On closer examination of “The Chilterns” by Rupert Brooke, this poem is also about relationship coming to an end. The man is also ending the relationship. The narrator Brooke has had the relationship described in the poem for three years. The lines” Three years or a bit less” show us this. Brooke starts the poem off by patronising his lover. He says”Your hands, my dear, adorable”. When Brooke says “Quit of my youth and you” he is telling us his youth and relationship are gone. The quote “Forgotten at last” suggests the poet wants to end the relationship and move on. Brooke wants to go out and explore the countryside instead of being involved in a relationship. The quote “I shall desire and I shall find the best of my desires; the autumn road, the mellow wind” tells us this. Brooke has gained experience from past relationship and does not need another lover. Brooke personifies the wind and the rain by giving them human characteristics. He uses these to replace people in his life. We find out that Brooke prefers the countryside because it is always there for him. The quote “Certainly these remain” tell us this. Although Brooke states that the countryside is more important to him than relationships, he then uses negative tone to describe the countryside. He uses words like “slumbering” and “black” which indicates to us that although Brooke says the countryside means a lot to him it may not. Although Brooke comes across as confident and he knows what he is doing is right, this may not be the case. As the language is positive when Brooke talks about relationships and becomes negative when he talks about the countryside we get the feeling that Brooke does actually care about relationships.
As I previously mentioned in the introduction to Michael Drayton’s “Love’s Farewell” is written as a Shakespearean sonnet. This consists of fourteen lines. Those fourteen lines can be divided into an octave which consists of two quatrains, containing two lines in each and a sestet which contains one quatrain and a rhyming couplet. He has used the Shakespearean sonnet rhyme scheme, which means the first and third lines and the second and fourth lines in each quatrain rhyme. In keeping with the traditional Shakespearean sonnet form, Drayton’s poem is written in Iambic Pentametre. The line “Since there’s/ no help/ come let/ us kiss/ and part” shows us this. The line consists of ten syllables which go in order of unstress-stress. The line I have already quoted shows this each line of ten syllables also contains five feet. One foot consists of two syllables which go in the order of unstress-stress. When we read Iambic pentametre we naturally unstress-stress syllables ourselves. Drayton has followed a very strict rhyme and rhythm scheme because he has kept control of his feelings and emotions.
On the other hand whilst Drayton has used such a strict rhythm, Brooke has used a ballad form to write his poem. We can tell Brooke uses ballad form because there are a lot of similarly sized short verses and there is no strict rhythm. In the five middle verses of the ballad, the first and third and the second, fourth and fifth lines rhyme. He has chosen this rhythm because he has a sense of freedom in the poem. The title “The Chilterns” explains this. As I have also mentioned previously in this essay, Brooke has had three past relationships. Brooke feels more mature and experienced as a result of this. This may also have influenced Brooke into choosing to write in this form of poetry. He also chooses this form because he does not want to be strict with his emotions. Although Brooke uses a ballad, there is still a rhyme scheme but it is not as noticeable as Drayton’s.
Drayton uses a strict form of writing, as I have previously mentioned. Drayton also keeps his emotions under control by using descriptive writing. Drayton uses imagery, the main form of imagery he uses is personification. Drayton personifies Love in the poem by giving it human characteristics. The lines “Last gasp of Love’s latest breath” shows us this. The quote shows us that the Love is dying. When he says “when all have give him over” this shows us that Drayton has personified Love as a dying man. The pronoun He shows this. He also personifies faith and passion. The quote “faith is by his bed of death” tells us that faith is kneeling by the death bed and praying for the love to recover. Also the in the line ”Passion speechless lies” tells us that the passion has nothing to say because the love is ending. These emotions are personified because passion cannot speak and faith cannot kneel down and pray. He has made these emotions tangible because he has given them human characteristics. The words “passion” and “innocence” also give us a sense of recovery for the relationship.
