The poem uses many references to nature, such as ‘The charmed ocean’s pausing’ and ‘And the midnight moon is weaving,’ which gives it a calm and ‘pretty’ perspective, as it creates imagery in the reader’s eye. Such references also create a sense of a constant yet unpredictable relationship, as nature itself is always there, and changes regularly through the seasons, yet often surprises us with unpredictable actions.
The importance of the central character in ‘Stanzas for Music’ is very apparent by Byron’s clear love for him. He claims ‘There will be none of Beauty’s daughters With a magic like thee,’ showing how he believes his young man is one of the finest sites he has ever seen, and believes him to have a charm like no other. By capitalising ‘beauty,’ Byron is personifying the attribute to illustrate how even something more delightful (the daughters) could not be as lovely as his young man. He also compares his love to the subject of the poem to that of God’s love, ‘So the spirit bows before thee, To listen and adore thee,’ which, considering the social context at the time of the poem being written, shows the huge importance of what he is saying.
The main character in ‘Morning Song,’ however, is the newborn daughter. Whilst the girl seems to be just as adored as the young man in the previous poem (‘Love set you going like a fat gold watch’), ‘Morning Song’ also appears to be much more honest about the love the mother feels for her child. The line ‘We stand round blankly as walls’ illustrates how the impact of the new child is so huge it’s hard to comprehend real feeling.
The poem also has a very old fashioned, almost ‘musty’ feel to it, with phrases such as ‘moth-breath’ and ‘Victorian night gown’ adding to this. A key theme to the poem is mother’s intuition, as shown in the last three stanzas, where the mother appears to wake before her daughter’s cry, ‘I wake to listen: A far sea moves in my ear.’ Throughout the poem, the imagery is not necessarily negative, yet at the same time, not exactly cheerful, for example, ‘In a drafty museum, your nakedness’ and ‘your bald cry Took its place among the elements.’ The only particularly positive image used is the very last lines of the poem, ‘Your handful of notes; The clear vowels rise like balloons.’ This seems to show the mother’s distant, hesitant feelings to her new daughter, feeling unsure what to do and worrying how to treat her, right up until her daughter’s cry, at which point she knows exactly what to do.
The poem, like ‘Stanzas for Music’ uses much imagery, however, rather that referring to nature, ‘Morning Song’ uses more metaphors and similes, for example, ‘Love set you going like a fat gold watch,’ at the very beginning. These are very effective throughout, illustrating both the daughter and mother such as ‘All night your moth-breath Flickers among the flat pink roses,’ which perfectly describes how delicate the breath of a baby is, and seems to almost illustrate the bed covers as beautiful, perhaps putting the daughter on a pedestal. The mother also describes herself; ‘I stumble from bed, cow-heavy and floral In my Victorian nightgown.’ This is also very effective in picturing her, as we can see she is weary and feeling heavy and weighed down. The floral is a good contrast to this, as it seems to show there is still a very caring feeling to her, and almost makes you imagine a frumpy yet lovely old woman.
Overall, I believe both poems are very effective in getting their messages across, and both make excellent use of a main character, as such. The imagery of both is quite beautiful, yet this is achieved in very different ways.
