Discuss how Pre nineteenth century poets explore love and sexuality.

"Love"

"Better after death"

Going back to how the Poet manages to combine all elements of physical, emotional and spirituality, these three words make love become ideal quality and make her love overcome death-eternal love. The very metaphysical imagery lifts the poem from the mundane to the eternal such as-

"Being"

"Grace"

These two words have connotations of eternity or infinity and "Grace" is also part of the religious lexical set. Also, in one line the poet uses the triadic structure or "magic three" to emphasise her true feelings-

"I love thee with the breath, smiles, tears of all my life"

The use of "breath", "smiles" and "tears" all express emotion, and by using three nouns this helps to encapsulate the fundamental experiences which encompasses all moods of life.

Unlike "How do I love thee?", "A woman to her lover" by Christine Walsh explores her opinions in love and marriage but describes in two ways what she does want and does not want in a lover. This is quite different to "How do I love thee?" because it is a very uncharacteristic Victorian love poem which challenges the major stereotypical views of Victorian marriage.

"In drudgery and silence

No servant will I be

If that be what you ask, O lover I refuse you!"

Here, we see that Walsh is emphatic of what she does not want to be a slave to him, and back in the Victorian time it would have been usual for women to not question the idea of her doing most things for her husband. But here, we infer that she is not like other women in marriages. The idea of women behaving like servants, being voiceless objects to be adored or to he simply the source of sexual gratification for their husbands is clearly not how she wants to be treated and would refuse her partner if he treats like as such.

"How do I love thee?" is more of a romantic poem which explores all the positive aspects in relationships and in this poem, "A woman to her lover" it also reflects the changing attitudes and her emotions to these views which is un-usual as women usually would not be open to sharing their thoughts therefore the whole poem is highly enjambed which emphasises the force and vigour with which she expresses her unconventional views. Both poems contain religious/angelic lexical sets, examples in "A woman to her lover"-

"Worship"

"Heaven scent"

"Delight"

"Purity"

"Passion"

This is similar to the set used in "How do I love thee?" and expresses how she wants to be treated. The imagery is used in two ways; the first is used to describe how she does not want to be treated which is quite an ironic use of language, especially in the opening of the second verse as it is quite abrupt. Some examples used are-

"Heaven"

"Golden"

Living angel"

"Doll"

By using these words, it helps to underpin how she is treated and creates a sarcastic cadence and shows she is against stereotypical view of couples.

"Go!-I am no doll to dress and sit for feeble worship"

This is an example of how Walsh uses "worship" in a negative connotation. When we think of religious imagery we tend to assume it would be used in a positive way such as to underpin how much one loves someone and this is how it is used in "How do I love thee?" However here in this poem, Walsh uses it in two ways. The other way is to stress how she wants to be treated-

"And our co-equal love will make the stars to laugh wit joy

And we shall have the music of the spheres for bridal march

And to its circling lugue pass, hang holding hand

Until we reach the very heart of God."

Here in the latter verse of the poem, we realise she's saying she wants to be equal and from the word set we also realise she wants a friendship between her and her lover. She also states quite clearly her conditions of marriage and that equality is important to her and in every sense is what she asks for but there is simply no ambiguity, it is totally explicit. This is quite the opposite to "How do I love thee?" because in "How do I love thee?" Browning is quite content with how she is being treated and is happy but in "A woman to her lover" it is about a rebellious woman who is not satisfied with how she is treated and therefore wants more.

"The beggar woman" is a very humourous, satirical and narrative poem about an aspect of male sexuality-lust and how it is treated by an intelligent woman. This is a very different poem from "How do I love thee?" and "A woman to her lover" because both of those poems are about women who describe their relationships. Though this poem is about love, it is not about a couple in a relationship it explores male lust and domination but it is cleverly reversed through the cunning and of a quick-witted woman. The poem by William King is full of humour which is based on the satirical ending of the poem. The deft characterisation of the man and the woman and the skilful use of polysenic language, for example- In line one,

"The man deliberately goes astray"

This is a pun and could mean to get lost from friends however, it can go morally astray. I.E- Illicit intercourse with the woman.

Another polysenic line-

"Other game in view"

This refers to the idea of hunting but he hunts the woman which is also a sexual innuendo. The use of the polysemic language helps to add humour and also has sexual connotations and puns which readers can pick up on. The characterisation of the woman is equally clever and is ironic because as she is a beggar we would expect her to be quite clueless. Even her physical descriptions seem quite un-usual for a beggar-

"Her cheeks were fresh and linen clean"

"A beggar by trade yet not so mean"

The poet describes explicitly how she does not have a typical beggar appearance as she is not scruffy, she is clean and only a beggar by her job. At the beginning, she appears to be attractive and feminine but she is vulnerable however in line nine, she was not used to being treated with courtesy.

"She needed not much courtship to be kind"

This line breaks the idea which we might be thinking about this beggar, because at the beginning she was described as clean, we then realise she still has some beggar qualities as she does not need to be treated with politeness. We may summarise that the reason she is a beggar is because of her baby on her back as women in the seventeenth century if a baby was present. However, this man who wants to have sexual intercourse with this woman disregards the baby and only wants to satisfy his sexual appetite. Later on in the poem, the man expects to mount the woman not the baby but this poem reverses the role as she tricks the man into mounting the baby on his back.

