Robert Browning uses another persona in his poem in order to convey the character of the Duke. Manufactured emotion is used, ‘Sir, ‘twas all one!’ This adds to the contemptuous tone of the poem that has been built up from the start. The Duke has been made out to be jealous, pompous and insecure amongst other things, an example of this being, ‘…for never read/Strangers like you that pictured countenance.’ This makes the Duke seem deeply paranoid as he may have suspected an affair had been taking place between her and Fra Pandolf.
Larkin uses a persona to make the reader more aware of the surroundings that they are describing, the immediate subject of the poem is the monument of a medieval knight and his lady carved on their tomb. We are immediately made aware of the erosion that has taken place over time, ‘faces blurred,’ and, ‘Their proper habits vaguely shown’. The use of a persona gives the reader a good sense of time going by, and therefore the erosion that comes with it which affects the tomb.
In both poems, punctuation plays an important role in conveying the thoughts of both the poets, through their respective personas. ‘My Last Duchess’ is heavily punctuated, full of dashes, ellipses, colons and semi colons amongst the other more common forms of punctuation. The punctuation is used for emphasis and effect. It is used to manufacture emotion in some instances, ‘Somehow…I know not how…as if she ranked’, the ellipses in this case are used to fabricate emotion, which with analysis can be deemed to be false. The poet uses punctuation to give a sense of what the Duke is saying. ‘Or that in you disgusts me; here you miss,’ this semi colon gives the reader an indication that this is and argumentative speech, where the narrator uses logical force. ‘Never to stoop. Oh, Sir, she smiled, no doubt,’ here, the full stop in the middle of the line is used to bind the causes, which in turn increase the subtly of the meaning.
In ‘An Arundel Tomb’ are also good examples of punctuation where the poet conveys his thoughts and feelings. ‘Stiffened pleat,/And that faint hint….’ Here, the comma at the end of the line suggests that the narrator is stopping and having a look at what he his describing. This makes the reader feel more involved and therefore the poet’s feelings will be conveyed more clearly. Also in the first stanza a dash is used in order to introduce an idea, this again conveys the poets feelings with more clarity, ‘And that faint hint of the absurd –’. In the fifth stanza punctuation is used in a subtle manner. ‘Through lengths and breadths/Of time. Snow fell, undated. Light/Each summer’. The punctuation here is used to slow down and reduce the pace of the poem in order for the reader to grasp the concept that time is passing by and we are moving through the seasons. The final significant usage of punctuation comes in the final stanza and is an obvious way to convey feelings. ‘Our almost-instinct almost true:’ This colon places emphasis on the last line, therefore the reader’s attention is fully engaged and hence the poet’s feelings will be conveyed with ease.
