The following essay will examine the two poems, 'The Raven' by Edgar Alan Poe and 'Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer's Day?' by William Shakespeare

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Poe v Shakespeare: A Comparative essay

The following essay will examine the two poems, ‘The Raven’ by Edgar Alan Poe and ‘Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day?’ by William Shakespeare ultimately evaluating which is more effective and appropriate for a modern audience. The two poems will be evaluated using the criteria of structure, language and discourse.

While ‘The Raven’ is more effective in its use of discourse, ‘Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day?’ is noticeably superior in its use of figurative language and literary structure, privileging and foregrounding ideas and values that are more appropriate for modern readers.

First and foremost, ‘Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day?’ is noticeably more effective in its use of literary structure in comparison to ‘The Raven’. Consequently, the two poems bare very few conventional similarities in relation to structure. Shakespeare’s ‘Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day?’ is in the form of a Sonnet, a rhyming poem in 14 lines using iambic pentameter. Poe’s ‘The Raven’ differs immensely, a poem in free verse, characterised by 18 stanzas, 6 lines per stanza for a total of 108 lines. With characteristic skill Shakespeare uses the conventional Sonnet to exalt his beloved and consequently poetry, whereas Poe chooses to use free verse and most notably a powerful refrain, repeating the word ‘Nevermore’ (seen in Li6 Sta8-18) to chill the modern reader. Poe unconventionally writes his tale backwards. Through this, the effect is determined first and the whole plot is set; then the web grows in reverse from the original effect.

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Common theme of love and beauty, Poe conveying, guilt sadness and death of beauty,
Shakespeare conveying immortality and exalt of love and beauty

Secondly, ‘The Raven’ is less effective in its use of figurative language in comparison to ‘Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day?’  ‘Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day?’ can be best deconstructed in the form of three quatrains and a couplet. The first quatrain introduces the primary conceit of the poem, the comparison of the poet’s beloved to a summer’s day. The first line introduces this comparison, while the second builds upon it when ...

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