Throughout both poems there are recognisable differences and similarities between the two poets. In the “Lucy Poems” Wordsworth talks about his love for Lucy and also the love he has for his country. The tone of this poem is very tranquil and peaceful, Wordsworth creates this by his use of language and his use of imagery in each of the poems, “And she I cherished turned her wheel, Beside and English fire.” Also this use of natural imagery by combining his love for Lucy with his love for the England and English countryside encourages the reader to imagine an idyllic image and sets the scene.
In the poems Wordsworth’s love for his home and the love for Lucy are all mixed up, he cannot think of England without thinking of his love. Wordsworth uses personification this helps to show the relationship between him and his country “Nor will I quit thy shore A second time; for still I seem To love thee more and more.” Throughout the poems Wordsworth uses metaphors and similes “A violet by a mossy stone” in this he is directly comparing Lucy to a flower. He proceeds to say “Half hidden from the eye” by this he means that her beauty and talents are not oblivious to the eye and you have to take time and look for them. In “She dwelt among the trodden ways” the last stanza Wordsworth talk about Lucy dying and here we realise the depth of his feeling of her due to his show of emotion, “But she is in her grave, and, oh” the “oh” at the end of this line shows that he is lost for words and has hardly the words to describe how he feels about her. In the last poem “A slumber did my spirit seal” he talks of that this woman is immortal and when he is in thought or asleep that she’s alive, She seemed a thing that could not feel The touch of earthly years.” Throughout this poem is noticeable that his love for this woman he talks of is very real.
Roberts Burns’ poem “A Red, Red Rose” which was written about a woman called Jean Armour. This poem is quite similar in many ways to Wordsworth’s “Lucy Poems” . The main difference between these two poems is the tones. Burns’ poem has a fast pace and a cheerful tone whereas in Wordsworth’s “Lucy Poems” the tone is peaceful tone and has quite a slow pace. Due to the poems fast pace it creates a lyrical folk-song effect. In the first stanza he refers to his feeling of love and the woman he is in love with O my luve’s like the melodie That’s sweetly play’d in tune.” Burns uses many different types of imagery visual “Newly sprung” this portrays the image of a new found love and he also uses auditory imagery “like the melodie That’s sweetly played in tune.” In the “Lucy poems “ Wordsworth just used on type and this was natural imagery. Burns’ use of Scottish dialect makes Jean Armour appear real and his love for her real as well, “As fair out thou, my bonnie lass,” Burns uses simple language, which is also another indicator that this love he feels is real because he sees no need to make it extravagant. In the poem he talk to her like a real woman and therefore this gives us no reason to doubt that she is not real and that his love is idealistic, “Till a’ the seas gang dry, my dear,” In the last stanza he is separated from his love but this separation is not permanent unlike Lucy in Wordsworth’s “Lucy Poems”. “And fare thee well, my only Luve, And fare thee weel a while! And I will come again, my Luve,”
My personal favourite out of these poems is“ A Red, Red Rose” because it has a very cheerful tone and its songlike. Also it highlights the true feelings of a man who is deeply in love with a woman and it’s a very visual poem and you can sense how deep his love is.
