"Romantic love, physical love, unrequited love, obsessive love…" Compare the ways poets have written about love, bringing out different aspects of the theme.

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Hayley Smith

10O

English Coursework

Pre 1914 Poetry

Question; “Romantic love, physical love, unrequited love, obsessive love…” Compare the ways poets have written about love, bringing out different aspects of the theme.

        I have chosen to look at two poems and comment on the comparisons between them. The two poems I have chosen are ‘First Love’ by John Clare and ‘When We Two Parted’ by Lord Byron. In each poem there is a lot of emotion shown, for example, “And stole my heart complete” from First Love. This shows how powerful his love for her was, she managed to be able to control him compared to “That thy heart could forget, thy spirit deceive,” from When We Two Parted. This shows a feeling of betrayal, as well as spitefulness. These lines alone, show that the poems are very different as one talks of a love so powerful, they are overcome by it, whereas the other talks of betrayal and being deceived.

        “First Love” is a romantic poem, about new experiences and love over-coming all other emotions. The author, John Clare, stopped his education at 11years of age, but being so determined, he became a self-taught man. I think it is this determination that shines through in this poem. It seems as thought he is determined to savour this moment, “I ne’er was struck before that hour” is the first line of the poem, it signifies a situation that can never again be repeated, a once in a lifetime moment. I think he is trying to write about how much he wants to hold onto this moment and just capture it as if in a picture, keep hold of it and never let it end.

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        The author of ‘When We Two Parted,’ Lord Byron, had a very different life however, he grew up with his mother, who was a rich woman but her fortune was then squandered by her husband. He inherited his title from an Uncle and his mother used the money to give him a good education.

        In 1815, he married a woman named Anne Isabella Milbanke, but the relationship soon ended the following year. He then met Countess Teresa Guiccioli who later became his mistress. I think it is these two main relationships that make Lord Byron the author he is. It ...

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