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Saturday, July 10, 2010
It's Locus Focus time again!
Locus Focus is hosted by Enbrethiliel over at ShreddedCheddar. Today we have our first structured focus; our theme is "family home."
I've chosen Ben Jonson's description of the Sidneys' home, Penshurst. This poem is traditionally recognized as the model of the country house poem, inspiring others like Andrew Marvell's "Upon Appleton House" and Thomas Carew's "To Saxham." As usual, John Donne cannot resist playing his own and slightly variant melody in "Twickenham Garden." "To Penshurst" though, is generally taken to be the pattern of such poetry. It opens with an apostrophe to the house:
Thou art not, PENSHURST, built to envious show
Of touch, or marble; nor canst boast a row
Of polish'd pillars, or a roof of gold:
Thou hast no lantern whereof tales are told;
Or stair, or courts; but stand'st an ancient pile,
And these grudg'd at, art reverenced the while.
Of touch, or marble; nor canst boast a row
Of polish'd pillars, or a roof of gold:
Thou hast no lantern whereof tales are told;
Or stair, or courts; but stand'st an ancient pile,
And these grudg'd at, art reverenced the while.
("To Penshurst" 1-6)
Jonson immediately invites us in to a family dwelling, one not "built to envious show," but one which, nevertheless is "reverenced" for the happiness found there. He continues to describe the central features of the landscape that reflect important moments of the Sidney family history, like the tree named for the lady of the house who had gone into labor beneath its branches ("To Penshurst"19). In fact, we soon get the feeling that what is special about Penshurst is that it does contain so many happy memories and was witness to so many extraordinary people. Jonson tells the story of an unannounced visit of King James I to Penshurst, and how the house and the lady of the house did credit to their standing:
There's nothing I can wish, for which I stay.
That found King JAMES, when hunting late, this way,
With his brave son, the prince ; they saw thy fires
Shine bright on every hearth, as the desires
Of thy Penates had been set on flame,
To entertain them ; or the country came
That found King JAMES, when hunting late, this way,
With his brave son, the prince ; they saw thy fires
Shine bright on every hearth, as the desires
Of thy Penates had been set on flame,
To entertain them ; or the country came
With all their zeal, to warm their welcome here.
What (great, I will not say, but) sudden chear
Didst thou then make 'em ! and what praise was heap'd
On thy good lady, then ! who therein reap'd
The just reward of her high huswifry ;
To have her linen, plate, and all things nigh,
When she was far ; and not a room, but drest,
As if it had expected such a guest !
What (great, I will not say, but) sudden chear
Didst thou then make 'em ! and what praise was heap'd
On thy good lady, then ! who therein reap'd
The just reward of her high huswifry ;
To have her linen, plate, and all things nigh,
When she was far ; and not a room, but drest,
As if it had expected such a guest !
("To Penshurst 74-88)
The lady of the house must indeed be commended if she could entertain a king and his courtiers on the spur of the moment! Still, overall, though Penshurst is a thing of beauty, it was not built merely to function as an aesthetic object. It's most important function, and the one to which Jonson returns again and again, is to enfold and reflect the spirit of the family who live there.
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