A Red, Red Rose by Robert Burns.
A Red, Red Rose
by
Robert Burns
This is a love poem written by a Scottish poet. As the poem is written in Scottish dialect, to grasp it in its full effect it would be good to hear it read by someone with a strong Scottish accent. The poem is a ballad and is in four line stanzas. The poet also uses many similes and metaphors to describe his true feeling for his one and only love.
In the first paragraph the poet uses different similes to describe what his love looks like.
a red, red rose,
That's newly sprung in June.
The poet uses this meaningful simile, as a rose is one of the world's most beautiful flowers. The repetition of 'red' in 'a red, red rose' suggests it is perfect. This is the way he sees his love, looking perfect, and she is the most beautiful person in the world to him. Also a rose is the flower of love, and desire for someone you love very much.
Also in the first paragraph he says,
O, my Luve's like the melodie
That's sweetly play'd in tune.
This could be a way of saying that his love has the sweetest voice he has ever heard, or it cold easily mean that she is simply divine.
In the second paragraph the poet now tells us how much he is in love with this person and will always love her.
And I will love thee still my dear,
Till a' the seas gang dry.
He will love her only till when all the seas disappear. This is a way of saying he will always love her, as the seas will never go dry. He also expresses this in another way when he says.
I will love thee still my dear,
While the sands o' life shall run:
He will never stop loving her no matter what. His love will last till time itself runs out.
In the fourth paragraph the poet uses hyperbole, when he says.
And I will come again, my luve,
Tho' it ware ten thousand mile!
This means that no matter how far away he is if it was to be ten thousand miles he will always come back to see his one and only true love.
In summary, I would say that the poet was very good in the way he wrote the poem using the different similes and metaphors to their full extent to describe his love in a more loving and affective way. The Scottish accent gave the poem that little bit more feeling. However it would have to be read by someone with a strong Scottish accent as I said before.
In a Bath Teashop
by
Sir John Betjeman
This is a very short love poem - it is just a single stanza - but still ...
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In summary, I would say that the poet was very good in the way he wrote the poem using the different similes and metaphors to their full extent to describe his love in a more loving and affective way. The Scottish accent gave the poem that little bit more feeling. However it would have to be read by someone with a strong Scottish accent as I said before.
In a Bath Teashop
by
Sir John Betjeman
This is a very short love poem - it is just a single stanza - but still it has so much meaning, although it is short. I feel that it shows much more meaning to the word 'Love'' than any other poem. The setting that I picture in my mind is of two people sitting beside the fire, in a normal Bath teashop in the midlands of England. The poem is about two typical people who are madly in love with each other.
At the beginning of the poem it sets the picture.
'Let us not speak, for the love we bear one another -
Let us hold hands and look.'
I picture two people sitting quietly in a corner of a teashop, whilst holding one another's hand. As they sit there they cherish the time they have found together in this peaceful setting and they are able to show so much love and affection to each other.
Then comes a description of the two lovers
She, such a very ordinary little woman;
He, such a thumping crook;
This picture of the two people gives me the impression that they are a most unlikely couple. As 'He, such a thumping crook' suggests that he is just a big heartless thug, and 'She, such a very ordinary little woman;' suggests that she is such a common lady, you would never expect her to be in a huge loving relationship.
But both, for a moment, little lower than the angels
This contains a Biblical line, suggesting that they are so much in love and happy together. They are just on heaven doorsteps.
I would say that the poet was magnificent in the way he wrote this poem. He kept it short, but still was able to show how much love these two everyday people shared, in six lines. The two lovers in the poem did not seem likely to have a deep romantic and passionate, loving relationship. Yet they did have romance and passion in their lives and had their own little ways to show their love and affection to on another, even though it was just sitting 'In the teashop's ingle-nook'.
Porphyria's Lover
By
Robert Browning
This is a love poem with a difference, written by an English poet influenced by Italy where he wrote the poem. It is a monologue, which gives a dramatic insight into the mind of an abnormally possessive lover.
