Question

The Nightingale or Philomela
Comprehension Questions

1. What season does the poet refer to? Speing
2. What does the poet compare Philomela to and why?

3. What metaphor does the poet use in the first stanza?

4. What do you think is the tone of the second stanza?

5. Can you explain the lines: But I, who daily craving, Cannot have to content me, Have more cause to lament me​

Answer 1

Q. What do you know about The Philomela Myth?

Ans. If you are not familiar with the story of Ovid, it is in his Metamorphoses, originally written in Latin dating from 8 CE. Tereus, married to Procne, rapes Philomela who was Procne’s sister. When Philomela Threats to expose him, he cuts her tongue out and locks her hostage. She can’t speak, but she learns to weave, so she weaves a tapestry that explaining her ordeal that she smuggles out to her sister. The tale is not happily finished, however. In reality, Procne and Philomela are murdering Procne’s only son and feeding him to Tereus, to exact their revenge. The women then run and turn themselves into birds as they escape.

Q. How does the poet convince the reader that his condition is worse than that of someone who has been raped and pushed into everlasting silence (his tongue has been cut off)

Ans. The speaker in this poem employs the art of rhetoric. This is an example of a courtly-loved poem, in which the speaker (Sidney) is in love with a woman he can never have. Sidney assesses himself in this poem by alluding to the ancient legend (Philomela). In doing so, he can relate his condition to hers. After being raped and having her tongue cut out, the speaker says, ” That here is juster cause of painful sadness”, suggesting he has a better reason to be depressed than she does: “since wanting is more woe than too much having”. He’s basically saying it’s worse wanting someone and not getting them, than having too much of something you didn’t want. In short, he tries to convince the reader that his condition is worse than that of someone who has been raped and pushed into everlasting silence (his tongue has been cut off).