“Porphyria’s Lover” is written in the first person, and in fact the narrator is actually “Porphyria’s Lover”. This poem is all about the narrator’s control over his lover; some of the imagery for this sense of control is outlined above.
The start of the poem gives us an extremely unpleasant visual picture:
“The sullen rain was soon awake, / It tore the elm-tops down for spite.”
This use of imagery personifies everything outside as being unpleasant. Then in line six Porphyria appears and shuts out the cold, unforgiving outside and proceeds to warm up the cottage:
“She shut the cold out and the storm, / And kneeled and made the cheerless grate / Blaze up, and all the cottage warm;”
This lets you know that they are lovers because she effectively draws his attention away from everything bad and too her.
Only in line 15 does it appear that not everything is as it seems to be, he seems to be unresponsive to her affection and then it seems that the love Porphyria has for him may not be reciprocated by him. He considers her to be too weak and to have too much pride for her to be worthy of him. Then he imagines that he sees a moment in her eyes, which transcends pure passion and utter devotion to him. To capture this moment he strangles her with her own hair. He imagines that he has managed to capture a perfect moment that was “Perfectly pure and good”.
He uses the phrase “As a shut bud holds a bee” to show his now complete power over her.
For most of the end part of the poem he tries to justify his reasons for killing her:
“The smiling rosy little head, / So glad it has its utmost will”
In the last line of the poem he says “God has not said a word!” this is seeking further justification for his acts because he believes that if killing Porphyria was not wholly justified then God would have spoken and he would have been caught out somehow.
“My last Duchess” is written in the first person, and the title of the poem refers to the speaker’s last wife. The fact that is wife is referred to as a “Duchess” means that the speaker is obviously a member of the nobility. The speaker is extremely arrogant and similar to in “Porphyria’s Lover” holds a certain sense of control over the poem.
The first sentence tells us that the painting is of his former wife who is now deceased. The sense of control over the poem is extremely prominent in the first few lines. The person he is talking to is either not given a chance to speak or is ignored by the speaker. He gives the person he is speaking to the impression that he is completely in control with the continued use of the word “I”.
He then goes on to say that the artist was unable to replicate the Duchess’ true beauty. The first inclination you are given as to something strange happening is in the sentence:
“ She had / a heart – how shall I say? – too soon made glad, too easily impressed;”
He is criticizing her; this gives you a reason why the revelations which come later in the poem may seem somewhat justified.
The sense of control over her is emphasized in line 25 again:
“ Sir, ‘twas all one! My favor at her breast,”
The word “favor” is referring to a piece of jewelry that he gave her.
During lines 27 to 34 he is outlining why she preferred him to all other men. He is saying that when he married her he gave her his name, which was a better present than anything any other man could give her. This lets you know that the narrator is very arrogant and very proud, which is similar to the narrator in “Porphyria’s Lover”.
Throughout the next few lines he is outlining his superiority over others, particularly his wife and his arrogance to others.
In lines 43-45 he says:
“Oh sir, she smiled, no doubt, Whene’er I passed her; but who passed without / Much the same smile?”
This means that he thinks his wife did not treasure him over all other men which he claimed she did earlier on in the poem. This dissatisfaction with her grew until he decided to order her to be killed. Now that his wife is dead he has gained the complete control over her which he sought over her in life; this is a theme which is also used in “Porphyria’s Lover”.
We then discover that the person he is speaking to is an ambassador for the father of the narrator’s next wife. The fact that this ambassador never speaks is another indication to the speaker’s power. The theme of power is a theme which is used frequently in the other poem “Porphyria’s Lover”.
In the last few lines the image of Neptune taming a sea horse is one that runs parallel with the speaker’s wish to control his wife.
In the very last line he says:
“Which Claus Innsbruck cast in bronze for me!” This means that the speaker is exceedingly wealthy and gives you the chilling feeling that he may have had many wives before who he had killed for their fathers’ money.
I feel that “My Last Duchess” is a far superior poem to “Porphyria’s Lover”. This is because it manages to convey the similar images they both use in a much better way. They both use an image of the narrator’s control and superiority, but “My Last Duchess” uses the image to much better effect.