"I trust the child to you with all my heart;

But ere you get another, 'ten't amiss

To try a year or two how you'll keep this"

Here, the twist in the poem inverts the widely social view of male domination over women but shows at the end, the woman is actually the one dominating the male as she controls the situation and does not end up giving into what he wants. This woman is quite independent and knows how to look after herself, which could be due to the fact that she is a supposed single parent beggar.

In "A birthday" by Christina Rossetti we immediately know that this is going to be a positive and cheerful poem about love. The title "A birthday" has a celebration connotation however although birthdays are usually days when people are born but this poem is about romance not an actual birthday, although we could guess that this is perhaps a birth of love and that this woman is ecstatic as one should be on their birthday. This is a very simple yet passionate poem; the love is very sexual towards her lover. She uses the repetition "My heart" four times to show growth and fertility.

"My heart is like a singing bird

Whose next is in a watered shoot;

My heart is like an apple-tree

Whose boughs are bent with the thickest fruit;

My heart is like a rainbow shell

That paddles in a haleyon sea;

My heart is gladder than all these"

The rich use of natural imagery makes us think that the love she has for this man continues to blossom and by using "thickest fruit" and "apple-tree" we think of growth of her love. The poem is broken onto octaves. In the first octave she talks about her feelings, the second half she explores how she would like to display those feelings openly. The deftly structured poem explores all her feelings in her relationship, which like "How do I love thee?" is un-usual in Victorian times when perhaps normally women were not so open with their opinions on sexuality and desire. Although, both "How do I love thee?" and "A birthday" are two very positive poems which celebrate the idea of love, they present their feelings quite differently as "A birthday" explores sexuality deeper. She uses a series of similes, figurative language and metaphors. Examples of this-

"Carve it in doves and pomegranates.

And peacocks with a hundred eyes;"

"My heart is like a rainbow shell"

"Work it in gold and silver grapes"

The use of these metaphors, similes and figurative language create more emotion by comparing it to something else especially "pomegranates" and "peacocks" because they have huge sexual connotations as peacocks attracts female arousal, pomegranate seeds however is the symbol of sexuality and is appropriate to highlight both sexual and emotional love. The regular, lilting rhythm reflects light hearted joy which is a contrast between "How do I love thee?" because they both express light hearted joy. Although, "A birthday" has no religious imagery and therefore we cannot be sure if her love is pure and she could just be possibly in "love" with the idea of love whereas in "How do I love thee?" Browning makes it clear that her love is explicitly pure and does not explore sexuality which imply that it is not lust that her love is fuelled by but her true feelings; unconditional love. In "A woman to her lover", Walsh shares her views on what she wants and dislikes in her relationship and although she is receiving affection and attention we realise she is not like other women in Victorian society and dislikes being worshipped when in the other two poems they enjoy being idolised. But "The beggar woman" is an explicit poem about male sexuality and does not explore feelings, just the physical side to a relationship-just for his sexual pleasure.

"My last duchess" by Robert Browning, is a dramatic, cold, distant and detached monologue which is a personal declaration of love yet it is a dark distorted love. The poem is based on Count Alfonso, Duke of Fariahro and re-counts and recollects in the form of dramatic monologue. The rigid rhyming couplets reflect the un-bending and rigidity of the Duke's attitudes and emphasise his lack of tolerance and understanding. The poem is written referring to past historical event which is used to explore the hypocrisy of many Victorian marriages and idea prevalent in Victorian times that a woman was her husband's possession. For example, in the beginning-

"That piece a wonder"

The pompous Duke would be referring to this woman as a work of art. In this poem, women are portrayed as possessions. We find out that he cannot control his wife looking at other men as he could not stand the fact that she flirted with people as his status and wealth is important to him and in back then, the Victorian idea that males were naturally superior to females is reflected in the Duke's pride. He is angry not just because of the Duchess' supposed sexual promiscuity but also his ancient lineage.

"A man gave his wife a name"

This implies that a woman should be grateful for his name as a man giving her the lineage is evident here. Also, shows the male dominance in this era.

This poem is written in a male perspective therefore we would expect there to be a different approach to love, we would expect the man to be more dominant and boastful of situations where he thought he impressed his lover. In this poem, the stereotypical view of men in a relationship is clearly explored as he mentions the female body parts-

"My favour at her breast"

The attitudes towards love and sexuality in "A woman to her lover" and "His last duchess" contrasts between the two poems as the characters want different expectations of marriage. However "A woman to her lover" is a more overt poem as the woman states clearly what she would like but in "My last duchess" the woman does not like the affection she gets but in this poem, it is the opposite, the wife of the Duke continues to flirt and capture the other men's attention and therefore the Duke is un-happy and jealous about this. The contrasts between the two poems want different expectations of marriage.

It is also no coincidence that Browning begins the poem with a work of art and also finishes a reference to one. In-between the two references, the formal and prospective wives are treated like objects to be disposed of as objects of art. The last few lines-

"As starting, is my object. Nay we'll go

together down, sir. Notice Neptune, though.

Taming a sea-horse, thought a rarity,

Which Claus of Innsbruck cast in bronze for me!"

This deft use of possessions refers back to the idea of him wanting to be in control of his wives and is obvious that all his is interested in is his wealth, status and material possessions.

In conclusion, "A birthday" and "How do I love thee?" these are poems written by females so therefore their idea of love and sexuality are different in this era but although "A woman to her lover" is written by a woman we know that she is not like most women as she explicitly shares her rebellious opinions on marriage in a harsh cadence. But in "My last duchess" we realise that it is quite similar to "The beggar woman" because they both are poems written in male perspectives and are concerned about their reputation and explores male dominance which is normal in the Victorian society.