I am contrasting the poems, "My Last Duchess" and "On the Departure Platform". Both poems, although are written in very much contrasting styles, share a central theme of loss and separation of a women
ENGLISH COURSEWORK: These poems present contrasting attitudes towards women and relationships. Explore these attitudes and the ways in which each poet portrays them. I am contrasting the poems, "My Last Duchess" and "On the Departure Platform". Both poems, although are written in very much contrasting styles, share a central theme of loss and separation of a women. It must be taken into consideration that these poems would have been written in the 19th Century when society may still have been very patriarchal. The attitudes towards relationships would have been very much centred on the male being the decision making partner emphasising this feeling of a patriarchal society. However these themes in themselves, contrast also. "My Last Duchess", by Robert Browning is written in the style of what's known as a dramatic monologue. It is called that because it consists entirely of the words of a single speaker who reveals in his speech his own nature and the dramatic situation in which he finds himself. The dramatic monologue reveals its own place and time as it proceeds to uncover the psychology of the speaker at a significant moment in his or her life. The use of this dramatic monologue allows the reader to get into the mind of the character which is vital for understanding this poem. In this dramatic monologue, the subject is the Duke's last Duchess who he is talking about
Comparing and contrasting
Comparing and contrasting "Porphyria's Lover" and "The Laboratory" Final draft By Stuart Hamilton The opening of "Porphyria's Lover" gives a sullen, depressing description of the weather, which then creates the mood for the whole poem. The storm is both metaphorical and physical because it represents the storm going on outside and the storm going on in the narrator's mind. The image we get from the wind is violent which prepares us for the narrator's mind. Ironic juxtaposition is used here because it blends the lines about the storm to the storm in his mind. " It tore the elm-tops down for spite" The next few lines describe Porphyria. The word "glided" tells us that the lover already sees her as above human, as a sort of spirit and her entrance is magical. The poet changes the word order as she arrives to show that it is a point of climax. "When glided in Porphyria" We can tell at this point that there is a lot of love present because when she arrives his cottage warms up not only because she starts the fire but because she comes in and it makes him all happy and to him it brightens up his cottage. His love for her takes up his whole life. On the other hand in "The Laboratory" the narrator's life is full of hate for her rival who has taken her lover so she tries to kill her. She puts on a glass mask to protect her from the fumes, which already tells us that this
I think that although the 'First Love' and 'When We Two Parted' are different due to the fact that one focuses on love and the other on loss. The difference in language of the two poems is tied up with the theme
Explore the Themes of love and Loss in Two Poems studied, Showing How the Poets Have Used Language and Form to Express Their Ideas. 'First Love' written by John Clare (1793-1864), who was a romantic poet, used verse in this poem, as a way of articulating the feelings he felt the first time that he fell in love. In the poem, he reminisces about a previous failed romance which was his first love, and illustrates in length, the emotions experienced. 'When We Two Parted', written by Lord Byron, however, takes a different approach to the way that a love poem is usually written. The poet uses a quarrelsome style, in which he often uses verse to attack his enemies. This surfaces in 'When We Two Parted', as he emphasises the betrayal felt by a woman he loved. In this poem, the theme that runs throughout is loss of a love, rather than actually being in love. Lord Byron explores the link between love and loss, by directing the poem at an ex-lover. The title 'First Love' sums up the whole poem into two words. The poet was struck motionless by this sudden burst of affection. The poem does not link a chain of events, but instead is used so that the poet can put into words what is going on inside his mind, and to his body, "And then my blood rushed to my face". He recounts how his feelings affected him physically, as he blushed. This explanation of physical movement works with the
Explore how R.Browning's use of the Dramatic Monologue, helps to shape our understanding of the narrators in 'Porphyria's Lover' and 'My Last Duchess. Which narrator do you find the more disturbing and why?
