The Blossom

Question 1

Overview:

Answer 1

Donne uses the typical convention of a lover in a garden to mock and undermine the petrarchan trope of a lamenting lover. The speaker of the poem directly addresses his heart telling it not to wait for a love that will not be returned. Also takes on a somewhat misogynistic tone as the speaker notes the lack of a heart in a woman, making them incapable of a loving relationship.

Question 2

Form:

Answer 2

• Irregular metre and line length helps to emphasise an informal and conversational tone as the speaker tells his heart ro leave the cold and unresponsive woman begin.

Question 3

`‘little thinks thou poor flower”

Answer 3

• Speaker uses the fate of a flower to foreshadow the fate of his own heart - his heart will collapse because of rejection just as a flower wither in winter.

Question 4

“a forbidden or forbidding tree”

Answer 4

• the heart being likened to a bird that wishes to nestle in tree.
• The tree is the lady, however she is likened to the fordbiding tree in the garden of eden - she represents passionate temptation to the male speaker.

Question 5

“a naked thinking heart, that makes no show,/ is to a woman but a kind of ghost”.

Answer 5

• A mans vulnerability and true affection is something that is so foreign to the woman that it presents as frightening.

Question 6

“Meet me in London… and thou shall see me fresher and more fat”

Answer 6

• Suggests that the company of men is nourishing for the heart.
• fricative alliteration supports this point.

Question 7

Context:

Answer 7

• Parodying the petrarchan trope of the lover speaking to his heart - shows the speaker trying to regain control over his heart and move on to a more welcoming lover.