tence of the fi rst QUATRAIN fl ows into the fi rst sentence
of the second quatrain with an ENJAMBMENT. Punning
on “morne” (l. 5), the speaker asks that it soon be
morning and suggests that it will also be a time of
mourning because he will no longer be able to dream
happily of Delia. “Morne” is a variant spelling of the
verb to mourne and the abbreviated poetic form of
morning.
In the second quatrain, the speaker’s regrets over a
thoughtlessly spent youth echo Sonnet 5 in Delia in
which the speaker says, “Whilst youth and error led
my wandring minde, / And set my thoughts in hee-
deles [heedless] waies to range: / All unawares a God-
dess chaste I fi nde” (ll. 1–3). In Sonnet 45, these words
are repeated within the context of sleep, thereby insin-
uating that the speaker’s “ill-aduentered youth” was
sleep, and his maturity, years later, awareness. The
lover’s sleeplessness—a conventional Petrarchan
theme—is thus further complicated by this parallel.
Because the speaker’s dreams, regardless of how
pleasant they are to him, are lies, he supplicates that
they “cease... th’ymagery of our day desires” (l. 9).
His nighttime dreams only serve to remind him, when
day arrives, that Delia has not accepted his love.
Dreams are also instrumental, however, in shaping his
plans for the future, as is suggested by “To modell
foorth the passions of the morrow” (l. 10). The third
quatrain implies that his daytime reveries shape his
thoughts at night and that the following morning, his
memory reminds him more fully of Delia’s absence.
Caught between trying to escape the harshness of real-
ity and the ethereality of dreaming, the speaker con-
cludes this sonnet with a deathlike wish that he
continue to sleep so that he “neuer vvake, to feel the
dayes disdayne” (l. 14).
Unlike most of the sonnets in Delia, Sonnet 45 does
not follow the Elizabethan (ENGLISH SONNET) rhyme
scheme, nor does it follow generic sonnet conventions.
The linked fi rst and second quatrains suggest greater
unity between the ideas that unfold in those fi rst eight
lines. Critics have noted a reference to the myth of
Ixion and his grasping of clouds in the rhyming COU-
PLET; mythological allusions abound throughout Delia.
More generally, Sonnet 45 is known for its pace, and
successful depiction of the contrasts between night and
day.
See also DELIA (OVERVIEW).
Josie Panzuto“DEOR” ANONYMOUS (before 1072) This 42-
line lyrical poem is found in the EXETER BOOK alongside
other elegies. Often classifi ed as generally heroic, it is
varyingly referred to as a CONSOLATIO, a LAMENT, and an
UBI SUNT poem. The poem is comprised of six STANZAs,
each of which ends with a REFRAIN: “This too shall
pass.” In line 37, the poet names himself—Deor.
Deor is a professional who expects his audience to
be familiar with the general stories he references.
Each of these touches on tragic events and responses
to them. The fi rst stanza encapsulates the story of
Wayland, a skilled artisan imprisoned by King
Nithad, who wreaks his revenge by killing Nithad’s
sons, raping his daughter, and then escaping. Stanza
2 continues this tale from the perspective of Beado-
hild, Nithad’s daughter, pregnant from her rape. The
third stanza is about the doomed lovers Geat and
Maethild. The fourth declares Theodoric the bane of
many. The fi fth stanza depicts Eormenric as a cruel
tyrant. Finally, the sixth addresses the general suffer-
ing of human existence. Turning personal, the poet
identifi es himself and bemoans his loss of status:
Once a respected court poet, he was turned out by
his lord.
These stories are taken from a variety of sources,
including the OLD NORSE/ICELANDIC EDDAS AND SAGAS,
although the names have been anglicized. Most criti-
cism of the poem focuses on the historical connections
or on the role of the SCOP (old English band), as well as
the oral poetic tradition. However, some recent femi-
nist criticism has investigated the poem’s contents in
light of women’s power or lack thereof.
See also ELEGY, WIDSITH.
FUTHER READING
Alexander, Michael, trans. The Earliest English Poems. New
York: Penguin, 1992.
Krapp, George Philip, and Elliott Dobbie van Kirk, eds.
The Exeter Book. New York: Columbia University Press,
1966.“DEOR” 145