Both poets use a form of flattery to get what they want, ‘Our beauty together is such’, ‘Our sweetness’, it is clear in ‘Our Love Now’ that this doesn’t work but we are not aware of what happens next in ‘To His Coy Mistress’. Both poems share a desire for commitment, this is made obvious in Lowery’s poem, where all he really wants to do is stay with his partner. In Marvell’s poem this isn’t made quite as clear and although its obvious that the character is after sex, you can’t be sure that he wants to commit. Although the writer shows us the man’s desire to merely flatter his mistress for thousands of years, the writing is very exaggerated and the writer uses hyperbole to make the man’s argument seem less genuine. The use of hyperbole allows the reader to question the man’s sincerity and you can’t be sure whether he simply just wants to use his mistress.
The male and female relationship in Rapunzstiltskin also seems to revolve round some sort of conflict. This conflict however seems to be based on society’s differing expectations from men and women. Liz Lochhead uses stereotypes of both sexes to give quite a humorous approach to her poem whereas Lowery’s use of strong metaphors gives it a more serious approach.
Liz’s use of colloquial language makes her fairytale characters seem somewhat common and down to earth. Her idea of love in a relationship mocks the happily ever after scenario and instead portrays a more negative view to male female relationships altogether.
She uses the ‘Prince’ to portray a common stereotypical man who’s only concern seems to be sex. ‘His tendency to talk in strung-together cliché’ seems to indicate the usage of cheap chat up lines, which are now very common. The ‘maiden’ is used to portray a typical females views and opinions. The way she is show to be ‘throwing him all the usual lifelines’ because ‘he did look sort of gorgeous axe and all’ and then expects him to commit to her simply because of her expectations as a woman.
In comparison to ‘Our Love Now’, this poem is very different. However, the first time I read ‘Our Love Now’, it seemed to me as though the man had perhaps had an affair or caused his partner some grief and was now trying to win her back with some romantic poetry simple because its what girls are supposed to fall for. This carries the same implications as Liz’s poem, where the man seems to be after sex rather than commitment, and by the time he realises what the girl wants its too late.
The presentation of both poems is very different, ‘Our Love Now’ is written so that both arguments can be seen side by side. Rapunzstiltskin is written in one long paragraph, this gives it a more of a story feel.
‘One Flesh’ and ‘To His Coy Mistress’ are at first two very different poems. Jennings poem talks about a love that doesn’t need to be mentioned anymore because there’s either ‘little feeling – or too much’. The references to time however, coincide with Marvell’s argument. ‘Chastity faces them, a destination for which their whole lives were preparation’. Marvell uses age and time as part of his argument and what he tries to say is quite similar, that after a certain time or age, sex isn’t part of a relationship anymore, and therefore they should use all the time they have.
Jennings shows us this but also indicates that there is far more to a relationship when its at this stage. Marvell’s poem seems to be only concerned with the love of the youth, ‘while the youthful hue sits on your skin’, this indicates that his feelings may not be as deep for his mistress when she gets older.
Both poems describe sex as ‘fires’ showing a form of passion. The roughness of such a relationship is portrayed in both poems, Jennings uses the phrase ‘tossed up like flotsam from a former passion’ the word flotsam can be seen as a type of wreckage, meaning that that the passion was quite powerful. Marvell uses words such as ‘fire’ and phrases such as ‘amorous birds of prey’ and ‘devour’ which also create a very powerful feeling of passion. Other phrases which refer to sex in both poems are ‘one ball’ and ‘one flesh’, the idea of being one is portrayed in both poems.
Both the poems have a rhyme, Marvell uses rhyming couplets whereas Jennings rhymes mainly alternating lines, both give the poem a sense of rhythm and speed.
One connection between ‘Rapunzstiltskin’ and ‘One Flesh’ is the idea of commitment. In ‘One Flesh’ the parents have been committed for so long that now ‘they’re old’. In Rapunzstiltskin, the maiden desires to be committed. Jennings could be showing us how love was in the past, long-term marriages and commitment, this contrasts with Liz’s poem, in which all the common present day man is after is sex.
Jennings poem could be a stereotypical older couple. Her poem may be an example of all older couples and her views may be similar to those people who have older parents, I would personally think of my grandparents who’ve grown old together. With this idea of stereotypical couples both poems are quite similar, the difference is however that Jennings uses an older couple and Liz uses a younger couple. The phrase ‘she like a girl dreaming’, gives the same sort of naivety to women as Liz Lochhead gives the maiden in her poem. She doesn’t seem to notice she is only being used for sex and believes there will be some commitment in the relationship. This tells me that both writers are showing that girls whether old or young are more into dreaming, whereas men are more into sex. This isn’t clear in ‘One Flesh’ but ‘the book he holds unread’ implies that his mind is elsewhere.
The titles of both poems are very similar. I noticed ‘Rapunzstiltskin’ is actually a mixture of two names, making them sound as one person. This oneness is also shown through the title ‘One Flesh’, where two people are one when having sex or because of a bond between them. In Jennings’ poem it could also be referring to her as she is a mixture of both fleshes and combines them as one.
There is a contrast in tone, Jennings writes her poem with more poignancy whereas Liz’s poem contains more humour. The reason for this I believe is that the love between Jennings’ parents will soon end, ‘time itself’s a feather Touching them gently’, this seems to indicate that their time is ending. Liz’s poem has quite a drastic ending which can be seen as sad when you compare it to the expectation of a happy ever after fairytale ending.
All of these poems share similar aspects in ideas, their differences in presentation and language tends to separate them.
