In the Seduction there is definitely no signs of romance but there is a little in “Cousin Kate” we know this because the man in this poem lured the girl to his palace home whereas in the Seduction he led her to Birkenhead docks where scum lay on the river. This to me is not at all romantic it seems to me it is a bit like he takes you there and gets what he wants.
In my opinion in both of these poems these men are leading the girls astray and then seducing them. The boy in “The Seduction” had the evening planned for this young girl or any other foolish girl, we know this because we are told he takes Listerine to hide the nicotine breath. His plan only works when the girl becomes extremely drunk though whereas in cousin Kate it was quite different as the lord watched the girl when she was a “cottage maiden” and he wooed her to his palace home.
In these poems one girl is disgusted while the other was pleased. This is because following their sexual activity it lead to pregnancy. The girl in the Seduction was quite disgusted with herself because she was only fifteen, nearly sixteen, and is sitting o’levels in June what are her chances of getting them now? Not very high!
She shows her emotions by ripping up her My guy and Jackie comics and throwing her white knee high boots until they broke. All these objects reminded her of her drunken mistake. This is because her magazines tell stories of how love is supposed to be but look at the way she ended up, her white knee high boots reminded her of the night she gave her virginity as these were part of her clothing. White is a colour that symbolises purity and innocence and she feels disgusted with herself now. She talks about “festering” this strong language helps the reader understand how devastated the girl feels.
In the poem “Cousin Kate” the speaker has a gift that the lord cannot have this is her baby. Although he may not know it, it would seem that the lady he married is in fact infertile so he will come running back. This to me shows that the girl is quite happy with her baby as the lord will need someone to be heir to the throne.
In conclusion I have decided that I prefer cousin Kate to “The Seduction” this is because I can see that there are good and bad sides to this young girls situation. Although she lost her innocence through a man that did not care a great deal for her he will eventually have to care. The speaker became pregnant and gave birth to a boy. This will mean that he will have to come back to the speaker so she is in a more powerful position than the girl in “The Seduction”. This poem is more hopeful.
