First Love' by John Clare, 'Porphyria's Lover' by Robert Browning,My Last Duchess' by Robert Browning and 'To His Coy Mistress' by Andrew Marvell
Pre-1900 Poetry
A Comparison of the Attitudes of Men towards Women in,
'First Love' by John Clare, 'Porphyria's Lover' by Robert Browning,
'My Last Duchess' by Robert Browning and 'To His Coy Mistress' by Andrew Marvell
The four poems, 'First Love' by John Clare, 'Porphyria's Lover' by Robert Browning, 'My Last Duchess' by Robert Browning and 'To His Coy Mistress' by Andrew Marvell, all deal with aspects of relationships with women, but their attitudes thoughts and actions towards them are very different. I will comment on how each poet has shown the man's attitude by referring to content, form and language used.
The poem 'First Love' by John Clare, is a traditional poem for its time, with three verses each with eight lines with eight syllables in each line. The rhyming scheme for this poem, a, b, a, b, is also traditional.
The title 'First Love' implies strongest love and this is the man's attitude through out the poem,
"I ne'er was struck before that hour
With love so sudden and so sweet."
This was the first time he had ever seen the woman, hence the use of "struck", it also implies that it came as a shock to him so his emotions were very sudden, love at first sight. The use of alliteration, "so sudden and so sweet," stresses that the emotions he felt were passionate and powerful.
He described the woman as beautiful,
"Her face it bloomed like a sweet flower
And stole my heart away complete."
He believed that her beauty was the reason for his intense feelings of real love. The comparison of her face and a sweet flower is used because flowers are associated with natural beauty and the man thought that her face flourished like that of a 'sweet flower.'
She astounded the man with her presence,
"My face turned pale as deadly pale,
My legs refused to walk away, "
He was transfixed by her beauty and lost all his physical will. The simile used to
compare the man's complexion is used to show how deeply she affected him so much so that all colour drained from his face.
He then began to think about her and lust after her,
"Words from my heart did start;
They spoke as chords do form the string"
He began to think deeply about her, this is implied by the fact that the poet states that the man's thoughts came from the 'heart'. A simile is used to compare his thoughts for her to chords from an instrument, such as a harp, this used because to create music from an instrument is clear and flowing like that of the man's emotions.
There is also a sense of self-pity from the man,
"Are flowers always the winter's choice?"
He did not think he had a chance with this woman. A metaphor is used to create imagery. Flowers are associated with love but winter is seen as bleak and harsh, so the man is questioning if love is always meant to be cruel and bring unwanted feelings. Then he questions whether love will always be like this for him by the use of "Is love's bed always snow?" Snow is seen as cold and bleak similarly to winter and the poet uses 'love's bed' because a bed is somewhere you rest, so it is used to show that the man feels that love rests on cold and bleak feelings.
He believed that he would never be able to love anyone the same way as he did with her,
"My heart has left its dwelling-place
And can return no more."
After seeing her, his emotions changed irreversibly because of the strong feelings of love he felt for her. He would never be able to love anyone else with the same intensity as he had her.
'Porphyria's Lover' by Robert Browning, is very different to 'First Love' in almost every aspect. It resembles a dramatic monologue because of its length and continuous verse; this makes the poem seem story like. Although 'Porphyria's Lover' is similar to 'First Love' because of it's rhyming scheme; a, b, a, b and its eight syllable lines, this helps the poem to flow.
'Porphyria's Lover' implies an affair because of the use of 'Lover' and the woman's name being 'Porphyria'; this was a traditional name when the poem was written.
The man was cheerless when 'Porphyria' ...
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'Porphyria's Lover' by Robert Browning, is very different to 'First Love' in almost every aspect. It resembles a dramatic monologue because of its length and continuous verse; this makes the poem seem story like. Although 'Porphyria's Lover' is similar to 'First Love' because of it's rhyming scheme; a, b, a, b and its eight syllable lines, this helps the poem to flow.
'Porphyria's Lover' implies an affair because of the use of 'Lover' and the woman's name being 'Porphyria'; this was a traditional name when the poem was written.
The man was cheerless when 'Porphyria' was not there,
"The rain set early in to-night,
The sullen wind was soon awake,
It tore the elm tops down for spite,
And did its worst to vex the lake;"
Pathetic fallacy is used here to set the scene and to show how the man views his surroundings when his lover is not there. This could also show some of the man's emotions by uses of certain words; 'spite' and 'vex', these may be some of his feelings towards 'Porphyria' as she was not there with him.
'Porphyria' was of higher status to him,
"When glided in Porphyria"
This shows her elegance just by the way she walked. He paid great attention to her, like the man in 'First Love'; he took notice of everything about her including the way she entered.
