Theme: Journeyman's Lament
Content: A plodding sonnet echoing the plodding nature of a journey on horseback leaving the subject.
How heavy
do I journey on
the way,
When what I seek my weary
travel's end
Doth teach that ease and that repose to say
"Thus far the miles
are measured from thy friend."
- The sonnet wearily and heavily plods on just as the author's journey does.
- miles are measured echoes the rhythmic plodding of the journey and how it grows in length from the one-syllable miles to the two-syllable measured.
The beast that
bears me, tired with
my
woe,
Plods dully on
to bear that weight in
me,
As if by some instinct the wretch did know
His rider loved not speed, being made from thee.
- The horse carries a double burden: the physical weight of the author plus the metaphorical weight on the author's mind.
- beast that bears again echoes the rhythmic plodding of the journey, as does with woe...weight.
The bloody spur cannot provoke him on
That sometimes anger thrusts into his hide,
Which heavily he answers with a groan
More sharp to me than spurring to his side;
For that same groan doth put this in my mind:
My grief lies onward
and my joy behind.
- The author has clearly left the subject and is moving further away from them on his journey.
- The groan of the horse reinforces the pain he feels in his absence, not any sympathy for the horse.
Critical text © NigelDavies.home@Virgin.net