Enjambment is one of these devices, and it is used several times in the poem, “’Mistress,’ quoth he, ‘and what if we should retire a little way into the wood? ’. I believe this is used to draw out the story and increase the impact of the line as it is read. The poet also symbolises things in his writing, one I have already pointed out – “He ambles on before, she trots behind” and the other is when she binds the child to his back, “Upon her generous friends, and, like a cross, the sheet with a dextrous motion winds, till a firm knot the wandering fabric binds”. I believe this to be a reference to Jesus when he bore the cross; the child is a burden to her. She lacks maternal instincts and this is one of the reasons she is carrying out this plan. She is showing him that by no means does she or other prostitutes want the babies that come from their business, and she is teaching him to be more careful and thoughtful
‘To his Coy Mistress’ by Andrew Marvell contains what I believe to be a similar attitude of the man towards the woman as ‘The Beggar Woman’. This poem describes one man’s attempt to convince a woman to have sex with him. Firstly, he uses flattery, comparing her beauty to that of a ruby – “Thou by the Indian Ganges’ side should’st rubies find: I by the tide of Humber would complain”. He says, lying in a poetic way to attempt to win her over.
In the second section of the poem the man employs a different strategy, his temper flares, and his tone changes from being gentle and soft to being harsh and cruel. He attempts to scare her into sleeping with him. “But at my back I always hear Time’s winged chariot hurrying near” he says, hoping that making her realise she hasn’t got all eternity will convince her enough. This is an effective metaphor, and I can see how him saying that would slightly panic her. He goes on to tell her that as time goes by her beauty will disappear, that if she waits then the worms will be the ones to take her virginity, and there’ll be no chance for her to have sex once she dies.
In the last section of the poem the man seems to calm down and endeavours once more to convince her to sleep with him. To me it sounds almost as if he is pleading, “Now, therefore, while the youthful hue sits on thy skin like morning dew, and while thy willing soul transpires at every pore with instant fires”. The poem ends with him asking once more, making his plea sound reasonable and her defiance seem unreasonable.
The attitude of the man in this poem towards the woman is one of carelessness and confidence. He is surprised and angered that she won’t sleep with him, and he becomes very frustrated. This, to me, implies that all he really wants from women is sex; he does not want a proper relationship and thinks of love as something unimportant, maybe even non-existent. The fact that most of his claims in the first section of the poem are lies show that this was merely a tactic he used, and he has no real feelings for the woman. If he did he would never say things such as “Thy beauty shall no more be found; nor, in thy marble vault, shall sound” because it shows that he only wants her because she is attractive, and will not want her when she becomes old.
The title “To his Coy Mistress” implies that she is not his wife, and that he is probably having an affair with her. The woman in this poem is obviously shy, as the title says. I think this is related to her being reluctant to have sex with him.
In “To His Coy Mistress” I think that the poet has created a simple but effective rhythm with rhyming couplets. There are many metaphors and similes in this poem, and I believe the poet wrote them to help illustrate the scene he has created. They make the poem more exciting and lifelike, and are implemented by the man in the poem to make his argument more convincing. For example, “But at my back I always hear Time’s winged chariot hurrying near:” is more effective than simply stating that she won’t be young and pretty forever. “My echoing song: the worms shall try that long-preserved virginity” he says harshly, trying even to disgust her into sleeping with him. He is creating images in her head, and I think they work perfectly.
The third poem is “First Love” by John Clare. The attitude of the man in this poem to the woman is extremely different to those of the first two poems I studied.
This poem portrays a man’s first glimpse of a woman he has never met before with whom he falls in love. There are three clear sections in this poem, and they show the progression of his feelings. To begin with the man is struck dumb by the beauty of this woman, with “love so sudden and so sweet”. He falls in love with her instantly, he then turns pale and he feels unable to move. “My life and all seemed turned to clay.” He feels as if time itself has come to a complete standstill.
In the next section of the poem his feelings change slightly, he feels dizzy and the blood returns to his face. “And blood burnt round my heart.” The poet writes. I think by this he means it feels almost painful, his sudden feelings of wonderment and dependence.
