“Our Love Now” uses memorable and enjoyable structure to depict the poem. Lowery uses the structure of the poem to emphasise the ‘breach’ in their relationship. From looking closely at the poem, you can also see they are far from unilateral. What is also enjoyable is the fact that the theme is loss of communication, but ironically it is set up as a dialogue. Interestingly, the poem challenges the reader’s perception of love poems. As seen clearly from the other two poems, there is one voice, which is male, persuading another person, who is often female. However, “Our Love Now” gives two sides of the relationship, rather than one, which imminently would be biased. By contrast, “To His Coy Mistress” has only one side. However, what is enjoyable is that it is not split into stanzas; it is merged into one and can be compared to how the narrator would like to ‘merge’ with his “Mistress”. Marvell also uses a clear logical structure to the poem. The poem begins with the conditional tense “Had”, which is then objected to in the second section: “But...” The third stanza presents the conclusion of the argument: “Now therefore”. What is most enjoyable about this is that the poems clear and logical structure is highly effective in what is meant to be a persuasive poem. Likewise, “I wanna be yours” is sectioned into three, but in stanzas. The poem seems void of any grammar, which is enjoyable as it adds to the fluidity of the plea.
"Our Love Now" employs four extended metaphors, each used once in a male voice and once in a female voice. The poet uses these metaphors to explore differing attitudes to love. When the first image of "the raging storm" is introduced by the male voice it seems like a positive metaphor about healing and reparation. When it is echoed by the female voice it is no longer positive but twisted into a negative, despairing metaphor. Lowry’s use of the two voices, "I said" and "She said", also places emphasis on the gap between the lovers. Lowery uses the metaphors very effectively to show the reader clearly the differing attitudes of the lovers to love. What is most enjoyable is that the stark contrast demonstrated through each image illustrates both their different feelings and the rift between them. What was also enjoyable was the ironic image of the “dead tree”. The tree is the symbol of shade and peacefulness and is something that seems solid and indestructible, ironically it is dead - just like their relationship. “She” seems to have the most power in the poem, as she has hold of the “refrain”, which seems to be assertive. By contrast, what is most enjoyable about “I wanna be yours” is that Cooper Clarke uses subversive objects to attain his ‘goal’. Whereas “Our Love Now” and “To His Coy Mistress” use natural metaphors, “I wanna be yours” uses ‘artificial’ metaphors. Through using subversive objects, the narrator personifies himself. The first stanza begins with him as a ‘vacuum cleaner’ (1) ‘breathing in your dust’ (2). This personifies him as one who will eradicate problems from ones life. The narrator then presents us with the image of the ‘Ford Cortina’ (3), a reliable and solid car. He may be depicting himself here as a man whose behaviour will never change and fracture their relationship. What is also enjoyable about “I wanna be yours” is the implicit lust the narrator adds to the poem. He uses the image of a ‘teddy bear’ to portray this. A teddy bear is often taken to bed, thus he desires intimacy with the women of his choice, but also needs her to find comfort and safety in his presence.
Whereas Cooper Clarke uses implicit metaphors to depict lust, Marvell uses explicit metaphors to attain ‘sexual dominion’. The first stanza is a particularly lustful and exotic invitation. Time and space are exaggerated to the point that the lovers flirt over a vast space, from the “Indian Ganges” (5) to the “Humber” (7) in England. His love for his Mistress is also exaggerated in lines 7-8: “I would/ Love you ten years before the flood”. He depicts that their romance exists alongside religion. However, in the second stanza, Marvell confesses his anxiety: “But at my back I always hear/ Times winged chariot hurrying near” (21-22). Not only is this an example of time personified, but also, enjoyably, it is a sobering image, comparable to the graphic imagery in “Our Love Now”. The effect is meant to scare the mistress into action. If “times winged chariot” had not sufficiently repulsed “His Mistress”, the speaker then goes on to disgust her with morbid imagery in that her beauty will be fade: “worms shall try/ that long preserved virginity”.
There is a definitive rhyme scheme in “I wanna be yours”; stanzas 1 and 2 have a strict pattern of ababcccd. Stanza 3 differs and has a pattern of ababcdcececc. What was enjoyable was the fact that Cooper Clarke initiates a varied rhyme scheme that adds to the stanzas seemingly desperate plea. Likewise, “To His Coy Mistress” also has a definitive rhyme scheme. It has a rhyme scheme of abababababab... in the first and the third stanzas. Yet, what was most enjoyable was that Marvell had unsettled the rhyme scheme on unromantic and morbid imagery. The un-rhyming couplets try/virginity are unsettled, and perhaps reflect the way he [the narrator] is unsettled when speaking about this. Whereas the two, latter poems encompass a rhyme scheme, “Our Love Now” has none. The rhyme scheme is static and at a fixed pace. What was enjoyable was that this reflected their relationship.
What I most enjoyed about “I wanna be yours” was that the poem provided a different point of reference to love. Cooper Clarke presents us with an utterly devoted and well meaning man who wishes to fulfil everything his ‘girl’ could wish for. It also represents a change from a patriarchal society: “you call the shots” (7). By contrast, Marvell meditates on how cold, “worm” ridden and empty the grave is. What I enjoyed about this poem was the underpinning message of ‘carpe dium’ (seize the day), although the choice in which the narrator had chosen to convince his Mistress was poor, and powerful. In anti-thesis, “Our Love Now” looks into how painful and painstaking the end of a relationship can be, but just like “I wanna be yours”, it shows a change in patriarchal society, which is shown in the refrain of “such is our love now”.
