thou blind man's mark.

 Thou Blind Man's Mark is a poem that examines the complex feeling of desire; Sir Philip Sidney takes a dark undertone with his dissection of a feeling that is universal to the world by putting it through the lens of someone who believes themselves to be trapped by it, a detail he exacerbates through alliteration, metaphors and emotional details that all give character to the speaker, and to his particular mindset in regards to his feelings on the matter of feeling.

Desire, a hot topic for numerous poets within the boundaries of history, is addressed in such a way that it portrays the speaker as having become frustrated with his own passions; his desire for the unnamed person. He looks within himself to kill that feeling of desire, having found it especially frustrating and maddening, to such a degree that it even interferes with his sleep. "Too long, too long, asleep thou hast me brought."; for even in sleep, he is plagued by his desires and his needs. Needs that he believes he wants in vain, though the futility of his passion kindles his fire, regardless.

In some ways, it can be said that his belief that his desires are for vain are what cause him true madness, instead of the feeling itself. The idea that he believes the object of his desire causes this within him ---- "But yet in vain thou hast my ruin sought;..." ---- and that he 'desires' not but to 'kill desire' leaves the poem with a dark intonation. After all, if he believes the object of his desire is causing this madness intentionally, then he may believe that the only way he can stem the tide of his desire is to kill that which is causing it. The object of the desire itself ---- the person upon whom he lays his intentions.

The poem itself uses alliteration in order to expand upon the 'villain' of desire ---- "cradle of causeless care", "thou web of will", "mangled mind", "thy worthless ware" ---- he describes the sensation as not being beautiful, but as being truly insidious. To him, this feeling is a "snare", and a "band of all evils". It isn't beautiful, he isn't fond of it. Instead, it is a cruelty forced upon him. By making these metaphors again and again, he is solidifying the personification of desire as a villain, as his villain.

A few lines in the poem provide repetition to better make the point. "Desire, desire" and "Too long, too long". The repetition in this poem is used to give off the tone of exasperation. He is tired and weary ( and wary ) of his feelings. They're interfering with his sleep, his virtue, and his mind; reiterated through the poem by repetition, so that the reader can feel as he feels. Can experience the same feeling of exasperation that the speaker has.

Notably, there is a rhyming scheme within Thou Blind Man's Mark. -are's and -ought's and -ire's, which tie the poem together in such a way that it flows as a person reads along. As true with most pieces of this period, commas at the end are replaced with the outdated semi-colon, which are abandoned only at key occasions in which the speaker is finishing a point or moving through a list. Lists are used often throughout the poem, the speaker rattling off all the things that he considers akin to desire. Things that people are 'caught' in ---- snares and scum and scattered thoughts. This gives off the impression that he believes himself to be trapped by desire, trapped by who he has desire for... a trap that he believes he can extricate himself from only if he puts an end to it himself.

As shown, Sir Philip Sidney has expertly vivisected the emotion and sensation of desire through Thou Blind Man's Mark, having looked into the complexities of human desire through the lens of this particular speaker, who feels trapped by desire, feels he must kill desire, and who abhors his own desire. The poem, though short, provides particular insight into the human experience of passion... and the darker undertones within it.

--

My feelings on this particular essay are iffy. I don't think I did a very good job getting to the heart of the poem's meaning, which would definitely detract from my overall score. Although I think I did discuss my point coherently and eloquently, the fact that I missed the point of the poem entirely would cause me a serious deduction in terms of points. I am proud of my writing here, however, and I stand confidently behind my interpretation, but I think that poems and analyzing them is my weak point, so I should definitely work on better understanding the poems.