There are many stereotypical ideas of love thought upon by society these generated by various things the media, personal attributes and family or friends opinions. In particular there are many cliché ideas about love poems that they are about soft sentiments and romantic words, although from the thorough analysis of three captivating poems “The Beggar Women,” “Our Love Now” and “To His Coy Mistress” I have discovered a different story.
The word love means to be devoted to something or to find something irresistible; this can then alternatively be interpreted in different ways not just in a conventional manor. The poem “The Beggar Women” doesn’t look at the love between two people but the love for sex and the problems that can arise from this. “Mistress,’ quoth he, ‘and what if we should retire a little way into the wood?” On the other hand in the poem Our Love Now love is interpreted as something that is not always eternal, that can sometimes go wrong which again goes against the banal ideology of society about love. “The tree is forever dead and such is our love.” Similarly to “The Beggar Women” within the poem “To His Coy Mistress” the poet is looking at sex being a God never created; something that should be worshiped like love. The male character is trying to seduce the female purely for sex; this is an unconventional idea to the rest of society about love. “Now let us sport us why we may.”
As there are different types of love, there are also different techniques of writing about love as each poet tries to be more unique than the next. Within the poem Our Love Now the style of the poem is written in a debating fashion it appears that you should read from left to right although this is optional. The left side of the poem is the positive side of the debate and the right is the negative side of the debate. The debate is upon whether to continue a relationship or not depending on an ambiguous situation of unfaithfulness before the poem was written. All the way through the poem the women is in control this is shown by the way the poem is written by having the women’s argument continually after the man’s it allows the women to contradict the man’s opinion and have the last closing statement. “Observe how the wound heals-man, Although the wound heals” “The tree is forever dead such is our love.” Within this poem the poet uses many metaphors to describe the way in which the love appears and the course which it has taken. “Remember how when you cut your hair, you feel different, and some how incomplete. But the hair grows-before long it is always the same. Our beauty together such as our love.” This enables the reader to understand things from other people’s point of view the man’s and the women’s. Towards the end I believe the reader would take the women’s aspect over the man’s as there must have been reason for the women’s dismissal of the man at the end of poem. “The tree is forever dead such as our love.” Whenever the poem is written from the women’s point of view it is written in upper case font unlike the man’s this shows again that the women is higher than the man or in a better position. The man’s “I said, observe how the wounds heal in time,’ the women’s ‘She said, Although the wound heals” The structure of the poem is written from left to right which allows a large breech between the man’s text and the women’s, symbolising the distance of their relationship. The man’s text shows an imperative at the beginning of each stanza “I said, observe”. This shows that as the love is fading apart in the relationship the man is forcing it back together and in part commanding the women to love him, but further on in the poem we discover this approach doesn’t work.
The next poem I am looking at is written extremely different to Our Love Now, through its structure, style and language. This poem is “To His Coy Mistress” it is written using octosylabic couplets every two lines. This shows the reader a rhythm in which to read the poem and adds to the humorous tone showing that this relationship is not one of true love but for the love of sex, it also makes the women’s point of view sound silly that she doesn’t wish to lose her virginity before marriage. “Had we but world enough, and time, This coyness lady, were no crime”. The poet uses hyperbole within this poem “A hundred years should go to praise, Thine eyes, and on thy forehead gaze” this shows the exaggeration of the man’s argument, his exaggeration for the need for sex, and the exaggerated idea that love can be seen as the love of sex. It also shows that love is not always expressed in a true love ideal but in a sexual way. Within this poem there is also the use of alliteration and assonance this adds to the flow of the poem and the humorous tone given, it also highlights the words found “We should sit and think which way to walk and pass our long love’s day”. This highlights the fact that the male character is continuously looking for sex as the love in their relationship, and is continually trying to seduce his lover. Its style is one of a well planned out argument by Andrew Marvell. It begins showing the stereotypical ideas of a love poem that the male character, believes the female character would like to hear. “Thou by the Indian Ganges’ side should’st rubies find: I by the tide”. The second section changes tack where the tone is some what spiteful, much more to the point so the women finds out what her lover really wants from her sex. “My echoing song: then worms shall try That long preserved virginity:” In the final section the argument comes to a conclusion where the male character sums up his argument hoping the mistress will see his point of view. Here the poet uses euphemisms for having sex and giving birth so to sound more subtle to the previous point of argument “to his amorous bird of prey,” “Through the iron gates of life”. Within the final rhyming couplet the man leaves a statement that in some ways cannot be denied by the women “Thus, though we cannot make our sun, Stand still, yet we will make him run.” This meaning that we cannot stop time but that we will get all we can from it, the male’s last form of persuasion. This poem is similar to “Our Love Now” as it is written in a way which both male characters are trying to persuade the female character on a certain issue. It is also different as within to his coy mistress you only hear the male characters persuasion on the subject of sex as appose to both sides in our love now making it more of an argument, also that this poem is one of seduction unlike Our Love Now.
The next poem The Beggar women it written as a narrative poem unlike our love now and To His Coy Mistress this is not so common within poems as is the type of love expressed. Similarly to “To His Coy Mistress” there is a strong rhythm running throughout this is a rhythm of heroic couplets, this adds to the humorous tone set upon by the trick played on the gentleman “A gentleman in hunting rode astray, More out of choice than that he lost his way.” There is an underlining moral message found within the humour this shows that this relationship is not about love but about the need for sex. There are many lengths some ignorant upper class people may go to for this shown within the poem, but that in the end it’s the ignorance that is shown to be wrong. The underlining moral message is “think of the consequences of sex before committing the act”. Within this poem the poet uses some pre 19th century colloquial language this is use by the women in the poem “But, ere you get another, ’t’ent amiss”. The poet uses his to bring an air of conversation to situation so he reader understands more of what is going on and we also are reminded of the women’s lower class than the man’s as she uses colloquial language as apposed to the man’s as she is possible unable to keep up appearance.
Similarities between modern and old poems, there was still the idea of men only wanting women for sex within the pre 19th century poems even though in those time such actions were thought upon as disastrous and people today are more lenient. You may also have not expected it because most women are married at this time and it was unheard of to make advances to married women. In both the pre 19th century and today there was a suggestion of prostitution. The idea that even in the pre 19th century era women could have the upper hand over men. In the 20th century the poem “Our Love Now” the women has the upper hand as she ends the relationship making the first move, like the two pre 19th century the beggar women she has the upper hand as her morals overcome the gentleman’s ignorance of disregarding the consequences of sex as something to think about he is them left holding the baby. There is the idea of the man essentially begging the women to sleep with him, the women still denying him showing the women to be the stronger sex within “To His Coy Mistress”.
Having had analysed all poems, I have come to the conclusion that the ideas of love and what love actually is different people are two very diverse things. Love can be interpreted in different ways it is not up to others to judge what love is or to conventionalise how love should be written in poems. As in the poems I have read love has been interpreted as not always being eternal or love being a human’s need for sex disregarding the consequences afterwards. Although love can be written in many different ways in different times and circumstances there are still resemblances of love in pre 19th century times and now as love is love no matter when or where you are.
A short paragraph I find to be important in Rapunzstiltskin:
Within the poem Rapunzstiltskin there is a fresh look at the portrayal of women from traditional tales. Tales told from women’s pint of view No happy endings. Implication is that the prince is quite happy with the prisoner in the tower arrangement. He arrives every evening for sex modern day Rapunzel is not happy with this arrangement.
