‘A Woman to Her Lover’ has emotional feelings for love and what the woman describes how she would not be prepared to do everything he wants her to do.
‘A First Love’ is definitely part of the Romantism movement as first love is of the criteria of having desire for the unknown or the unattainable.
‘First Love’, written by John Clare, is about a man who falls in love at first sight where the love is unattainable. She is an upper middle class woman and is forbidden to be with a lower class man. For example Clare says, ‘I ne’er was struck before that hour with love so sudden and so sweet.’ Showing this means first love and ‘My blood rushed to my face and took my sight away’, which shows the love he has for her. His physical and mental state has been changed by meeting this woman.
However, ‘A Woman to Her Lover’, a poem by Christina Walsh, is about a woman who is not prepared to be treated like a slave and do everything the man wants her to just to satisfy him. The woman is trying to tell what she wants from the relationship.
For example Christina Walsh says, ‘To make me a bond slave’ showing she feels like she is being treated like a slave! Also, ‘Of passion and of joy and sorrow, then o husband, I am yours forever.’ She is describing her ideal relationship and how she wants a relationship with joy and sorrow, the pleasure and the pain and not just the sadness she is going through.
On the other hand Bryon’s poem; ‘When We Two Parted’, is about Bryon describing his anger and feelings about his affair with the girl he loved but had to meet in secret. Lady Français then slept with Duke of Wellington, leaving Bryon jealous and angry. Bryon was mentally affected and had a bitter turn on Lady Français.
From example Bryon says, ‘In secret we met – In silence I grieve’ telling us how he felt about not having an open relationship with a woman. ‘Of what he feels now, Thy vows are all broken’ showing his feeling something and meaning the woman has broke the vows she made to her husband and has now also broke his heart.
Most of the imagery in ‘First Love’ by John Clare is using nature and the natural surroundings. He is saying that she is as beautiful as the nature surrounding her.
John Clare uses similes and metaphors to set the scene of the imagery for example he uses the simile ‘Her face, it bloomed like a sweet flower’. This means that he thought she was sweet just like flowers are sweet. Where Clare says ‘It bloomed like a flower,’ he means she was smiling or chirpy. When you smile or laugh you normally blush just like flowers bloom. John Clare uses the metaphor; ‘Ne’er was struck before that hour’, meaning it was like he had been hit on the head and was dreaming about her as he hadn’t really been hit or struck. This metaphor is on the first line of the poem, showing his love for Mary Joyce, the girl he had fallen ‘head over heels’ in love with, is so strong he had to throw it into the first line to shows his hearts desire.
Throughout this poem there is a regular rhyme scheme which is a natural scheme. It is flowing through the poem for example:
‘Are flowers the winter’s choice?
Is love’s bed always snow?
She seemed to hear my silent voice
And love’s appeal to know’
The second and fourth line rhyme and the first and third line rhyme. This regular scheme shows his love for her is true, natural and flowing like the rhyme scheme. This links back to his nature side as rivers and streams flow like his rhyme and love for Mary Joyce.
John Clare uses personification in his poem ‘First Love’ as he gives nature human characteristics thus:
‘They spoke as chords do from the string’ showing the music of love because when someone is in love they may say ‘he/she rang my bell’, bell being a term of music and bringing music to his ears.
‘A Woman to Her Lover’, a poem about how a woman wasn’t going to live by her lover’s rules and expectations, by Christina Walsh has imagery of sexual context. In the poem there is a lot of hyperbole about the fact that she has her own opinions and that a woman can make her own mind up about what she wants in a relationship.
The imagery isn’t really set out as techniques, it’s more written as a speech direct to the reader.
This poem is lampoon and is intended to wound her lover. For example: ‘O lover I refuse you!’ ‘A Woman to Her Lover’ has no particular rhyme scheme, it has blank verses which scan and not rhyme, the verses all vary in length which shows the woman’s love to her lover isn’t flowing, steady or natural but instead jumbled and mixed up unlike ‘First Love’ written by John Clare.
Enjambement is fairly regular in the poem, especially in the final verse. I think the reason for this being that the woman wanted to express her feelings more openly, freely and much stronger by regular use.
Christina Walsh hardly uses similes and metaphors to set the imagery. Although she uses a simile in the first two lines for example: ‘Do you come to me to bend me to your will? As conqueror to the vanquished?’ This meaning that the vanquished is meaningless and worthless to the conqueror that defeated it. Christina is saying that the woman is meaningless to her lover, but he’s trying to take over her to control what she does.
