Cummings Study Guide

......."A Farewell to Arms" is a lyric poem written for the retirement ceremony in 1590 of Queen Elizabeth I's champion knight. It pledges undying loyalty to the queen (1533-1603). Peele had also written a play, The Arraignment of Paris (1584), that complimented the queen.

Summary

.......The time has come for an aging knight to retire from the field of battle. His once-golden hair is now gray, and the strength of his youth is gone. But his readiness to serve the queen dutifully and lovingly remains strong. So he will leave the queen's court, put away his helmet and, instead of writing love poems, compose prayers that he will say on his knees in his cottage.
.......To pass the time in his humble dwelling he will teach the country boys a song of praise about their queen.

Theme

.......The theme of the poem is the aging soldier's valediction, which states: Though he is too old now to serve on the field of battle, he will continue to serve his queen (Elizabeth I) as her "beadsman"—that is, he will pray for her.

Who Was the Soldier?

.......Peele wrote the poem on the occasion of the retirement in 1590 of Sir Henry Lee (1533-1611) as Queen Elizabeth's champion knight, who performed in jousts before the queen each year on the November 17 anniversary of Elizabeth's accession (1558) to the English throne. Lee continued to serve the queen as Master of the Royal Armouries, a position to which he was appointed in 1580. It is said that Peele's poem was sung to the queen during Lee's final jousting tournament on November 17, 1590.

End Rhyme

.......In each stanza, the first line rhymes with the third, the second with the fourth, and the fifth with the sixth. All the lines in the poem end with masculine rhyme (consisting of single syllables) except lines 2 and 4 (ceasing, increasing), which end with feminine rhyme.

.......Peele wrote the poem in iambic pentameter. A line of iambic pentameter has five pairs of syllables, or five feet. Each foot consists of an iamb (an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable). Because there are five iambs—or five iambic feet—in each line, the metric format is called iambic pentameter. (The prefix ''pent'' means ''five.'')
.......The first three lines of the second stanza demonstrate the metric pattern.

......1.................2...................3................4................5
And, LOV..|..ers' SON..|..nets TURN'D..|..to HO..|..ly PSALMS,

.....1...............2..................3.................4..................5
A MAN-..|..at-ARMS..|..must NOW..|..serve ON..|..his KNEES

His golden locks Time hath to silver turn'd;
O Time too swift, O swiftness never ceasing!
His youth 'gainst time and age hath ever spurn'd,
But spurn'd in vain; youth waneth by increasing:
Beauty, strength, youth, are flowers but fading seen;
Duty, faith, love, are roots, and ever green.

His helmet now shall make a hive for bees;
And, lovers' sonnets turn'd to holy psalms,
A man-at-arms must now serve on his knees,
And feed on prayers, which are Age his alms:¹
But though from court to cottage he depart,
His Saint²is sure of his unspotted heart.

And when he saddest sits in homely cell,³
He'll teach his swains⁴this carol for a song,—
'Blest be the hearts that wish my sovereign well,
Curst be the souls that think her any wrong.'
Goddess,⁵allow this agèd man his right
To be your beadsman⁶now that was your knight.

Notes

1....Age his alms: Alms for his old age.
2....Saint: Queen Elizabeth I.
3....cell: A room in his cottage.
4....swains: Country fellows.
5....Goddess: Queen Elizabeth I.
6....Beadsman: One who prays; one who uses rosary beads to pray.

.......Following are examples of figures of speech in the poem.

Alliteration

• Write a short essay explaining the duties of a knight who was an English monarch's champion.
• Write a short poem commemorating a special occasion.
• Write an essay that uses as its thesis the meaning of line 6: Duty, faith, love, are roots, and ever green.
• What does the poem have in common with the speech given by a valedictorian at a college or high-school graduation ceremony?
• Line 8 mentions sonnets and psalms. What is a sonnet? What is a psalm?
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