacrifice in George Herbert's The Temple. Inquiries Journal.2013

Kennedy, George. Aristotle on Rhetoric; Theory of Civic Discourse. Oxford University Press. 2007.

Milton, John. The John Milton Reading Room; a Mask Presented at Ludlow Castle. 1637.

https://www.dartmouth.edu/~milton/reading_room/comus/text.shtml

Sidney, Philip. English Renaissance. Literary Criticism. Clarendon Press Oxford. Oxford. 1595