Hugo Price Explore how R.Browning's use of the Dramatic Monologue, helps to shape our understanding of the narrators in 'Porphyria's Lover' and 'My Last Duchess" Which narrator do you find the more disturbing and why? A dramatic monologue is a poem that is written in the form of a speech or narrative by a person who has been imagioned, in which the speaker undeliberately reveals aspects of their character while describing a particular situation or series of events. In Porphyria's lover the speaker is in fact the lover and in 'My Last Duchess' the Duke is the speaker. Both speakers tell us their version of events and because of this the listener must be wary of bias. In order to build up a true picture of the actual events and of their character, we must study language, tone and structure. The Duke uses such language as "Wilt please you sit and look at her" this, although politely worded is in fact a command which the envoy would be foolish not to obey. Also the writer uses the words of the artist to hint to the reader what happened to the Duchess for example "the faint Half-flush that dies along her throat" this suggests that she had her throat slit as a result, perhaps it also suggests in 'Porphyria's lover' the sentence "vainer ties" reflects the way that the lover ties her beautiful upper cl3ass hair round her own neck to kill her. This also reflects the fact that the
"First Love" by John Clare was written in the 19th century
How do different poets convey the idea of Love? "First Love" by John Clare was written in the 19th century. It is a poem about how the poet had fallen in love but it turned out it was unrequited. Whereas "Song" by W.H.Auden written in the 20th century, is a poem about how someone has been in love but then lost them to death. They are both quite similar in the fact that they are both about loving someone but not being able to have them. However they are different because "Song" is about two people having been in love and then losing it, rather than "First Love" in which the love is unrequited, and not being fulfilled. In the poem "First Love" by John Clare the poet writes about what seems to be a very overwhelming feeling. The poem is written in three stanzas and in each one the feelings develop. It has a rhyme structure of AB,AB, CD, CD etc. The first stanza has eight syllables in each line and the other two have a pattern of 8,6,8,6,8,6,8,6. I think it may be written like this because in the first stanza the feeling are simpler and then they get more complex as the poem progresses- like the syllable patterns. In stanza one the crush begins. He sees her and is suddenly struck by her beauty- "Her face it bloomed like a sweet flower." This simile is saying that her face opened up and revealed something beautiful just like a flower does. It brings the image of spring
"Green Thought" By Jon Stallworthy - Critical Evaluation
"Green Thought" By Jon Stallworthy - Reading Response By Melissa Bannon "Green Thought" by Jon Stallworthy is an interesting and valuable poem about love. During my essay I will justify why "Green Thought" is a worthy poem to be entered into a young student's poem anthology. The poem is an excellent choice because of Stallworthy's choice of characters, imagery and his skill in showing the power that love has to heal. Within the poem, Stallworthy tells a story of love and death. Written in first person narrative, the poet describes an old man as he reminisces about his wife during the good times, and bad. Ultimately, the young poet learns a valuable lesson about love through the experiences of this old man. The story within the poem is one of my reasons for choosing this poem as it is about a mature romance, so young adults would benefit and learn a lot about love from it. The poem also shows us that life is a very precious thing so we should live our life to the very best we can, as we cannot predict what will happen in the future. But most of all, teenagers would benefit from the hope the story conveys. It gives hope that in any bad situation we can anticipate and expect good events to follow. Despite being a story of mature love, which may seem to be an unusual subject for younger readers to enjoy, the lesson learned about love in the poem is very relevant. It gives
"Home Burial," by Robert Frost - critical analysis