His views of the surroundings changed once 'Porphyria' was there,
"She shut the cold out and the storm,
And kneeled and made the cheerless grate
Blaze up, and all the cottage warm;"
This contrasts to the first four lines in the poem where he saw everything as dull and miserable. Her presence changed his mood, making his surroundings seem better and more cheery.
He was angry at her for not being there with him,
"And called me. When no voice replied,"
He ignored her to show his how he felt about her not being there with him. The caesura is used to indicate the silence after she had called to him.
There is an intimate relationship between 'Porphyria' and the man,
"She put my arm about her waist,
And made her smooth white shoulder bare"
She wanted his attention and revealed quite intimate parts of her body to him, these actions show more than friendship because of the way she makes him take notice of her.
'Porphyria' was scared to make their relationship open,
"she
Too weak, for all her heart's endeavour,
To set its struggling passion free
From pride, and vainer ties dissever,"
He saw her as weak because she did not want to leave everything for him. She was of higher status and had other commitments, like marriage, that she did not want to lose, this is shown by, 'From pride, and vainer ties dissever.'
He is ecstatic when he realises she finally loves him,
"Made my heart swell, and still it grew
While I debated what to do.
That moment she was mine, mine,"
Before that moment he was unsure if she had felt the same way as him and his sudden realisation of her love shocked him and he felt a sudden rush of strong emotions making his 'heart swell'. The repetition of 'mine' is used to emphasise that now he knew 'Porphyria' loved him wholly and he classed her as his whereas before she had only partially given him her love.
He then became obsessed with her resulting in psychotic actions,
"In one long yellow string I wound
Three times her little throat around,
And strangled her."
The sudden rush of his emotions because of her love brought about his violent actions as he wanted to keep her as his forever and he could not see another way of doing this other than by killing her. The caesura is used after 'And strangled her,' because the tension has been built up until this point and now he has released his tension, by killing her, so everything halts after this.
He then tried to convince himself that his actions were acceptable,
"No pain felt she;
I am quite sure she felt no pain."
He did not want to cause her any pain, as he loved her so he repeats himself to reassure himself that he did not. The simile, "As a shut bud that holds a bee", is used to compare her eyes during death to how a flower holds a bee because as it is delicate and slow but also firmly closed like 'Porphyria's' eyes.
He believed that he she would have wanted him to react the way he did,
"And I, its love, am gained instead!
Porphyria's love: she guessed not how
Her darling one wish would be heard."
Again he is justifying his actions by telling himself that now she can be his forever like she wanted. He is happy because now all of her problems were solved; she had no other commitments and she can now be with him evermore. This shows that he is insane because he is happy to have his love dead just so he can have her for himself. This is very different to 'First Love' as he realised he could not have her so did nothing but the man in 'Porphyria's Lover' was so obsessed that he sought extremely violent actions to make her his.
'My Last Duchess' also written by Robert Browning like 'Porphyria's Lover' is a dramatic monologue, but with a different rhyming pattern, a, a, b, b, and longer line length with ten syllables.
The title 'My Last Duchess' implies that it is a duke talking about his last wife.
The man is pretentious about his belongings,
"I call
That piece a wonder, now: Frà Pandolf's hands
Worked busily a day and there she stands."
He is eager to show off the painting of his late wife, we know she is no longer alive because the poet writes 'as if she were alive,' to his guest. He boasts about the quality of the painting, that is a way of showing off to his guest by stating he can afford to have such luxuries.
He was very jealous of his late wife; this is similar to the man in 'Porphyria's Lover' as he became jealous about 'Porphyria' not being with him constantly.
"Sir, 'twas not
Her husband's presence only, called that spot
Of joy into the Duchess's cheek:"
He became envious that he was not the only one that could please her. He felt that it should only be him that brought her happiness.
He thought that she was too easily pleased,
"She had
A heart- how shall I say? - too soon made glad,
Too easily impressed; she liked whate'er"
He thought that she was too easily pleased because she was always happy with everything.
He became aggravated that she did not treat him or his gift differently to anyone else,
"as if she ranked
My gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name
With anybody's gift."
He believed his offer of marriage to her should have been treated better than all her other gifts because he saw marrying him as the best gift anyone could give. We know he is talking about marriage because the poet writes 'a nine-hundred-years-old name' which implies he was giving her his last name via marriage.
He could not talk to her about his emotions,
"Who'd stoop to blame
This sort of trifling? Even had you skill
In speech- (which I have not)"
He is very conceited as did not want to lower himself by talking to her about his problem with her behaviour. This shows arrogance as he felt he was above even his wife.
He was angered by the way she treated their marriage,
"Whene'er I passed her; but who passed without
Much the same smile? This grew; I gave commands;
Then all smiles stopped together."
