Compare the different ways and forms in which poets have written about love over the centuries
Compare the different ways and forms in which poets have written about love over the centuries?
Love is a universal theme throughout literature from past to modern day. Love has evolved over the centuries, in the way people feel it and show it and so has the way poets have written about love. Over centuries history has changed the values of love and what it is from the French Revolution to the First World War. Always love is an important theme in society therefore in literature. Creating poems of the time to reflect the period when it was written.
In the 17th century, poets portrayed love to be sexual and the women would not be sexually active until marriage, because the 17th century was a time of strict religion. Men would idealise their love for a women but women would want be virgins and this is portrayed in the poem 'To His Coy Mistress'. This love is called courtly love and was very traditional in the 17th century. In the first stanza Andrew Marvell describes the love in the poem in first person. This makes the poem personal and is important to show how intimate the love is with using the second person pronoun "we" can illustrate connection or bond between him and her, this can express that a woman is not just a sexual object but a partner in life. The whole poem is a speech to get the women into bed. Andrew Marvell uses biblical references to illustrate to how love to his mistress goes on for eternity. Andrew Marvell describes by using the mention of the Jews in the poem. The religious aspect to the poem is a way to show love in 17th century. The love is over exaggerated in the first stanza, and the reader in the 21st century would find this humorous but in the 17th century love was shown in this way, in religious context. Andrew Marvell in his poem expresses his love to be natural,
"My vegetable love should grow"
The above quote describes the love in natural way. Using flattery to get the women into bed, telling her that it is what is meant to happen. It also suggests the simplicity of his love with the noun "vegetable" where food is a basic need. Also it implies this by linking love with food, this also brings of connotations of hunger with the women needing to "eat" or to love. In the second stanza there is a change in attitude, this is portrayed by the connective word "But", this is the first word, it has a powerful impact on the poem and sets the mood for the rest of the poem. The second stanza takes more of a forceful side to the poem; the idea of time is introduced to the poem. Andrew Marvell enhances the idea of time in,
"Time's winged chariot hurrying near;"
As the result of this the poem has more urgency. Time is relative to his love meaning that the man wishes he had all the time to spend with his mistress to do what is in the first stanza but can not as he has only so much time. The adjective "winged" creates an image of speed and out of control, as its flying to swoop down to catch him and that it is out of control however this could also suggest divinely being adding to the affect of having sex being ...
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"Time's winged chariot hurrying near;"
As the result of this the poem has more urgency. Time is relative to his love meaning that the man wishes he had all the time to spend with his mistress to do what is in the first stanza but can not as he has only so much time. The adjective "winged" creates an image of speed and out of control, as its flying to swoop down to catch him and that it is out of control however this could also suggest divinely being adding to the affect of having sex being an acceptable action and not a sin. The poem is structured in a very sophisticated form. The first stanza is twenty lines long but the second is only twelve lines long, the first is about his love for her whilst the second is about death, this shorter stanza the less focused on death this creates a short to the point impact which the poet then changes the subject. The third stanza meaning is to use the time that is giving. The form of this stanza is an answer to the second shown in "Now therefore" this suggests the motive for the entire poem. The poem transpires to woo the women into sexual relations. Andrew Marvell depicts the contact between two would be passionate and racy in,
"like am'rous birds of prey"
Andrew Marvell effectively represents the passion by using the above simile. The simile gives the sense of majesty between the two, enhancing the image of losing her virginity is admissible. In addition, it gives the picture of the sex to be sensuous and powerful which entices the women into bed.
'A Woman to her Lover' is different to the first poem I analysed. It is told from the point of view of the woman in the 18th century. This poem is comparable to 'To His Coy Mistress' as it shows how the attitude to women has changed, with the woman in the poem being dominant, though in a way the love in poem is still courtley love but how the women rejects courtley love for a more meaningful equal relationship based on the two partners in the relationship to love each others souls equally. This change in style can be because of the French Revolution and The Vindication of Women Rights was the first female texts, which gave women more say in their lives. Though both poems a have different perspective of love, both a change in tone from stanza to stanza with uneven lengths. This puts more diversity and complexity to the content illustrating mixed emotions. Both poems use personification, although used to persuade in 'To His Coy Mistress' and to argue in 'A Woman to her Lover' for example "Times winged chariot" where time is personified. This is the same with the vocabulary used for instance Andrew Marvell uses "sweetness" whilst Christina Walsh uses "bondslave"
Christa Walsh's poem is about a woman wanting to have more in a relationship than just to be there for the man, for women to be an equal in a relationship of love and friendship. Christina Walsh enhances this idea in,
"in drudgery and silence"
The above quote suggests that women are slaves to men and are suppressed by men; the verb "drudgery" suggests hard labour in strife. The character in the poem will not be silenced and buried from her point a view. In this Christina Walsh conveys that women have rights and opinions and that they are not there to do men's bidding but in marriage should have companionship and that she is not just a housewife. By doing this Christiana Walsh has portrayed marriage in a negative way and that love and marriage needs to change along side society. In contrast to the first poem it is implied for the women to become more open towards the man. It is suggested that the man has idealised her. This is suggested in,
"I am no doll to dress and sit for feeble worship"
This implies to the reader that she does not want to be trapped by a man and wants to be her own woman and not controlled by no one. The noun "doll" suggests that she is a toy that is controlled; this creates a powerful image of the man being a child playing with the woman's love. The following "feeble worship" describes the man and the way that men treat women, as goddesses when she wants only to be treated as an equal, so the adverb "feeble" illustrates that the man is worshipping wrongly and that she does not want it. The first two stanzas have a repeated line at the end of the stanza,
"if that be what you ask, fool, I refuse you!"
