Hi everyone,
I need a short analysis of Robert Herrick's "Corrina's Going A Maying". Could someone help me with this short essay?
Thank you indeed! Aidualc :)

Aidualc,

Take the poem stanza by stanza and write down what you think he's saying.
What you'll find is that he wants his girlfriend to get out of bed and enjoy the spring time with him.

Corinna's Going A-Maying
by Robert Herrick

Get up, get up for shame, the blooming Morn
Upon her wings presents the god unshorn.
See how Aurora throws her fair
Fresh-quilted colours through the air;
Get up, sweet slug-a-bed, and see
The dew bespangling herb and tree.
Each flower has wept, and bow'd toward the east,
Above an hour since; yet you not drest,
Nay! not so much as out of bed?
When all the birds have matins said,
And sung their thankful hymns, 'tis sin,
Nay, profanation, to keep in,
Whenas a thousand virgins on this day
Spring, sooner than the lark, to fetch in May.

Rise; and put on your foliage, and be seen
To come forth, like the spring-time, fresh and green;
And sweet as Flora. Take no care
For jewels for your gown, or hair;
Fear not, the leaves will strew
Gems in abundance upon you;
Besides, the childhood of the day has kept,
Against you come, some orient pearls unwept;
Come and receive them while the light
Hangs on the dew-locks of the night;
And Titan on the eastern hill
Retires himself, or else stands still
Till you come forth. Wash, dress, be brief in praying;
Few beads are best when once we go a-Maying.

Come, my Corinna, come; and, coming, mark
How each field turns a street, each street a park
Made green and trimm'd with trees; see how
Devotion gives each house a bough
Or branch; each porch, each door ere this
An ark, a tabernacle is,
Made up of white-thorn, neatly interwove;
As if here were those cooler shades of love.
Can such delights be in the street
And open fields and we not see't?
Come, we'll abroad; and let's obey
The proclamation made for May,
And sin no more, as we have done, by staying;
But my Corinna, come, let's go a-Maying.

There's not a budding boy, or girl, this day,
But is got up, and gone to bring in May.
A deal of youth, ere this, is come
Back, and with white-thorn laden, home.
Some have despatch'd their cakes and cream,
Before that we have left to dream;
And some have wept, and woo'd, and plighted troth,
And chose their priest, ere we can cast off sloth;
Many a green-gown has been given;
Many a kiss, both odd and even;
Many a glance too has been sent
From out the eye, love's firmament;
Many a jest told of the keys betraying
This night, and locks pick'd, yet we're not a-Maying.

Come, let us go, while we are in our prime;
And take the harmless folly of the time.
We shall grow old apace, and die
Before we know our liberty.
Our life is short, and our days run
As fast away as does the sun;
And as a vapour, or a drop of rain,
Once lost, can ne'er be found again,
So when or you or I are made
A fable, song, or fleeting shade,
All love, all liking, all delight
Lies drown'd with us in endless night.
Then while time serves, and we are but decaying,
Come, my Corinna, come, let's go a-Maying.

Les

In my humble opinion, this is the finest piece of work that Herrick penned.

It is a classic Herrick theme: carpe diem, or sieze the day. Important things to appreciate are the fact that it is May and that May rites were usually fertility rites.

Consider:

Whenas a thousand virgins on this day
Spring, sooner than the lark, to fetch in May.

The reference to virgins fetching in May is a reference to the need for young women to find a mate early and produce children - remember that Herrick, when he was in his Parish, was a country clergyman and children were an important asset to farmers. This theme was also present in To The Virgins, Make Much of Time but without the May fertility theme.

Come, we'll abroad; and let's obey
The proclamation made for May,
And sin no more, as we have done, by staying;
But my Corinna, come, let's go a-Maying.

The narrator here is undoubtedly urging her to become his mate. Notice the careful wording regarding the proclamation made for May and where they have sinned by staying, or not heeding.

The final stanza may be usefully compared with the last lines of Andrew Marvell's fine poem: To His Coy Mistress

Now let us sport us while we may,
And now, like amorous birds of prey,
Rather at once our time devour
Than languish in his slow-chapped power.
Let us roll all our strength and all
Our sweetness up into one ball,
And tear our pleasures with rough strife
Thorough the iron gates of life:
Thus, though we cannot make our sun
Stand still, yet we will make him run.

And Herrick:

Come, let us go, while we are in our prime;
And take the harmless folly of the time.
We shall grow old apace, and die
Before we know our liberty.
Our life is short, and our days run
As fast away as does the sun;
And as a vapour, or a drop of rain,
Once lost, can ne'er be found again,
So when or you or I are made
A fable, song, or fleeting shade,
All love, all liking, all delight
Lies drown'd with us in endless night.
Then while time serves, and we are but decaying,
Come, my Corinna, come, let's go a-Maying.


The theme is the same and the narrator is again urging his Mistress to become his mate in the basest of senses!

hi
this poem, i think, fills one with spring vitality. Hrrrick wants Corrina not only to enjoy may morning but also to be refreshed, like nature, in return of spring.
yours

I need short analises of Ben Jonson's "to the memory of my beloved Mr.William shakespear and what he hath lef us" could anyone help me with this short essay?

Sure. See the poem at the site below for an explanation of some terms that may be unfamiliar, and the correct title:

[rpo.library.utoronto.ca]

Even that site does not provide an explanation of all the unfamiliar words Jonson may have used, nor many of his obscure references and puns. Take the word 'ample' in the second line, for example, where Ben suggests his abilities will not be suficient to praise Shakespeare as highly as he deserves (I think).

I do see one error, where it states that Marlowe's mighty line means they are 'characterized by loftiness and sonorousness of diction and versification'. In fact, this refers to his use of iambic pentameter, I believe. Marlowe gets the credit for introducing it into English verse, although I remember reading IP poems by Sir Thomas Wyatt some 50 years earlier. Maybe Marlowe introduced it to the stage play, as a blank verse type of line? Sure, why not.

But, anyway, I see it as an elegy. Shakespeare died in 1616, and Jonson's poem was a prefix to the first folio edition of Shakespeare's works in 1623. It may also be used as an excellent rebuttal to those who suggest the plays/sonnets/poems were written by someone other than the Bard of Avon. Many say that Will had only a grammar school education, and could not possibly have possessed the knowledge and ability to write with insight about such a myriad of subjects as was done (law, for one thing). Edward De Vere is often offered, for example, and even Kit Marlowe (they claim he was not really killed in a tavern brawl). The fact that Jonson, who was alive at the time in question and wrote an elegy to Shakespeare shortly after his death proves beyond any doubt that the Stratford-born person really did write the credited works.

What's that? You say that Ben himself could have been the real Shakespeare? Nope - not born until circa 1573, so he would have been too young.