Song by Mary Wroth

"Song" by Mary Wroth

Lady Mary Wroth was born on October 18, 1587. She was originally Mary Sidney and her uncle was Sir Philip Sydney, who was a great sonnet writer. Lady Mary was born into a family who loved the arts and were extremely well writers. She married Sir Robert Wroth at the age of seventeen. Robert was more into hunting and courtship. He was friends with King and they always attended events with both the Kind and Queen. Lady Mary then became good friends with Queen Anne. Lady Mary then became well known, which to why "The Alchemist" was dedicated to her by Ben Johnson, he later also dedicated other works to her. After her husband died, she began having an affair with her married first cousin William Herbert. She then has two children with him. Through all of this, she was betrayed by mostly everyone around her. She then secluded herself for about five years and then died at the age around 66. Mary Wroth is one of the first well known female English writers. She changed the roles of women in her works, by having their actual feelings and emotions about their relationships and their love in marriage instead of just about the lust in a relationship and courtly love.

"Song" is actually a just a small piece from The Countess of Montgomery's Urania. Urania is about a woman who is beautiful, a king's daughter, and also a counselor to many. She is portrayed very highly as a woman in this poem. Its main theme is love presented in prose. Mary Wroth uses sonnets as the dialogue between man and women. The poem "Song" is an actual song at the end of Book 1 in Urania. Its main theme is about the man who has fallen out of love. I will go ahead and read the poem.

Its rhyme scheme is AABBAABBA. It is a pastoral Romance. It is mainly saying that love fades and will die out. The tone is this poem is a negative emotion because the reader is not happy and thinks love is a causeless curse. It also has apostrophe because it is addressing someone but there is no response.

1. Do you think this poem has irony? (Like do you think he actually means this or just saying in despite maybe because the other person did not love him back?

Answer: It was hard for me to understand but I think he might be saying this is despite of her maybe because she does not want to be with him.

2. What literary element does both Mary Wroth use in "Song" and Sidney use in "Astrophil and Stella"?

Answer: They both use the Petrachian paradox of love and pain in their works. They both compare love to something good then something bad. Wroth uses it in lines 6-10.

3. How might this poem be reflected on her own life?

Answer: After her husband died, she started having an affair with