A Comparison of First Love by John Clare and A Woman To Her Lover by Christina Walsh.

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A Comparison of First Love by John Clare and A Woman To Her Lover by Christina Walsh.

A woman to her lover is a very sophisticated piece of poetry with no rhyming scheme. It is about a woman who has received a proposal of marriage from a man and is considering all of the reasons why he wants to marry her. In the first three verses she explains different situations she does not want to marry into. Then finally in the last stanza she explains what she would want to marry into. She uses complicated language and structure.

First love has a simple rhyming scheme and uses very basic language to show the innocence of the man it is happening to. It begins by talking about how it is love at first sight and uses horrible words to describe love and the feelings that it also brings. In the second stanza it speaks of love taking things away form him. And how “blood rushed” to his face and this shows his embarrassment due to his misunderstanding of the feelings he was undergoing. Finally in the last verse he poses many questions which also his feelings. He had changed and could “return no more.”

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Both poems begin straight away by getting to the point with no build-ups. Although both verses are about love they talk of it in very different ways. Clare’s poem is about hating love and how it makes you feel. Whereas Walsh’s poem is about the different types of love a husband may want from a wife. Then finally what she wants form the marriage and her feelings towards it. They use very different styles Walsh’s has no rhyme and Clare’s has a very basic form (a quatrain.)

The man in Clare’s poem is naïve and does not understand his ...

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