Literature week 1
Well here we are again! I would like to talk about Thomas Campion's 'I care not for these ladies', with Shakespeare's sonnet 130.
Campion's villanelle describes his longing for a relationship with a simple country girl who is naturally beautiful rather than the shallow ladies of court- the women on top of the social ladder who demand gifts and luxury. He wants a natural existance and asserts that he would prefer a bed made "of willows, of moss and leaves unbought..." than any purchased one. The repeated refrain of each stanza describes that he wants a girl who will tease him and feign to deny him, but will always be willing to sleep with him. He is so straight-forward about this in the line, "But when we come where comfort is She never will say no". This is so blunt that it is humorous and it is likely that this song was sung by groups of men stung by women of intrigue, who have had too much ale. They probably would have roared with laughter at that last line.
Campion
This love for the natural seems like a 19th cenury Romantic idea but obviously it is much older. It is also reflected in Shakespeare's sonnet 130, "My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun". In this typical Shakespearian sonnet Shakespeare describes all the aspects of his mistress' physical body in a negative yet humourous way. My favourite line is "And in some perfumes is there more delight Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks". The imagery of the woman gives us a picture of a plain and unattractive maid who is very undesirable. Yet in the last two lines, it finally turns into a profession of love. "And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare As any she belied with false compare." This is actually more of a romantic poem than Campions' 'There is a garden in her face' because no unattainable idealistic representation is made. Campion's attitude towards women is a perfectionist one, and he misrepresents his love with the extended metaphor of flowers and cherries in her face. It's a bit sickening. Shakespeare, on the other hand, really seems to understand women. The last two lines of his sonnet describe a deeper love than lust or admiration. It is an affection which transcends the stinky breath, or her wirey hair, or pale lips and black breasts. That is real love. People can't expect their adored one to always have skin like lillies, or lips like cherries- especially in Elizabethan time! Everyone would have been stinky. I think also Shakespeare is having a little dig at other poets of the time like Campion, when he writes, "I think my love as rare As any she belied with false compare". This means that he believes his girl is as special as those misrepresented with false comparisons- like the 'Garden'. I'd prefer to recieve Shakespeare's sonnet over the other. I wonder, though, if she slapped him or walked away before he read the whole thing to her!
Some celebrities as they would have looked in Shakespeare's time.. compared with the dolled-up versions:
Julia Roberts
Christina Ricci
Cameron Diaz
This week my comment is at-
http://aussielatina.livejournal.com/14722.html?view=15746#t15746
-GeebusD