In My Last Duchess there is a pattern for the rhyme which is AA, BB etc. This gives the poem more character. However the poem doesn’t have any stanzas, it’s just one big paragraph. This may be because My Last Duchess is more like a story than a poem. ‘‘That’s my last Duchess on the wall’’ and ‘‘my gift of a nine-hundred -years-old name.’’ These quotes make it more like a story rather than a poem because it has a beginning, middle and an end. Firstly the poem talks about his Duchess on the wall (the beginning) and then he explains why (the middle) and then he tells us that he murdered her (the end). The poet may have also used one whole stanza because the love is destroyed rather than made.
First Love is the complete opposite of My Last Duchess. Firstly the rhyme scheme is different instead of AA, BB etc it has a pattern of AB, AB etc. Secondly the poem has stanzas instead of one big paragraph. And lastly the poem is about a man wanting a woman rather than not wanting her. First Love has a nice structure with 8 lines in each stanza; it also has a nice steady syllable pattern 8/6 but on the last stanza it has the pattern 7/6 on the first line then goes back to8/6. I think it does this because it is a question to make the poem out of rhythm.
A Woman to Her Lover is very similar to My Last Duchess as it is like a story. The first stanza sets the scene and the story. Then the middle stanzas tell us of all the stuff she thinks her boyfriend’s going to by saying ‘‘or’’ and at the end of the stanza ‘‘I refuse you.’’ This gives us the feeling that she really wants a good loyal husband who she can depend on. The end finishes the story poem by starting the stanza with a ‘‘But’’ the poet then starts saying positive phrases ‘‘then O husband I am yours forever’’ and ‘‘until we reach the very heart of God.’’ This means that she wants the ultimate happiness with Gods approval.
In My Last Duchess there is a rhetorical question ‘‘Will’t please you sit and look at her?’’ It is very unusual for man to ask someone to look at their dead wife. It cannot be pity because the man killed his wife. The poet uses this rhetorical question as a mystery the readers, at this point don’t know that she has been murdered. There is also a rhetorical question in poem A Woman to Her Lover ‘‘do you come to me to bend me at your will?’’ It is not a proper question but it acts like one. This question however, is used for a totally different purpose. Instead of trying to keep the poem a mystery it makes it obvious instead. First Love has one rhetorical question which is at the beginning of the last stanza. ‘‘Are flowers the winter’s choice?’’ This line is a question which is out of rhythm; this makes the poem jerk a little bit. The grammar is a bit weird as well. If you expand the sentence, are flowers the winter is choice, it does not make sense. This may be because the poem was before 1914 or the poet could have done this deliberately. If he had done this deliberately it has created a good atmosphere to end the last stanza of the poem.
The use of alliteration, similes and metaphors help the poems imagine what it is like. Using these techniques you can imagine yourself in the poem which is a good effect as it makes the reader want to read on. There is no imagery in My Last Duchess, no similes, metaphors or personification. This may be because rather than comparing things the poet says it as it is. There also isn’t any imagery in A Woman to Her Lover but there is a list of three. ‘‘Oh shame, and pity and abasement,’’ Meaning that she is really upset because her lover might just use her. First Love has one simile in it. ‘‘Her face it bloomed like a sweet flower’’ This is a simile that describes the woman’s face. The simile has sibilance a soft, sharp contrast. The S’s make the simile more enjoyable.
The languages in all three poems are very easy to understand, this is because love is very similar now as it was back then.
To conclude my essay I think that A Woman to Her Love interprets love the best because it tells us the negative points then the positive points. I do not like My Last Duchess as it is too long and has no stanzas; this means that it is sometimes hard to interpret. First Love is a very good poem because gives us an account of what happens to his first love and how it went wrong. It also has neat paragraphs that make it easier to interpret.
