Love Worthy Misery
Humanism is a concept that has changed since the sixteenth century. Its original meaning was the belief in the validity of the human spirit that coincided with piety for God. Now, humanism refers to the glorification of man over God. The passing of time has transformed the concept of love, also. In our present society, one "loves" pizza or one "loves" a spouse. Currently, love encompasses a vast majority of ideas and intensities. The sonnets and poems of Surrey, Sidney, Spenser, and Wyatt deem love as a consuming passion. To the sixteenth century poet, love is a powerful force that creates misery, but surpasses the pain to be a worthy endeavor. Love is a personified superior entity which must be obeyed. In Wyatt's The Love That in My Thought Doth Harbor, love is his "master" (441; ln. 12). His master controls his heart, and endeavors to reign. Even when love cowers from shame the poet still supports him. In Astrophil and Stella, love's decre
Love painfully invaded the lives of the poets, but resulted in an eventual joy, even if the joy was at death. Love dominated their poetry as it dominated their lives. Today, our spouses may afflict our emotions, but love of pizza will probably never leave a deep emotional attachment. Our society has downgraded love in our life from what was considered the normal experience. Despite the hermeneutical transformation applied to the concept of love, the words of the nineteenth century poet Tennyson ring true today as they would have in the sixteenth century: "'tis better to have loved and lost, than to have never loved at all" (qtd. in Stevenson 1463). Abrams, M. H. Norton Anthology of English Literature. 6th Ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1993. Stevenson, Burton, ed. The MacMillan Book of Proverbs, Maxims, & Famous Phrases. New York: The misery love produces cannot surpass the benefit of love. Surrey considers love his lord and wri
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 648
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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