Oxford English Dictionary (OED) Reading for Sonnet 45: The lover describeth his being striken with the sight of his love
- The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) cleared up some confusion I was having with this poem. For instance, in line 6 it states “Sunne beames to turn with so great vehemence”. While I knew the first part talked about sun light and sun rays, I was completely confused with the word “vehemence”. I thought the word would be connected to the term “venom” (poison) because if you stand out in the sun too long it can damage or burn your skin which can be fatal. Although when I looked it up on the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) it means “intensity or strenght of smell or colour. rare, impetuosity, great force or violence, of physical action or agents”. These definitions provided more better context when trying to understand the context of the poem as a whole. It also makes the “sun” that is used in the sonnet as an important symbol that helps carry the narrative being told the readers.
Oxford English Dictionary (OED) Reading for Sonnet 97: A description of such a one as he would love by Sir Thomas Wyatt
- While this sonnet was not too difficult to understand, the Oxford English Dictionary helped me to understand the imagery better. In particular, it helped me understand the word “tress” because when I first read the word “tress” I thought it was Early Modern English or archaic English spelling of the modern day word “dress” because it was followed by the phrase “should be of crisped gold” and I instantly thought this woman has to be wearing a gold dress. However, when I looked up the definition in the Oxford English Dictionary it defines “tress” as “A plait or braid of the hair of the head, usually of a woman”. When I found that out it changed the way I interpreted the sonnet. It made me realize that the description that the description Wyatt uses that of a woman was with blonde hair (“crisped gold”). In addition, it also amplified the sonnet’s vivid imagery already presented to the readers.
