Elizabethan 6 - Raleigh & Elizabeth - Floods and Streams
"He smartest most who hides his smart." Sir Walter Raleigh
Floods & Streams: Sir Walter Raleigh & Queen Elizabeth I Group Work: Now that students have mastered the mechanics of poetry (I sometimes gave the poetics test on the same day as this group work) it is time to use that skill. I love these poems by Raleigh and Elizabeth - they almost seem to be forming a dialogue - and it is fun for the students (or any reader) to imagine so. Like all of my Group Works - and indeed the bulk of my class, I am most concerned with students focusing on the text - what is the writer trying to say - how are they trying to say it. This is especially ironic - given the sentiment of Raleigh's poem to Elizabeth I, which states that they must leave the biggest part of their conversation (love?) unsaid.
Lesson Overview
So these poems are written by Sir Walter Raleigh and Queen Elizabeth I. While there are some other poems by Raleigh that we will get to in the next lesson - for this lesson - for this Group Work - the focus is on the relationship between the soveriegn and one of her most famous subjects. To make matters even more interesting there is a modern poem in the mix - written that is written from the Queen's point of view - but like Grendel did with Beowulf, through a very modern lens that the students should both readily identify with - but also see once again that things were not that different then - than they are now (in fact that is one of the big aims of this Group Work).
Here are some of the ideas and points that the Group Work attempts to cover - see the actual Group Work handout for more.
The literal meaning of Raleigh's poem to Elizabeth
the metaphors that are used to describe their love (ie floods and streams)
bringing in what Ralieigh says about "quiet" and comparing it to what we just saw in Howard's poem "Now Do All Things".
The idea of choosing to not pursue his love - a noble idea in our age of gratification.
Why is a mute beggar twice cursed?
The modern poem - "Glorian Dying" and its take on these feelings
Analogies - like on the SAT
back to Grendel and its epigraph
There is also a detailed homework at the bottom - giving them plenty of time to get their copies of Macbeth.
Handouts - Group Work/Quiz
Most Recent Handouts
The pictures on this Group Work - as with every handout (I hope) are very important. They serve as a subtext or echo to ideas presented to the students. In this case, the other Queen Elizabeth (the second) as a very young girl (how we never think of her) and as an old monarch.
This might be for a NonHonors Class or if you are combining it in a Block Schedule with another lesson.
This does not contain the Nymph poem (see the next lesson)
Handout - The Reading (Raleigh, Elizabeth I)
There is also a very modern poem by Sylvia Townsend Warner (which is great and obviously a theme in my class, ie Beowulf/Grendel) that is written from the perspective of Queen Elizabeth I - but perhaps with a modern lens.
Remote Enhancements
This can all be done remotely of course - I've actually had great success with Group Work emotely - it does take some planning though.
Links
Class Recordings (for registered members)
Audio
Video
Time and World Enough: Raleigh, Marlowe and the Two Nymph Poems - If the Wyatt and Howard poems are the first poems written in Modern English to be discussed - today we discuss poems - especially "The Nymph's Reply" that are Masterworks (in my opinion) of English (or any other) Poetry. Sir Walter Raleigh is soooo good - and I believe his poem(s) will strike a chord with nearly every student in the class. Because these are such big, and inevitable events (at least being touched by them) in all of our lives - perhaps this is why these poems strike such powerful chord.
WHAT CAME BEFORE:
Thoughts on the Lesson
Above all, the goals of this lesson are affective. I want students to see that people loved, cared, worried, and got anxious - in much the same way as we do. This include Monarchs and famous explorers as well.