Compare the views of love expressing in " First Love" and "A Birthday". How have the writers use the language effectively?

Arisara K. 10V

Compare the views of love expressing in “ First Love” and “A Birthday”. How have the writers use the language effectively?

“ First Love” was written by John Clare, a nineteenth century poet. Clare grew up in extreme poverty and had little access to books. The poem “ First Love” was dedicated to his lover, Mary Joyce, a daughter of a rich farmer. Christina Rossetti, a Victorian poet wrote “A Birthday” addressing the poem to the love of her life. These two poems seem to have some similarities and differences between them. Both poems portray the theme of love but the loves are expressed in different aspects and categories by the use of the language.

In the first stanza of “ First Love” there is a use of repetition,“ With love so sudden and so sweet”. The “ so sudden and so sweet” describes the feeling of love at first sight, which is different to “ A Birthday” which does not convey any sense of immediate love. Clare might have written this when he first saw his lover and fall for her immediately but Rossetti seems to express the love very thoughtfully and passionately. Clare also uses similes, “ Her face it bloomed like a sweet flower”. This simile is the link between natural images and love which was use to describe the beauty of the lover. Further on, his heart is said to have been stolen away, which would imply that all of the love and feelings he could ever have towards someone have been directed towards her. At that point in time, nothing else matters and this woman is his soul concern. Further evidence of the speaker being affected in such a dramatic manner is shown where it says that his "legs refused to walk away," and his "face turned pale as deadly pale." This shows that there was a strong physical effect due to seeing this woman, as well as an emotional effect. The speaker now asks himself a rhetorical question out of pure frustration. "When she looked, what could I ail?" When she looked at him, he was unable to do anything. This might, again, imply that he was overcome with her beauty and he could not do anything. It seems like the poet is in some stage of shock and his emotions were in total turmoil. Maybe Clare was unable to hold on to his feelings or knew that this was a conditional and forbidden love. Clare and Roseetti seem to have strong feelings towards the love they have found but in “ A Birthday” the poet seems to convey a calm and peaceful atmosphere.

“A Birthday” portrays the relationship by the human senses such as, “My heart is like a singing bird” and “My heart is like an apple-tree”. The use of similes comparing the love and natural images exist in “ A Birthday” as well as “ First Love”. The “ singing bird” provides the sense of hearing which seems to be very pure and romantic. “ An apple- tree” provides the sense of tasting. Again, it portrays feelings of sweetness in the relationship.

The tenses in the two poems are very important by the way love is expressed. “ First Love” has ...

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The tenses in the two poems are very important by the way love is expressed. “ First Love” has the use of past tense but “ A Birthday” talks about the future of the relationship. The word “ Birthday” is a connotation because it not only implies the beginning of the poet’s life, but also the beginning of the poet’s life with their loved one as a married couple. The birthday might be the wedding day.

In the last stanza of “ First Love” there is another use of rhetorical questions,

“ Are flowers the winter’s choice?”

“Is love’s bed always snow?”

The questions did not need a specific answer; it is there to remind him that the love could be real. On the other hand, Rossetti the poet of “ A Birthday” did not use any rhetorical question. It seems that she was already sure and confident about the bright future of the relationship.

Although both poems are described in cliché term, that portray a typical obvious ideal of love by the use of the romantic images. They seems to have exotic and passionate items contained in the poems like “ gold and silver grapes” and “ My heart has left its dwelling-place”. In my opinion “ First Love” is an unrequited love,

“ They spoke as chords do from the string”

“And blood burnt round my heart”

The use of “ Blood” conveys the sense of loss, which “ burnt round my heart”. Maybe the love was rejected or perhaps the love was just his own imagination. In fact, his falling in love has a devastating effect on him, bringing the pain rather than pleasure. On the other hand “ A Birthday” seems to be a requited love,

“ My heart is gladder than all these”

“ Because my love is come to me”

There is some obvious pattern of structure and rhyme scheme. The first four line shows the comparison of love and natural images and the next two line explain why the love is so pure and passionate. The repetition of “ My heart” and “ My love” emphasis the passions of the relationship. The speaker compares their heart’s emotions to various objects throughout the poem.

In conclusion, 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." But “ A Birthday” was different; the poet seems to be more be more mature and calm about the expressed feelings. The use of classical ideas of “ halcyon sea” makes the poet, Christina Rossetti slightly more educated and religious than Clare.