‘Sonnet 138’ was written by William Shakespeare between 1564 and 1616, during this time religion was very strong and not attending church was a punishable offence. We can still relate to this poem today because in today’s world most relationships involve somebody younger than the other person, also many people lie to their partner to keep a relationship going.
‘Therefore I lie with her, and she with me,
And in our faults by lies we flatter’d be.’
(Line13-14)
Andrew Marvell wrote ‘To His Coy Mistress’ between 1621 and 1678, life was pretty much the same as it was in William Shakespeare’s time. We can relate to this poem today very easily in many ways, today quite a lot of men only have relationships with woman just for sex and not caring about loving the other person.
‘The Sick Rose’ was written by William Blake between 1757 and 1827, we cant really relate to this poem because it is like a warning of losing of purity, but in today’s world people just go ahead with sex with out thinking of any dangers.
‘And his dark secret love
Does thy life destroy’
(Stanza2 Lines7-8)
The poets approach their subjects in different ways and this is reflected in the tones/moods. In ‘To His Coy Mistress’ the poet’s mood gets stronger and stronger and more persuasive in each stanza, this is because the poet is extremely desperate to seduce this girl and to have sex with her.
‘For lady, you deserve this state;
Nor would I love at lower rate’
(Stanza 2 lines 19-20)
In ‘The Sick Rose’ it is strong all the way through, it is very dramatic all the way through and is very much like a sermon. ‘Sonnet 138’ the poet is very laid back but at the same time being serious, he is choosing his words thoughtfully.
The structure and rhythms in each of the poems are very different, ‘To His Coy Mistress’ has three stanzas and an aabbccdd rhyming scheme. The poem gets stronger in each stanza, in the first stanza he uses flattery, in the second he tries to scare her into sex.
‘But at my back I always hear
Times winged Chariot hurrying near:
And yonder all before us lye
Deserts of vast Eternity.
Thy Beauty shall no more be found;’
(Stanza 2 lines 21-25)
In the third he gets very passionate and gets very strong with lots of sexual images. In ‘Sonnet 138’ it is a typical 14-lined sonnet with three quatrains and to finish a rhyming couplet. In ‘The Sick Rose’ has only two stanzas, in the first stanza it is like a warning of seduction.
‘Has found out thy bed
Of crimson joy:
And his dark secret love.’
(Stanza 1 lines 5-8)
The poems all have different imagery, in ‘To His Coy Mistress’ the writer is very biblical and is talking about the future and what he would like to do with the girl in the near future, exaggerating images of time passing by and that death is near.
‘Two hundred years to adore each breast:
But thirty thousand for the rest.’
(Stanza 1 Lines15-16)
In Sonnet 138 it doesn’t use many imagery but it does contrast the lovers world. In the lovers world they believe in each other’s lies but in the real world they know they are lying to each other.
‘Thus vainly thinking that she thinks me young,
Although she knows my days are past the best’
(Quatrain2 lines 5-6)
My ideas show that the poems all show the imperfect nature of love, ‘To His Coy Mistress’ shows it in a persuasive sexual way and tries to scare the person into having sex, whereas, ‘Sonnet 138’ is a lot lighter and only talks about how lying is keeping their relationships together. ‘The Sick Rose’ is a warning about love and sex. The poem that depicts the meaning of imperfect nature of love is ‘The Sick Rose’, this is because it is a very strong poem and is a bit like a sermon. Although having a lot of interpretations the main idea of the poem is a warning of love and sex, on line two with ‘the invisible worm’ (line 2) is like a disease like AIDS or is something devious and unknown. The poem is also very biblical.
