english poem essay

Both poems are dramatic monologues spoken by one single voice to an audience, which represents these characters well, being possessive and think of themselves first. The use of iambic pentameter in ‘my last duchess’ to mirror the dukes natural speech as he talks to the visitor. ‘there she stands as if alive’ this shows even though the duchess is dead he still believes she is alive. The speaker however contradicts that idea with the use of anthropomorphism ‘passion of its earnest glance’ so the duke when she was alive treated her as an object ‘it’. Also the use of rhyming couplets could indicate the dukes social position but also his need to control women. The use of the rhyme creates a light-hearted mood, though the poem becomes increasingly sinister as the river god becomes more possessive. The childish rhyme between ‘drowning’ and ‘clowning’ also highlights his trivial attitude towards human life. The poem is songlike which is emphasised by the use of enjambment which makes the poem sound more like natural speech.

‘if she wishes to go I will not forgive her’, the idea that the dead woman is able to ‘wish’ and choose her fate implies that he is deluded about the consequences of his actions. He says that she ‘waits’ for him on the river ‘bed’, an image that is associated with comfort and she is dead so doesn’t feel any comfort. The river god tells us that the woman went ‘contrary to rules’ by bathing ‘where the water runs cold’ which suggests he feels she deserved to die, though he is obsessed by the woman’s beauty, ‘my beautiful dear’ sounds possessive rather than affectionate or loving. The poem could be written to show how the natural world can be dangerous at times or it could be to explore the balance of power in relationships between men and women. Similarly, the duke never mentions any grief or lost love at the death of his wife; instead he repeats ‘as if she were alive’, perhaps suggesting that the duchess was just another possession even when she was living and now she is in a portrait he has total control over her.

Both speakers in these poems seek power and control over women. They both want to possess women while not being interested in a human relationship with them and seem unconcerned by the reality of their death. However, the duke is human whereas the river god is a personified river, so his power could be seen as more natural than human effect. In contrast, the dukes power over the duchess and her portrait is emotionless the duke shows no emotion like it’s just ‘another’.