Assignment III

Of all the poems we have read during this part of the year, we have chosen to analyze Annabel Lee, My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun and a sonnet by Edna St. Vincent Millay. My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun

Regarding this text, we have to say that we agree with the author on the sense that beauty is only skin- deep. We can’t infer people’s personality just by looking at their outer appearance. Although the woman described in the poem doesn’t fullfil the attributes of a Petrarchan lady, we have discovered that she can find true love and be loved in return.

We have found a similar situation in an Argentinian comic “Inodoro

Pereyra” which we think is well-worth comparing to the sonnet. In the story, whereas Eulogia is fat, bad mannered and slovenly, Inodoro Pereyra still loves her and stays by her side. However, he is all the time complaining about the woman he has come to love. i.e: he bemoans about her but still he seems to be bewitched, since no matter how ugly she is, Eulogia is the woman he loves. Annabel Lee Annabel Lee is already gone. Nevertheless, her beloved’s heart is still beating for her. We were really touched by this poem, since pure love is shown to be stronger than death. We have chosen the following images because we believe they provide a good illustration of what the poem is about.

This picture is connected to the first part of the poem in which we know that there are two lovers in a kingdom by the sea, who have no other thought than to love and be loved in return.

They were both children. Their love was the purest in the world and as the seraphs of heaven coveted their love, one day they took his lovely Annabel Lee. She left never to return again.

From that moment onwards, everything went wrong in his life and the sky got dark forever.

Despite this unfortunate event, he never forgot his beautiful Annabel Lee, and this picture of love seems to be always in his mind.

Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950) Oh, oh, you will be sorry for that word! Give me back my book and take my kiss instead. Was it my enemy or my friend I heard, "What a big book for such a little head!" Come, I will show you now my newest hat, And you may watch me purse my mouth and prink! Oh, I shall love you still, and all of that. I never again shall tell you what I think. I shall be sweet and crafty, soft and sly; You will not catch me reading any more: I shall be called a wife to pattern by; And some day when you knock and push the door, Some sane day, not too bright and not too stormy, I shall be gone, and you may whistle for me. We really like this sonnet since it shows the feelings and inner thoughts of a woman who is degraded by a man. It is definitely a feminist sonnet. We believe the author is very brave to publish such a criticism of men at that time, when women were only expected to “show their newest hat”. Her outrage is what many women feel or have felt when they are demeaned.

We have chosen this picture because it represents the first part of the sonnet. A woman is patiently reading before being disturbed by her husband. After that they have an argument, in which she is degraded by him. He treated her as if she were not smart enough to read that book.

This picture is quite funny. When we saw it, we related it to her inner thoughts. She probably felt frustrated and angry after being demeaned by him. She could not conceal the deep resentment she felt at the way she had been treated for years. But now she was ready to make a point out of it.

In the last part of the sonnet, she thought about abandoning him. We consider that this image represents her wish; her beloved is sad and lonely. It’s time for him to learn a lesson and she is going to take the lead in teaching him one.

Students: Paola Florio, Mailen Sagretti, Lucia Silvestri.