Whilst Drayton is personifying love, Brooke personifies nature because he thinks the countryside is more important than relationships. He personifies the “slumbering plain”. This is personified because land cannot go to sleep. Brooke also uses personification for love. Brooke personifies love in the line “Even Love goes past”. This means that he is not loved anymore. Love is personified because it has been given an action. He also personifies love by giving it a capital letter like someone’s name. The way in which Drayton gets us involved in his poem is by using personification, whilst Brooke also uses personification to get us involved he uses far more descriptive writing. He uses adjectives like “adorable”, “tenderness” and “faithfully” to describe his lover. Although Brooke uses positive words to describe his lover they are meaningless and he is actually patronising her. When he uses adjectives like “black”, “slumbering” and dead to describe the countryside this indicates he thinks negatively about it. Although I have previously mentioned the countryside means more to Brooke, this is not the case. Brooke has used positive words to describe his lover which I have previously indicated, meaning that although Brooke covers up his emotions for his lover the poem still indicates she means more to him than the countryside.
After close appraisal of the poems it is noticeable that several similarities exist between “Love’s Farewell” and “The Chilterns”. The most obvious similarity between the poems is the romantic relationships they both show. The relationships are similar because they are both coming to and end and the man is ending the relationship in both poems The quotes from each poem which show this are “ And I shall find some girl perhaps and a better one than you” and “ Come let us kiss and part”. Like I have previously mentioned both poems use rhyme and rhythm. Both of the narrators use personification. They both also personify love. The quotes “Even love goes past and Loves latest breath” show this. Although they both personify love, Drayton gives love a lot more emphasis in his poem. Another similarity is neither of the narrators are sure about the decisions they are making. Although in “Love’s Farewell”, Drayton appears to be glad about the end of the relationship, when he says “I am glad, yea, glad with all my heart” he actually is not. At the end of the poem in the rhyming couplet there are sings of a recovery for the relationship when Drayton Says “From death to life thou migh’st yet recover”. Also in “The Chilterns” Brooke thinks the countryside is more important to him but he uses negative words to describe it. When Brooke says “the slumbering midland plain” this shows us that Brooke does not actually care about the countryside and he cares, more about relationships.
Despite there being several common elements between the two poems there are a lot more differences between “Love’s Farewell” and “The Chilterns”. The main difference and obvious one is that Drayton wrote his poem in the form of sonnet and Brooke in the form of a ballad. Drayton wrote a Shakespearean sonnet which consists of fourteen lines and is written in iambic pentametre. This structure follows a very strict rhythm scheme. Brooke chose to write on the ballad form which does not follow as tight a structure. Drayton wrote his poem “Love’s Farewell” in 1619, the words he uses like “nay and “thou” show us this. Brooke wrote his poem in the twentieth century and uses words that are in modern English. As we can also see that Drayton uses more imagery to get us involved in the poem where as Brooke uses far more descriptive writing. This is another significant difference. Drayton uses personification of love as we can see in the lines “Now at the last gasp of love’s latest breath” but Brooke personifies the weather and the plain. This can be seen in the lines “The slumbering Midland Plain” this is personified because piece of land does not go to sleep. Another noticeable difference is the way in which the poems start. Drayton begins his poem with a negative prospective. The words “Nay” and “Part show us this. On the other hand Brooke starts his poem in a positive manner. He uses words like “adorable” and “tenderness” which show us this. Although Brooke starts in a positive manner his mood dramatically changes to a more negative prospective at the end. An example of this can be seen in the lines “Slumbering Midland Plain” and “dead leaves in the lane”. Drayton’s poem goes in the opposite direction in the end, his poem becomes positive when there is a sense of recovery for his relationship. The quote “From death to life thou might’st yet recover” shows us this. The final noticeable difference between the two poems is the message the poets are trying to tell us in their writing. Drayton’s message is do not give up with a relationship and Brooke’s message is that there are more important things in life than romantic relationships.
After close analysis of the two poems I have concluded that the two poems are about romantic relationships where the male is ending it. Drayton chose to write his poem in sonnet form and Brooke in Ballad form. The main difference in the content is that Drayton is passionate about his love and writing. On the other hand Brooke chose a more relaxed form because he feels in control of his feelings. Despite the similararities in the content both writers have chose to write in a different form. As a result of this Drayton’s form of writing, the Shakespearean sonnet is far more restricted and follows a strict rhythm and rhyme scheme. On the other hand Brooke’s poem is far less restricted, but he reveals less emotion. The main similararity is that both writers find out their love means more to them than they have actually made out. Drayton shows this in the rhyming couplet and Brooke shows this by using positive language when describing his lover. However the language both writers use is very different. Drayton relies on personification to get us engaged with his writing whilst Brooke uses descriptive writing.