The final verse tells how his feelings of happiness mutate into feelings of despair, as he realises that he has no chance of ever being with her. I think the poet implies that she is a woman of far superior rank to his own, which would be why he instantly recognises that he can never have a relationship with her. “Are flowers the winter’s choice? Is love’s bed always snow?” he writes. He feels cold and barren inside, and feels as if fate has made a mockery of him. He wonders if people always fall in love with those they can never have.
Ultimately the main reason I feel that the attitude of the man in this poem is different to those of the men in the other poems is that he feels she is something of importance, he feels completely and utterly devoted to her and would like nothing better than to have a full relationship with her. She knows nothing of his hopes and feelings, and I doubt he would ever approach her. This is another fundamental difference, the men in the first two poems feel that the women are something to be sought after, a trophy of sorts. In this poem the man takes her much more seriously, and is the only man of these poems to consider the woman’s thoughts and feelings. The men in the other two poems do not do this even to a small extent.
This poem is the only one of the four that is actually set out in three verses, and the only one to employ An “AB AB CD CD..” rhyming scheme, which I believe in this case gives the poem more effect and a stronger rhythm than if it had rhyming couplets.
It also contains some enjambment and some metaphors. I think the enjambment in this poem is there to create a dramatic effect, “She seemed to hear my silent voice and love’s appeal to know”. The metaphors are important for this poem, because they powerfully portray the character’s feelings, and I don’t think this could be done so strongly without the use of metaphors such as “My heart has left its dwelling-place and can return no more.” This final line portrays the man’s feelings of depression as he feels he has given his heart to her, and could never fall in love again.
The final poem is “My Last Duchess” by Robert Browning. This poem is quite bizarre, and different in almost every way to the other three. “My Last Duchess” tells the tale of man, he is showing another man a picture of his latest wife, and it soon becomes apparent that she is now dead when he uses lines such as “looking as if she were alive”. Throughout the poem the writer describes his last wife’s behaviour and how much it displeased him. He writes how his wife was too easily pleased, and did not give him enough respect. At the end of the poem the reader discovers that the man whom the writer is talking to is an ambassador to the count, whose daughter the writer wishes to marry. He attempts to impress him with his decorations, “Taming a sea-horse, though a rarity, which Claus of Innsbruck cast in bronze for me”. Although it is never confirmed and is left to the reader to interpret, I believe that he had her murdered, that her death was no accident.
In this poem the attitude of the man towards the woman is somewhat similar to those of the first two, but in many ways it is different. It seems to me that she is a ‘trophy wife’. He does not truly love her, or else he would not have even considered having her murdered. Neither does he lust after her or desire pleasure from her like the men in the first two poems.
His expectations of her were very high, so high that even the slightest bit of behaviour she displayed that displeased him made him very angry. “Too easily impressed; she liked whate’er she looked on, and her looks went everywhere”. He expected her only to seem impressed by him, to look down on all the peasants. It seems that she was an extremely friendly, warm person, but that is not what he wanted in a wife. I think the man in this poem definitely considers himself, and perhaps all men superior to women. He is happy to use his power to have her killed because she is not what he sought. Small displays of friendliness to those of lower social class and genial behaviour to all people built up until he couldn’t take it anymore, and had her killed – “When’er I passed her; but who passed without much the same smile? This grew; I gave commands; then all smiles stopped together.”. He is a ruthless man and his feelings towards women are cold; real love is not something that occurs to him.
He takes great pride in material objects such as paintings bronze statues, and is very proud to show them off. They seem more important to him than his wife, which furthers my sense of him being a callous and brutal man. “I call that piece a wonder, now” he says when describing the painting, yet does not show even a glimpse of remorse for what he did. His attitude to women is that if they benefit his reputation and are extremely respectful to him and no other people, he will tolerate them. Otherwise, however, they are nothing to him, and neither is the cost of human life.
The way this poem is written seems almost like prose, aside from the rhyming. The poet makes frequent use of dramatic pauses such as “Or blush, at least. She thanked men, - good! But thanked-”. This helps to dictate a sense of rhythm in his speech. The poem is a monologue and uses a complex system of punctuation, as well as caesura and the effect of this is very dramatic.
In all of these poems the attitudes of the men towards the women are different, and in each poem the way the men feel about women in general contrast greatly. The one thing I have noticed that remains the same in each poem, however, is that the man always wants something from the woman, whether it is love, sex, or respectable behaviour. This is the only link I can see but I believe it is an important one.
