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  1. Immortality and love are themes that Edmund Spenser explores. The majority of the poem is devoted to his attempts to immortalize his true love. No matter how hard he tries, he never seems to succeed in what he strives for. Spenser illustrates the inevitable nature of death by using the imagery of thRead more

    Immortality and love are themes that Edmund Spenser explores. The majority of the poem is devoted to his attempts to immortalize his true love. No matter how hard he tries, he never seems to succeed in what he strives for. Spenser illustrates the inevitable nature of death by using the imagery of the sand and waves. In addition, while he keeps writing in between the waves, he confronts death and tries to outlive it. This demonstrates the power of his love in the face of overwhelming difficulties.

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  1. Alliteration: The repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words in close proximity. For example, in the lines "But came the waves and washed it away" and "My verse your virtues rare shall eternize." Assonance: The repetition of vowel sounds within words. For example, in the lines "A mortaRead more

    1. Alliteration: The repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words in close proximity. For example, in the lines “But came the waves and washed it away” and “My verse your virtues rare shall eternize.”
    2. Assonance: The repetition of vowel sounds within words. For example, in the lines “A mortal thing so to immortalize” and “Where whenas death shall all the world subdue.”
    3. Personification: Giving human qualities or attributes to non-human entities. For example, the waves are personified as actively washing away the written name, and death is personified as subduing the world.
    4. Metaphor: A comparison between two unrelated things to create a vivid image or evoke a certain emotion. For example, the line “let baser things devise / To die in dust, but you shall live by fame” compares the beloved’s immortality through fame to the mortality of other things that perish in dust.

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  1. The poem's central idea is the ability of love to rise above human transience and reach immortality. The speaker declares his determination to immortalize his lover through his poems, expressing his intense love and devotion to her. By claiming that their love and her qualities will be kept eternallRead more

    The poem’s central idea is the ability of love to rise above human transience and reach immortality. The speaker declares his determination to immortalize his lover through his poems, expressing his intense love and devotion to her. By claiming that their love and her qualities will be kept eternally through his poem, he rejects the notion of mortality and decay. The poem focuses on the idea that real love may outlive time and mortality as it tackles the themes of love, beauty, and the search for immortality. It depicts love as an entity that has the power to elevate and immortalize both the lover and the poet.

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