Christina Walsh has implied an assumption by using "if". This assumption is cast over all men, so love has been portrayed to be the same everywhere on the 18th century, and the poem is trying to speak out against society of the time to state that love is more. The noun "fool" is a derogatory name for a person, this is directed at man, and this enhances the anger described in the poem. The fourth stanza in the poem distinguishes the change in tone, this can be shown by the connective word "But". The fourth stanza portrays what love she earns for can be shown in,
"and our co-equal love will make the stars to laugh with joy"
The above quote suggests that she wants her love to be special and fantastic by them both loving each other in the same amounts, the adverb "co-equal" depicts this. The adverb implies togetherness and shared, this way of showing love would of changed the way women felt in their relationships to men. This compared with 'To His Coy Mistress' shows that the man does all the loving and puts the women 'on a pedestal' whilst the woman is there to satisfy his desires.
The poem 'First Love' portrays a man that is defeated in love, and this 19th century poem shows how love in literature has changed from the 17th, 18th to the 19th century. As over the centuries women have become more dominant in relationships. In addition to this there is less about the physical side to love. In the poem 'First Love' there is no direct phrases relating to sex. This shows the progression of how love is portrayed by poets, love changed from being a physical to a more emotional or mental form.
The first stanza in the 'First Love' depicts love at first sight. The poem also compares love to nature with the simile,
"Her face it bloomed like a sweet flower"
John Clare has compared the women to natural beauty, this invokes the reader to compare the love in a natural way, this connotes that love is supposed to happen as the seasons come and go. The love is portrayed in natural way in 'To His Coy Mistress', this is a pleasant description. It also implies of the love becoming stronger and stronger this can shown in the verbs "bloomed and "grow" these verbs suggest the love will mature. Whilst compared to 'A Women to her Lover' there is no natural description of love, and seems more metallic using the adjective "golden" this creates a sharpness and bitterness in 'A Women to her Lover' whereas in the other two it is smoother and innate. In the 'First Love' the feelings are confused, John Clare conveys this in,
"Seemed midnight at noonday"
This confusion depicted by John Clare show a different form of how love is shown. Confusion is not an aspect in the other poems. This creates love to be superior than man or woman and love can not be felt just by one but two, this is a similarity in all of the poems. This can also be portrayed by rhetorical questions which links 'First Love' to 'A women to her lover'. These rhetorical questions shows the reader what ought to be or assumptions. John Clare's poem uses a, b, a, b quatrains and is regular this creates the image of the love being constant; this is also the same in Andrew Marvell's. However in Christina Walsh's poem there is no rhyming scheme this produces more edge to the poem. Making it jump from one line to the next, making it more like an argument. Though 'First Love' has regular beats for each line there is one that does not fit in with the rhythm;
"Are flowers the winter's choice?"
This line has seven beats and rather than six, this makes this line stand out and be more forceful putting the character of the poem across. John Clare has created an impact that sets the mood for the last stanza. In addition to this, it stands out from the other line in the poem suggesting that it is disjointed like the persons love; the love isn't unified like the beats in the line.
These poems contrast with the a more traditional love poem, 'How do I love thee?', a poem by Elizabeth Barrett Browning. This poem is a sonnet, first created by Petrarch in the 13th century. It has fourteen lines with a fixed rhyming scheme. Elizabeth Barrett Browning has used repetitive phrases in,
"I love thee ........."
Elizabeth Barrett Browning has conveyed that the love is constant by repeating phrases. In addition to the repetitive, is the phrase "I love thee" which is repeated. The reoccurrence of this phrase adds to the romance of the poem. Repetitiveness is used in all of the other poems I have analysed which show that it depicts more impression upon the reader. All the poems I have analysed have evolved from earlier poetry. From Shakespearian sonnets with the classic rhyming couplet at the end to John Clare's change in the number of beats in one line to give more impact, poets have used different ways and forms to convey how love feels and have individualised poems, and how love can be expressed.
In conclusion to this essay, poems have evolved with how society has changed the poems I have analysed can show this themselves. These poems show society as it was when they were wrote however some of the poems can relate to the modern day society in which we live in today. Love poems from centuries ago can relate to people now, the reason for this is that love is an emotion that will never die and it is felt by everyone. The poem 'First Love' can be read by anyone today and people can relate to their own first love; love can also be rejected by anyone. Females are still being victims of prejudice even though as a society we are against sexism, this is a reason why 'A Women to her Lover' can be related to by any women today wanting to be an equal in life and love.
Arran Stanier 11E Miss Yates
