The Pocket University entry for September 20th is two plays by poets who were contemporaries of William Shakespeare, and are compared frequently to one another.
The first is Michael Drayton, who provides the sonnet "Since there's no help, come let us kiss and part", first printed in 1619. This poem can be read online at my fellow blogger Brooklyn Arden's site.
This poem describes two lovers at the end of their relationship, with the narrator struggling to come to terms with the relationship ending. For 12 lines the narrator reflects on the certain end of this relationship, where two people once close will part ways, perhaps never to even be friends. In the last two lines, we see a secret hope that the lover will maybe, just maybe, do something to redeem this failing love.
The second poet in today's selection is Samuel Daniel. The wikipedia entry for Daniel ties several poets from the last few days together, including Thomas Campion, whose entry in the reading plan slightly predates the start of this blog. Various events of Daniel's life are closely tied to Edmund Spencer of "The Faerie Queene" fame.
Daniel contributes the poem "Love is a Sickness", which concludes act I of "Hymen's Triumph: A Pastoral Tragicomedy". It was published in 1615. To me the poem, taken out of context of its surrounding work, and presented by itself in the reading for today, seemed, well, whimsical. I failed to locate an online source for act I of "Hymen's Triumph", but evidently Hymen faces avarice, envy, and jealousy. In the context of the greater work, this poem probably becomes more of a lament, I would guess.
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