The start of the poem sets the scene.
The rain set early in to-night
The sullen wind was soon awake.
In this verse I picture that it is a cold dark rainy night, and the wind would blow you away. The speaker is sitting by himself in his home. I imagine he lives in an old cottage separated from everyone else, as he is strange man. Also he likes to keep himself, unfamiliar to people.
This verse is when his love, Porphyria is first mentioned.
I listened with heart fit to break
When glided in Porphyria: straight
She shut the cold out and the storm
I can imagine that he was in his cottage when he suddenly heard Porphyria - with heart fit to break - she glided into the warm cottage and shut the cold storm out.
In this verse Porphyria starts to show him all the love and affection she has for him.
She sat down by my side
And called me. When no voice replied
She put my arm around her waist,
And made her smooth white shoulder bare
This is when she is trying to seduce with her passionate actions towards him to let him know that she is really in love with him. She also wants to show how much attracted she is to him.
Beyond this point of the poem, is when his great love for Porphyria changes. His mind takes control of him and he becomes a strange, possessive and devious man.
In this segment of the poem he finally believes that Porphyria absolutely loves him with all her heart.
Happy and proud; at last I knew
Porphyria worshipped me; surprise
Made my heart swell, and still it grew
While I debated what to do
The first three lines tell us that he was so proud and delighted that Porphyria worshipped and loved him dearly, which made his heart swell and grow by the moment. However the last line is very suspicious and dubious. 'While I debated what to do'.
Now we can see the way that his poisonous, obsessive and extraordinary mind takes control.
A thing to do, and all her hair
In one yellow string I wound
Three times her little throat around,
And strangled her. No pain felt she;
This man must have had a serious mental problem that affected his emotions badly. As why on earth would you do this terrible thing to the person you loved with all your heart and they loved you to? Although it is such a disastrous incident, we have to try and absorb whatever we perceive out of this sick man's head. I would say that he had such a good feeling on this night of passion with Porphyria, that he never wanted to loose or forget the time they had together. Therefore the only way for him make this moment last forever was to kill her. This may have been a way that he thought he could cherish this special moment forever.
This is the verse in the poem that would send shivers up anyone's spine.
I propped her head up as before.
Only, this time my shoulder bore
Her head, which droops upon it still:
It definitely sends shivers up my spine. It means that he lifted her head but it had no support, only by his shoulder that supported her head. The verse is so ghostly as, you couldn't believe someone would do such a dramatic thing like this, especially if he loved her so much.
The last two lines of the poem are very sinister.
And all night long we have not stirred
And yet God has not said a word!
What a way to end a poem! It seems so ghastly, Porphyria who is dead, and who we thought was his great love sitting, together with this man on the very same night he strangled her. He says that they have sat with one another all night and have not stirred. And also 'God has not said a word', which may make him think he had done the right thing by killing her, and possibly getting away with murder.
This poem as whole is very melodramatic in all areas. It has all the characteristics of a horror story - a man who was removed from society, a beautiful young lady and a cold stormy night. The main character in the poem also had a serious abnormal problem. He had such a great love for this beautiful young lady called Porphyria, who was very lady like, had long blonde hair and pretty blue eyes.
As we read on in the poem he tells us why he did such a terrible thing. He says that he finally knew that she loved him and he never wanted her to stop loving him. He wanted to keep this moment forever and the only way to ensure that she kept this felling for him was to kill her.
The three poems I have chosen to deal with the theme of 'Love' gives us an insight to what it means to three different poets.
A Red Red, Rose - is poem that would be associated with two young lovers who are madly in love with one another.
In A Bath Teashop - would be a type of poem that would suit the older couple, who are still committed and devoted to one another but have their own ways to show their affection to each other.
Porphyria's Lover - is a poem that is totally different from any other love poem. It gives a dramatic insight to an abnormal and possessive lover. Who strangles his great love, so that he could cherish there love forever.
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