Again he mentioned that he was annoyed that he did not receive something more from her. He ordered her death because his anger grew towards her. This type of reaction is similar to that in 'Porphyria's Lover' in both poems violent actions were taken to solve the males' problems. A caesura is used to signify that after this he pauses then changes the topic to avoid alarming his guest too much.
He was trying to arrange another marriage,
"Of mine for dowry will be disallowed;
Though his fair daughter's self, as I avowed
At starting is my object."
He was talking to an ambassador about arranging a marriage between him and the Count's daughter, hence the use of 'dowry', this is a sum of money that a man would offer the woman's family when he wished to marry her, this was custom in pre- 1900 times. He tries to flatter the Count, "The Count your master's known munificence", and doubts that he will turn down his offer of marriage to his daughter.
He was very controlling towards the ambassador,
"Nay, we'll go
Together down, sir."
He is preventing the ambassador from leaving in case he tells the Count about how he treated his last wife and that he should not be allowed to marry his daughter.
He then tries to show off again about his possessions
"Notice Neptune, though,
Taming a sea-horse, thought a rarity,
Which Claus of Innsbruck cast in bronze for me."
He does this to change the subject in a bid to make the ambassador forget what he had just told him about his treatment of his last wife. It is another way of boasting to impress the ambassador and make him think he is wealthy. It also symbolises control.
'To His Coy Mistress' by Andrew Marvell, is a metaphysical poem that uses syllogism with the first verse containing the man's thesis, the second his antithesis and the third his synthesis. It has a rhyming scheme of a, b, a, b and eight syllable lines similar to 'First Love' and 'Porphyria's Lover'
'To His Coy Mistress' implies that the man is talking to his shy partner. The man in the poem persisted in trying to make his partner less 'coy' by the constant reference to there not being enough time for her to be like this towards him.
He tried to be understanding,
"Had we but world enough, and time,
This coyness, lady, were no crime."
He did this to try and make his partner think that he was caring, considerate and that he was not trying to pressurise her into intimacy with him. He also makes it clear that her 'coyness' would only be acceptable if they had endless amounts of time; this shows his frustration about her timidity.
He tried to persuade her by proclaiming his love for her,
"I would
Love you ten years before the flood:
And you should, if you please, refuse,
Till the conversion of the Jews."
The poet uses hyperbole to attempt to disguise the man's lust for the woman into love. He is very persistent and tried to convince her that he did truly love her and would wait for he forever, this is what is meant by, 'Till the conversion of the Jews,' as he knows the Jewish religion will never stop and is comparing his love for her to this.
He then tried to use flattery,
"Two hundred to adore each breast:
But thirty thousand to the rest."
The man's attitude was very different to the male's attitude in 'First Love' as he noticed every minor detail about the woman, especially things that would normally go unnoticed because he truly loved her, whereas this man noticed the trivial things about his partner showing a very chauvinistic side because he did not love her but only lusted after her.
In his synthesis he shows a very different side to his emotions. First he tries mocking her about her withdrawal,
The poet uses a metaphor, 'Time's winger chariot hurrying near,' to show the man's impatience as he felt they did not got enough time for her to be so withdrawn towards him and his wishes. He often thought about her wariness and was becoming very intolerant, his approach towards her changed greatly compared to his attitude in the thesis.
He then tried using emotional blackmail,
"then worms shall try
That long- preserved virginity:
And you quaint honour turned to dust;"
He was mocking her again and felt that she cared too much about her 'honour' and pride. He was only interested in the physical aspects of their relationship and did not care about her feelings but is pressurising her to fulfil his hopes.
Then in his synthesis he yet again changed his manner towards her by trying to be complimentary,
"Now, therefore, while the youthful hue
Sits on thy skin like morning dew,"
He again mentions the aspect of time while complimenting her beauty. He did this to seem kind and to change her emotions towards him because he had just been very insensitive towards her feelings.
He then tried to be very suggestive rather than forceful like before,
"Let us roll all our strength, and all
Our sweetness, up into one ball:"
He tried to make his partner think that it was not only his needs that he was trying to fulfil but hers as well; this is shown by the use of 'our pleasures.' He only cared about adding sexual elements to their relationship and thought they were wasting their time together by not becoming intimate with each other.
I think these four poems show very different male attitudes. In 'First Love' the man was overwhelmed by love; in 'Porphyria's Lover' the man's obsession turned to extreme violence; in 'My Last Duchess' the man was very controlling, arrogant and stubborn towards his wife and in 'To His Coy Mistress' the man was very persistent and uncaring towards his partner. The poems show that not all men are the same as some can be very caring whereas others only care about themselves; there is still this aspect about male attitudes in today's society making these poems easy to relate to.
Word Count (not including title)- 2,936