In the poem there is a metaphor thus: ‘A wingless angel who can do no wrong’ meaning an angel with no wings, but angels are theoretically meant to have wings. This could mean different things to her, for example:
She might have thought she found an angel and humans don’t have wings or it May be her dream to have a guardian angel watching over her to ensure she’s safe. ‘Who can do no wrong’ May be what she wants to be like. She may be thinking that if she did anything wrong or incorrectly then her lover would force her to do something else or even beat her up. However it may be that she wants a lover who can do no wrong to her, or that her lover thinks he can do no wrong.
The first three verses have a pessimistic tone because they are about objections the woman has against her lover; the things she hates and wants to change about their relationship. However, the final verse is with a happier tone and finishes the poem off with an optimistic note because the verse is about solutions she has for saving the relationship. For example: ‘Laugh with joy’, ‘Hand holding hand’ and ‘Very heart of God’.
Sexual images are used to set the scene, although most of which are unpleasant. For example, ‘Your clamorous desire’, ‘Your fond caresses’ and ‘Your sense delights’ meaning he wanted her body and not her personality.
‘Oh shame, and pity’ says she’s disgusted of her lover and his actions towards her.
The words chosen have a deeper meaning of her being used for sex without her consent. However, towards the end it’s more pleasant and the sexual actions become more sensual. Thus:
‘For bridal March’ meaning the bride’s walk down the aisle when getting married and ‘Hand holding hand until we reach the very hand of God’ meaning happily ever after and God will actually be pleased for them and they will have his love.
‘When We Two Parted’, written by Lord Bryon has imagery set by bitterness. There is no natural imagery or any referral to nature at all in the poem unlike ‘First Love’.
‘When We Two Parted’ is a pessimistic poem and is very negative about the joy of love. Lord Bryon cannot see his secret love anymore and so turns bitter and emphasizes his negative feelings with hyperbole.
This poem also makes the reader try and feel exactly how he was feeling at the time he wrote the poem.
Lord Byron uses a regular rhyme scheme, but he is not emphasizing regular love, but infact, the total opposite; the irregularity of his love to Fanny. It’s showing regular bitterness towards the situation. For example:
……………..parted,
……………….tears,
…………….hearted,
………………years,
The rhyme scheme is lines one and three rhyme and lines two and four rhyme.
Lord Bryon uses a simile to describe Fanny. Thus:
‘To prove false unto many as faithless to one.’ This means she was unfaithful as she had a husband and had an unfair, also hurting Lord Bryon by not seeing him again, she called the affair off.
‘As faithless to one’ means she only unfair to one, her husband as the affair was with Bryon himself.
He has used personification to describe his heart and a spirit for example:
‘That thy heart could forget,
Thy spirit deceive’.
A heart cannot forget, if you think about the heart as an organ of the body then it’s not possible for it to feel as it’s only an object. It’s like saying a pen getting up and walking away, it’s impossible. However, if you think you heart to be all about love, then the heart still cant forget as the heart remembers everything whether it is good or bad.
A spirit cannot deceive as a spirit is not real, they are in the atmosphere and to deceive is a characteristic of a living creature or human being.
Lord Bryon uses enjambement a lot in his poem; this helps the reader gather knowledge of his feelings directly and sharply one point after another. Thus:
‘If I should meet thee’
After long years’.
Bryon describes his past relationship with Fanny as if he regrets it and with bitterness.
The first three verses are about the relationship itself, and describing the feelings he had and the effects it had on him.
The fourth verse was about Fanny, and how he feels glad he got ‘shot’ of her. The final verse is what he must do if he meets her again.
The relationship broke up in tears as he describes in verse one.
However, he is still bitter. Thus:
‘Paler grew thy cheek an cold,
Colder thy kiss’.
This means his kiss wasn’t going to be used in a while. He has no one to kiss anymore. His cheek getting cold is probably the fact he is waiting all alone in the dark for his love to come along.
At the end of verse four, Bryon puts Fanny down by saying ‘for the woman once falling forever must fall’. By saying this he says, Fanny will always be the same; breaking people’s hearts and cheating on them.
Lord Bryon uses irony for bitterness in the final verse. Thus:
‘How should I greet thee? –
With silence and tears?’
Bryon is obviously being sarcastic as he says they should meet the same way they parted.
