Read the lines from Spenser’s "Sonnet 75.”Vain man, said she, that dost in vain assayA mortal thing so to immortalize;For I myself shall like to this decay,And eke my name be wiped out likewise.Now read the lines from Donne’s "Holy Sonnet 10.” One short sleep past, we wake eternally, And Death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.
Answer
A
In both sonnets, the speakers seek to understand why mortality is so final and unavoidable.
B
In both sonnets, the speakers say that people need to be immortalized to be remembered after death.
C
The speaker in the first sonnet seeks immortality, while the speaker in the second emphasizes the need to accept mortality.
D
The speaker in the first sonnet says mortality is inevitable, while the speaker in the second emphasizes that the soul continues on.
Explanation
In Spenser’s lines, the woman says that she will decay and her name will be erased, showing that ordinary human life and memory are mortal. Donne’s speaker looks beyond death, saying that after a short sleep people will wake eternally and death itself will end. Thus, the first poem stresses mortality’s inevitability, while the second emphasizes continued life beyond death.
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