The scene for poem one is on a farm were the maiden works. The second poem is set on the edge of the Merseyside. Both poems are about lust and love and betrayal both poems also contain men who are only after one thing. “Cousin Kate’s” title doesn’t really portray how the poem is going to go were as the title “The Seduction” explains fully.
Poets use poetic techniques to distinguish their work from every one else also it gives the poem flow and structure. In “Cousin Kate” the poet uses alliteration well also there are lots of uses of similes and Rhyme. Rhyme can be seen here when she say “Why did a great lord find me out, And praise my flaxen hair? Why did a great lord find me out to fill my heart with care?” also there are two great examples of oxymoron’s one is “To lead a shameless shameful life, and the other is “My fair-haired son, my shame, my pride,”. In the second poem there are examples of personification within the first line “Far From The blind Windows” this gives the windows the feeling of a human. Also she gives the Merseyside a strange feeling when she says “Green as a septic wound” as well as this the girl is seen to be wearing high white shoes this gives her the impression of being easy. The moods in both poems are sad depressed ones. In the first poem the women feels used and thrown a side were as in the second one she feels depressed because she has lost her childhood because of being pregnant.
The female characters in the poems are both weak but in the first poem she becomes strong at the end. The woman in “Cousin Kate” becomes pregnant and she feels she has one over on the lord because his new wife is infertile but again in this time sex before marriage was a sin so she was considered not moral. The girl in “The seduction” feels used she also feels betrayed by the comics and magazines she reads. She becomes pregnant and begins to feel that people will say “she looked like the type” this is what makes both poems similar. As well as that the men in both poems are similar they both make idol promises and both use the women both the male characters a stronger than the women but really are weak. They both want sex and are motivated by it.
The types of love within the poems are similar the main plot is lust but the sub plots include actual love which is not returned and betrayal. In “Cousin Kate” she wishes to get married were as in “The Seduction” she wishes just to have a boyfriend, both relationships lead to pregnancy but only one wants it.
Love in both poems is the main theme but different types of love are shown lust is the main type but both women want partners. Abuse of power is seen mainly in poem one “He lured me to his palace home” it shows that he used his wealth to get what he wanted. Mother hood is another in Cousin Kate the women feels that mother hood is her way of getting back at the lord were as in the “The Seduction” the girl feels ashamed by it. Both poems show betrayal in “Cousin Kate” the fact the lord did not marry her was betrayal and to make her pregnant was worse. In “The Seduction” the betrayal is by the boy who makes her pregnant and then leaves her. Society in both poems have changed but are much the same the fact the girls a pregnant is considered a sin in the 1890’s “Call me an outcast thing.” This is seen here. This is still frowned at in the 1960s “Than to have the neighbours whisper that ‘you always looked the type’ again seen here.
Both poems are very similar, both contain images regarding lust and betrayal by men. The purpose of each poem is to show how lust and love a similar but difrent. In my opnion both poems are very similar in many ways and both show there motivations in good ways.