Question

ANALYZE CRAFT AND STRUCTURE —“Idea: Sonnet 1,” by Michael Drayton
Read the poem. Then, answer the question(s).

Like an adventurous seafarer am I,

Who hath some long and dangerous voyage been;

And called to tell of his discovery,

How far he sailed, what countries he had seen;

(5) Proceeding from the port whence he put forth,

Shews by his compass how his course he steered,

When East, when West, when South, and when by North,

As how the Pole, to every place was reared;

What capes he doubled, of what continent,

(10)The gulfs and straits that strangely he had past;

Where most becalmed, where with foul weather spent,

And on what rocks in peril to be cast:

Thus in my Love, Time calls me to relate

My tedious travels, and oft-varying fate.

Multiple Choice Question
Which of the following best describes the speaker in this poem?
A.
a sixteenth-century English poet
B.
a generalized figure whose main trait is an unhappy experience in love
C.
an abstract voice suited to stating the poet’s ideas
D.
a highly individualized character with many specific traits

Answer 1

B

The speaker is a generalized, metaphorical persona — cast as a seafarer — whose main characteristic is an unhappy, wearisome experience in love. The voyage imagery maps emotional trials and changing fortunes rather than giving a highly individualized biography or an abstract, impersonal voice.