Caesura is shown in ‘Porphyria’s Lover’ when the poem breaks in the middle of the line,
‘In one long yellow string I wound
Three times her little throat around,
And strangled her. No pain felt she; ’
Using Caesura gives emphasis to ‘And strangled her.’ or to ‘No pain felt she; ‘ which makes a strong point to the important and shocking part of the poem. It is trying to portray the male’s character as delusional by expressing acts of violence. The male character is also suprisingly calm at this stage in the poem, catching the readers attention. There is also an example of rhyme and a run-on-line in this extract of the poem. Using the words ‘wound’ and ‘around’ as rhyming words gives the poem a rhythm making it an easy read, also adding emphasis to the words. The run-on-line builds up tension creating an atmosphere making the poem seem more like a story.
Similarly in ‘Not To Blame’ a good example of Caesura is,
‘The battered wives
Among all the women
They see bleeding through their lives
I bleed-
For your perversity- ‘
This stands out, as ‘I bleed’ is a change in the rhyme scheme. It is also used on its own, in one line creating impact.
The poem also feels quite personal as it says ‘Among all the women’ ‘They see bleeding through their lives’, it is short and simple but using the word ‘all’ makes the reader relate with the women in the poem. This makes the reader understand the sadness portrayed in these lines.
In ‘Not To Blame’ the impression I get of the male character is that he is a famous person. We know this as it says,
‘The story hit the news
From coast to coast’
This suggests that he is very well known as it gives the impression that the story was important and everyone was informed about it.
This makes the male character seem interesting, as famous people are not usually associated with violence in their relationship. It makes the reader want to read on and find out more about the male characters personality.
A different impression is created in ‘Porphyria’s Lover’ as Browning portrays insanity in the male character. Browning does this well, as the poem tries to tell you how the male character kills Porthyria and yet believes he has done nothing wrong. This is shown when he says,
‘ I warily opened her lids; again,
Laughed the blue eyes without a stain.’
This encourages us to think that the male character is slightly delusional, as it does not occur to him that Porphyria is dead. He calmly carries on like before looking into her eyes as if she was still alive. This is shocking to the reader; it creates disbelief making the reader want to read on. Although at the end of the poem he seems to show sense of what he has done. This is demonstrated when he says,
‘And all night long we have not stirred,
And yet God has not said a word.’
This shows us that he understands what he has done but the connotations of God not saying a word suggest that the male character has not been punished and therefore can see no wrong in what he has done.
In ‘Not To Blame’ the reason behind the abuse seems to be because of the male’s jealousy towards the female character. We can see this when it says,
‘His mother had the frailty
You despise
And the looks
You love to drive to suicide’
One interpretation could be that she received more attention than he did and that made him want to be the more dominant one within the relationship.
Similarly in ‘Porphyria’s Lover’ it says that,
‘She put her arm about my waist’
This suggests that she is in control but further on in the poem the male character shows his need to be dominant over Porphyria. This is demonstrated when the male states,
‘The’ moment she was mine, mine fair’
This shows how he thought she belonged to him. In comparing them the male character in ‘Porphyria’s Lover’ and ‘Not To Blame’ seem to be quite similar.
In ‘Porphyria’s Lover’ Browning sets the scene using pathetic fallacy. This creates a tense atmosphere as he uses the weather outside to reflect the male character’s personality. This is shown when it describes the weather outside,
‘The sullen wind was soon awake,
It tore the elm tops down for spite,
And did its worst to vex the lake:’
In effect this shows us how he is feeling and gives us an insight into the type of mood he is in. The outside suggests his life without Porphyria, which is portrayed as being lonely and angry. Whereas when Browning describes the inside of the house as Porphyria walks in you get the impression that he is happy to see her, we can see this when it says,
‘When glided in Porphyria; straight
She shut the cold out and the storm…
Blaze up and all the cottage warm;’
This then suggests that Porphyria brings the warmth into his life along with showing happiness towards her. As a result creating an unsettled atmosphere for the beginning of the poem. Consequently making the reader feel uneasy when the female character is murdered as he shows passionate feelings towards her.
In ‘Not To Blame’ the atmosphere is fairly sad. The poem is different to ‘Porphyria’s Lover’ as it is trying to communicate with the reader about abuse. I think it is trying to give you a message about what can happen in a relationship and how the male character thinks that he was not to blame
Joni Mitchell uses repetition to get her point across. As the line…
‘And you were not to blame’
Has been repeated throughout the poem. Joni Mitchell once said, ‘Songs should have something for the heart, something for the emotions and something for the intellect.’ This proves to us that she has strong feelings about what she writes.
In ‘Not To Blame’ sadness is shown in the poem when,
‘I heard you baby say
When he was only three
‘Daddy’ lets get some girls
One for you and one for me.’
The irony of this demonstrates how the actions of the male character have also affected his son, as he is consequently mimicking his father’s attitude towards women. The male characters son through no fault of his own is then forced into growing up in his fathers footsteps, using this shows the reader how children are also affected, thus creating emotion.
Similarly there is also irony in ‘Porphyria’s Lover’ as the male character kills Porthyria and yet holds love for her. He seems to think that it is the only way for them to stay together. A good example of this is when,
‘And I, its love am gained instead!
Porthyria’s love: she guessed not how
Her darling one wish would be heard,
And thus we sit together now,’
This creates mystery as the writer is trying to confuse the reader. The male character portrays his calmness and seems to believe he has won. It is also suggesting that Porthyria wanted to be with him and therefore will be forever.
Overall in comparison the poems are fairly alike in their structure and they both use poetic devices to illustrate the poem. Likewise they both make good use of imagery and connotations. Although they are written in different times which is clearly shown as ‘Not To Blame’ is fighting for the females rights and ‘Porphyria’s Lover’ is in some was defending the male’s view on things. ‘Porphyria’s Lover’ is different to ‘Not To Blame’, as it seems to be more dramatic whereas in ‘Not To Blame’ emphasis is more recognisable in the meaning of the poem. In conclusion these two poems hold a few similarities as well as differences.