"Wade in the Mud With Me" The conversational style poem, "Home Burial," by Robert Frost depicts a relationship between a man and a woman who are uniquely estranged. There could be many reasons and factors which might account for the lack of healthy communication skills within their marriage, but there are obvious walls that have been built up between them which limit their ability to comfort each other in this time of need. Such a feat (being capable of offering emotional support to a spouse in the face of hardship) is often times an unfortunate struggle in marriages and should be addressed, since it is also one of the most essential characteristics in a long lasting and healthy marriage relationship. This young, New-England couple which Frost has portrayed for us has encountered an extremely unfortunate and anomalous trial within the past few months of their marriage. Despite the fact that they have only been married for two years or so, these almost newlyweds have already experienced the death of their first baby boy. Many couples would be expected to cling to each other if found in a situation like this, and each would rely on the strength of his or her partner. However, from the very beginning of this piece, there is a sense of opposition and division between the two (which is illustrated in their conversation and body language) that does not embody or reflect what
"How did she do it?": Aphrodite's Seduction of Anchises
Forrest Johnson Professor Foss Paper #2 February 29, 2005 "How did she do it?": Aphrodite's Seduction of Anchises In the Homeric hymn of Aphrodite and Anchises, Zeus decided to put sweet desire into his daughter so that she would desperately want to make love to a prince of Troy. Aphrodite did not have the slightest clue to why she had suddenly fallen head over heels for Anchises, other than his appearance, closely resembled that of a god. Though she was somewhat confused by this unexpected desire to make love to Anchises, Aphrodite still gave everything she had, making every attempt to attract him to her. Aphrodite successfully lured Anchises by means of portraying herself as a mortal, but her immortality still showed through her disguise, manifested in her wealth, beauty, and emotional lust. Focusing specifically on lines 85-87 of this Homeric hymn, I argue that the mood of this scene has much to do with Anchises falling under Aphrodite's casual love spell. In the description of the elegance of her garments, many symbolic meanings are revealed. Her robe, is described as "out-shining the brightness of fire" and as a "robe of gold." Fire elicits impressions of heat, light, or warmth, but is also symbolic of passion, lust, love, and sexual ecstasy. Such an untraditional robe seems beyond the reach of mortals and Anchises senses this, but it still entices him
"How Do Browning's Poems "My Last Duchess" And "Porphyria's Lover" Compare And Contrast?
Essay on "Porphyria's Lover" and "My Last Duchess" "How Do Browning's Poems "My Last Duchess" And "Porphyria's Lover" Compare And Contrast? Robert Browning's two poems "My Last Duchess" And "Porphyria's Lover" are about two men who kill their partners to own them. "My Last Duchess" is about a Duke who tells us about his wife and her behaviour with other men, on the other hand "Porphyria's Lover" is about the mind of an abnormally possessive lover. The males take the dominant roles in both poems. Both poems compare in many ways, the most obvious comparison is that both poems are about men that kill their partners to own them, in "Porphyria's Lover" the lover kills his partner to stop him from being lonely and so no other man can have her, he says, "That moment she was mine, mine, fair Perfectly pure and good:" Both of Browning's poems are also monologues which are written through the male lover's point of view. The main difference is that in "My Last Duchess" the duke kills his wife indirectly by giving orders, the Duke says, "Much the same smile? This grew; I gave commands; Then all smiles stopped together." This makes the reader feel more a little less shocked, while on the other hand in "Porphyria's Lover," the lover kills Porphyria directly which makes the reader a little more shocked, he says, "in one long yellow sting I wound three times her little throat around, and
"Love Poetry"
"Love Poetry" Coursework Poetry is an idiosyncratic way of a person trying to articulate their feelings or other in a different way about a variety of topics, love, past experiences, politics etc. With the use of metaphors and similes, one can show diverse things without having to be precise about them. Not just words can tell us about the poem, a lot of the time we can learn how the poet is trying to express themselves, by looking at the sentence composition, how it is laid out, how many lines there are, etc. The roles of the masculine and feminine civilization in society were remarkably dissimilar through a long period between the 16th and 17th century. They saw women as objects and objectified and discriminated them, men and women both had expectations and duties, which they were expected to live up to. The modern day views on love and relationship are diverse when compared to the views during 16th and 17th century. The modern era sees relationships as being equal and in some cases women are seen as the prominent and powerful out of the two. Class division were defined by the upper classes base on the way people spoke, acted, dress etc. A lot of the poems which were written in this time, talk about upper class men manipulating lower and middle class women to fall in love with them. Through out the16th and 17th century men saw women as sexual symbols, women had to accept
