Cy nthia , with Ce r tain Sonnet s: Sonnet 17
(“Cherry-lipped Adonis in his snowy shape”)
RICHARD BARNFIELD (1595) Sonnet 17 uses as the
major structuring device a convention typical of the
SONNET tradition; the BLAZON. Drawing on imagery from
the Song of Songs in the Hebrew Bible, the blazon is a
catalog of the physical features—typically the face—of
the beloved as a way of praising. WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
and EDMUND SPENSER use this form to praise their ladies;
Shakespeare uses it with modifi cations to praise the
LOVELY BOY of his sonnets. RICHARD BARNFIELD’s use of
the tradition is more descriptive and sensual than any
other poet of the period. Adonis, celebrated in Shake-
speare’s VENUS AND ADONIS for his considerable beauty,
fails to reach the excellence of Ganymede. Daphnis cat-
alogs his “delicate soft limbs” (l. 5), his “lips ripe straw-
berries” (l. 9), his mouth as a “Hive” (l. 10), and his
tongue as “a hony-combe” (l. 10). His teeth are like
“pure Pearle in blushing Correll set” (l. 12). The poet
speaker even considers writing on Ganymede’s “faire
front” (l. 3), perhaps the only time a writer contem-
plates writing an act of praise upon the literal body as a
way of cataloging the beauty of that body.
In what is clearly a very sensual moment for Daph-
nis, he concludes his poem with “how can such a body
sinne-procuring, / Be slow to love, and quick to hate,
enduring? (ll. 13–14). In a rare moment in his sonnets,
Barnfi eld ventures into a discussion of “sin,” a rather
perplexing thought given the views of same-sex desire
in his day in religious and legal circles, documented in
recent scholarship. The body itself is said here to be
the physical force drawing Daphnis to him, and that
desire seems to be worth the possible theological chal-
lenges, if only Ganymede were receptive. Daphnis
seems perplexed by the attraction and repulsion that
he experiences from the person whose physical body is
the reason for that desire in the fi rst instance.
See also CYNTHIA, WITH CERTAIN SONNETS (OVERVIEW).
Daniel F. Pigg
Cy nthia , with Ce r tain Sonnet s: Sonnet 19 (“Ah
no; nor I myself: though my pure love”) RICH-
ARD BARNFIELD (1595) Fidelity in love on the part
of the Daphnis in Sonnet 19 elevates what is physical
desire to the love of a divine being, a reference to Son-
net 9. Beginning with what seems to be an abbreviated
conversation—“Ah no” and “nor I my selfe” (l. 1)—the
speaker bespeaks his fi delity in “pure love” (l. 1) to last
until his death, perhaps wishing that this depth of love
would move Ganymede. Quickly, however, Daphnis
notes that Ganymede’s divine status should not make
him oblivious to the possibility of love. Even in a divine
heart, “loves fi re” (l. 7) can be felt. Enumerating the
reasons for his love, the speaker celebrates beauty and
the loss of his soul to Ganymede.
Since RICHARD BARNFIELD has used language and let-
ters playfully throughout the SONNET SEQUENCE, he has
Daphnis to say “Even so of all the vowels, I and U, /
Are dearest unto me, as doth ensue” (ll. 13–14). It is as
if the letters themselves become emblems of the affec-
tion that represent them. Sometimes vowels in words
are separated by consonants. Daphnis envisions a
world where the two letters—the two of them—can be
together.
See also CYNTHIA, WITH CERTAIN SONNETS (OVERVIEW).
Daniel F. PiggCYWYDD Considered the most important met-
rical form of medieval Welsh poetry, the cywydd was
the favorite meter of the Poets of the Nobility and
continues to be used today. Cywydd is composed of
seven-syllable lines arranged in rhyming COUPLETs,
one ending with a stressed syllable and the other
with an unstressed syllable (masculine/ feminine pat-
tern). There is no set number of couplets employed.
A variation of cywydd had the odd-numbered lines
rhyme with the middle of the even-numbered lines,
and the even-numbered lines rhyme with each other.
This formula works best with interlocked couplets.
The poems of DAFYDD^ AP GWILYM sometimes display
cywydd.
See also WELSH WOMEN POETS, POETS OF THE PRINCES
AND POETS OF THE NOBILITY.CYWYDD 137