Compare and contrast how two or more poets approach the theme of love.

girl wishes she was dead, such as in line 20, "My soul with God, my body clay." and in line 24, "Left me to want a bed of clay", this tells us that love has had an adverse effect on her.  Verse 5 is also repeated at the end of the poem, this signifies how shameful she feels. It tells us she wishes that her baby would never be born, and that neither of them live. It states that she has "made thy pillow on a thorn", which gives us contrasting imagery to symbolise the the care a baby should have, with what she has given it. If you were a single mother during the 1900's you usually became a social outcast. Children were only considered if the parents were married. Alliteration is used in line 26, "His heart seemed soft but it was steel", the "s" used gives it a soft sound, which relates to the shepherds heart appearing soft (kind hearted) to the girl at first, before she realises the truth of his character. This contrasts against the hard, cold connotations of steel.  Alliteration is also used in line 37, "My heart would break - but it is brass-", the "b" used gives it a hard sound, this shows the negativity that is brought out in the line. Saying her heart would break, shows how much she feels betrayed, and I think she describes her heart now being brass, to show how "dead" she now feels inside; almost unlife-like.  Simile's are used in verse 6, "He promised beds as fine as silk, And sheets for love as white as milk", which displays the broken promises of how the shepherd made her fall in love with him. The word "silk" has connotations of richness, this shows that if she believed he was rich, this would give her a sense of security thinking she'll be able to use his money to look after the baby. The word "milk" has connotations of purity and whiteness. This being in the same sentence as the word love, shows she believed maybe that she would still feel "pure" afterwards. Which is ironic, as the poem states how unpure/ashamed she is. Metaphors are used throughout the poem such as: "I've made its pillow on a thorn", this tells us that she believes she has doomed the baby's life. Once it is born, it will be treated differently due to its mother's mistake. This also gives us death and religious imagery, as Jesus was put upon the cross with a crown of thorns upon his head.  There is also contrasts with the weather. When it mentions frost and snow, it tells us he left her, as this is when it was noticeable she was pregnant; "Me he sought through frost and snow. When it puckered up with shame, And i sought him, he never came.". Yet when it mentions summer, it describes him staying with her every night court her; "When summer brought no fears to fright, He came to guard me every night". The way it says "guard" is ironic, as he didn't protect her he just ruined her life.  The poem is set out into 11 different verses. The poems rhyming structure is A,A,B,B,C,C.. which differs greatly to the Shakespearian Sonnet "Shall I compare thee..?", which has a rhyming scheme of A,B,A,B C,D,C,D E,F,E,F G,G. It is also set out differently with 3 quatrains and a couplet. All Shakespearian sonnets consist of 14 lines, each line contains 10 syllables, and each line is written in iambic pentameter in which a pattern of a non-emphasized syllable followed by an emphasized syllable, is repeated five times.  Both the poems, "Shall I compare thee..?" and "Ballad" mention the weather. "Shall I compare thee.." Starts off with a rhetorical question asking "Shall I compare thee to a summers day?", and tells us how much the person he loves is better than British weather at its best.  Although both poems are about love, "Shall I compare thee..?" is a love poem written for someone. It displays Shakespeare's true love for someone and emphasizes this by mentioning that as long as the poem is passed on, the person he loves, will always be remembered; "So long as men can breath or eyes can see, So long lives this and this gives life to thee." Thus giving him or her "eternal" life.  "Ballad" is different as it tells us a story about how a girl believes someone loves her, and is distraught to find out that she was never loved. She feels ashamed for losing her "innocence" to this man and regretts ever loving him.  Both the poems, "Shall I compare thee..?" and "Ballad" differ to the poem "Porphyria's Lover". "Porphyria's Lover" is about love, but it describes the love of an abnormally possessive person. It can be argued that it isn't true or real love, as it tells a story of someone strangling another person, to "capture" their love at its best; "In one yellow string I wound, Three times her little throat around, And strangled her. No pain felt she;". "Porphyria's Lover" is a dramatic monologue, which is a poem that has a speaker and an implied author. The reader usually perceives a gap between what the speakers says and what he or she actually reveals, and the reader usually experiences a tension between sympathy and judgment.  Again, as similar to the other two poems, "Porphyria's Lover" uses weather imagery; "The rain set early in to-night, The sullen wind was soon awake, It tore the elm-tops down for spite, And did its worst to vex the lake". The personification used in these lines sets the tone for the poem, it also uses the "b" sound in its alliteration like "Ballad"; "Blushed bright beneath my burning kiss". This gives a stronger meaning to the line and makes it sound more harsh.  The simile in "Porphyria's lover", "As a shut bud that holds a bee, I warily open her lids: again, laughed the blue eyes without a strain", contains nature imagery. "Shall I compare thee..?" also contains nature imagery; "Rough windes do shake the darling buds of Maie," but "Porphyria's Lover" uses it to show how beautiful his dead lover's eyes are. Which is sinister in comparison to "Shall I compare thee..?". The narrator in "Porphyria's lover" believes he has done right, as it refers to God not doing anything about the crime he commited; "And all night long we have not stirred, And yet God has not said a word!". The exclamation mark used puts emphasis into the line and makes us believe that it is absurd that nothing has happened during the night. He also believes this is what Porphyria wanted, showing us that he didn't intentionally mean harm. He just wanted to keep things the way they were; "Porphiria's love: She guessed now how, Her darling one wish would be heard, And thus we sit together now". The use of this line also makes it sound as if she's still alive, adding to how sinister the poem is.  I believe "Ballad" and "Porphyria's Lover" are the most effective. They both mention abstract versions of love and the imagery in both can be quite horrific. However, I think the rhyming scheme in "Shall I compare thee..?" is effective compared to the rhyming scheme in "Ballad" and the A,B,B,A,B rhyming scheme in "Porphyria's Lover". I believe its more effective because the rhyming scheme makes it easier to process and remember. The attitudes to love have changed greatly since the pre - 1900's, especially compared to "Ballad". It is no longer looked down upon to be a single parent, and is rather common these days. Also the child wouldn't be socially outcast if they had a single mother or father. Porphiria's lover however, is still seen as abnormal. The poem was written, I believe, to shock people, and I believe it still would today. The same issues still apply to the murder of someone and it would seem even more absurd to murder someone you loved.