Spenser’s Sonnet 79, both reflects and rejects renaissance ideas. It reflects the idea that time is passing by and life will soon come to an end.  Like many renaissance sonnets Spenser’s Sonnet 79 is trying to immortalize a lover. However, this sonnet differs from the typical renaissance sonnet when it comes to ideas about beauty. [...]

William Shakespeare, perhaps the world’s most celebrated playwright, has been at the heart of much speculation: Was Shakespeare not a man, but a group of writers? Was Shakespeare a penname for Sir Francis Bacon? Was the playwright infected with syphilis? These sensational theories are entertaining, but focus less on the work and [...]

Perhaps the greatest legacy of the Irish writer James Joyce was his ability to illustrate the development of the human mind and personality, which he did with an accuracy, eloquence, and accomplishment that few writers can match. His description and analysis of the socialization process, and the way that dramatic forces effect and influence a [...]

I heard a Fly buzz-when I died-
The Stillness in the Room
Was like the Stillness in the Air-
Between the Heaves of Storm-
The Eyes around-had wrung them dry-
And Breaths were gathering firm
For that last Onset-when the King
Be witnessed-in the Room-
I willed my Keepsakes-Signed away
What portion of me be
Assignable-and then it was
There interposed a Fly-
With Blue-uncertain stumbling Buzz-
Between [...]

In 1711, British poet Alexander Pope published a lengthy poem, “An Essay on Criticism,” in which he skewered critics in (mostly) iambic pentameter. At first glance, attempting to criticize Pope’s classic seems odd, if not a bit presumptuous; but on the other hand, the poem seems almost to invite criticism. Particularly instructive is the seventh [...]