Love is a common theme in poetry and it has been written about for hundreds of years. Two of the most famous poets in history are William Shakespeare and W.B. Yeats. Both of these poets used the love theme very often in their poems.
Declan Gervin Page
Love is a common theme in poetry and it has been written about for hundreds of years. Two of the most famous poets in history are William Shakespeare and W.B. Yeats. Both of these poets used the love theme very often in their poems. William Shakespeare was born in 1564 and died in 1616. He was from Stratford, Upon Avon and was famous for writing plays. William Shakespeare was a world-renowned playwright. He wrote the famous play ‘Macbeth’ and is still performed hundreds of years later. Shakespeare had written most of his poems before 1600. This was a period of change when people living in medieval times developed into modern times. He wrote mainly about love and nature and his poetry was very subjective and contained very deep feelings. W.B. Yeats was born in 1865 and died in 1939. He was always a poet. He was a protestant man from Dublin and was a nationalist. Yeats tended to use Irish mythology in his poems. He was a shy man who fell in love with a lady called Maud Gonne. He asked her to marry him on several occasions but she refused. Instead she married a man called Major John McBride. Yeats’ poems are very carefully crafted and his love poems more to do with longing than fulfilment. His poetry often relates back to Maud Gonne. He was devastated that she would not marry him and she said if she did Ireland would lose their best poet.
One of these very original yet very deep and meaningful poems by William Shakespeare is, “Farewell! Thou art too dear for my possessing.” This poem shows Shakespeare’s true feeling about love and how it can lead to many other emotions. He speaks about how he is not worthy to have this woman and how he is confused to why she is with him, “Thou art too dear for my possessing.” On the other hand he subtly implies that this woman is very vain and she is very self-centred. This uncertainty of what Shakespeare actually means adds to the poem and makes it much more interesting. So early on in the poem we can see that he wants to end the relationship because of this woman’s vanity but on the other hand is having doubts whether or not to let her go. Throughout the poem it mentions how he has never deserved such a beautiful woman and that because of this he must end their relationship, “My bonds in thee are all determinate.” Shakespeare throughout the poem has cunningly used poetic devices to stress feelings inside him. Firstly the title straight away explains to the reader that he wishes to leave her because he feels she is too good for him. The poem is in sonnet form, which is very original and is not very long. Also all lines are of approximately the same length creating a regular pattern. The rhythm of the poem, in my opinion, is quite slow because at the end of a lot of lines there are full stops and question marks. This in a way breaks up the regular rhythm of the poem and slows it down. There are obvious endings to each line and obvious rhyme. Nearly all lines end in ‘-ing’, which is repetitive and monotonous and makes the tone of the poem, in a way of anger and uncertainty. This has been done purposely because the boring sound brings out the writer’s true feelings and illustrates to the reader just how the writer feels inside. When read out loud the reader can clearly hear how the writer brings this fury and anger out. So a very obvious rhyming scheme is present. Alliteration is smartly used, “So thy great gift, upon misprison growing.” The alliteration of the words “great gift” stresses the writer’s intended emotion of sarcasm. By using alliteration here he shows how she isn’t really all that important to him but by using sarcasm it seems to sink into the reader even more. Similes are also used to show the reader how unreal the whole situation is, “Thus have I had thee, as a dream doth flatter.” The reference to dreams implies just how lucky the writer is feeling and how he feels this is all a dream. Overall the poem has a very sarcastic tone. The speaker is clearly angry towards this woman and by using sarcasm his anger is stressed more as he sound more hating towards her. The impact of this poem this poem is very strong and definite. There is a very strong theme of love and wanting in the poem yet the poem ends on quite a negative tone, “In sleep a king, but, waking no such matter.” There is definitely an annoyance portrayed by the writer. The poem makes me feel that the writer is in a way stupid for letting this woman go. Clearly she is beautiful and he loves her so I see no reason why he should try and make this work. There is though a coldness implied by his language and her conceitedness. This can explain then, the uncertainty of the writer and also explain his feelings and situation. He is trying to bring across his true feelings but the negative aspects and tone of the poem is making him unsure. The words, “Gift and “Riches” give reference to money. This comparison between the money and the woman give a sense of negativity. The metallic, cold and lifelessness is compared to this woman making it seem like she is not good for him. These suggestions are powerful and have a great affect on the reader.