The repetition of “eternal” in line nine and twelve signifies, the girl’s beauty is everlasting and will never die.
The poet believes his love will last forever. “So long as men can breathe and eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.” These last two lines further clarify the theme, vowing that for all eternity his lover will be immortalised by his poetry as she will never stop being beautiful.
There are many comparisons between “Sonnet 18” by William Shakespeare and “How Do I Love Thee?” By Elizabeth Barret Browning (1806-1861). She was a Victorian poet. She presented the sonnets as translations from the Portuguese because her audiences would have found the poems difficult to accept if they thoughtfully had been written by a woman.
“Sonnet 18” started with a question “shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? Just like Barrett’s poem “How Do I Love Thee?” The questions are used to reveal an out burst of emotion and also to gain the reader’s attention.
Both poets use repetition. “I love thee” and “eternal” to emphasise their love for their beloved ones and also to tell the reader how delighted they are to be in love.
Shakespeare and Barret are not worried about death. They believe their love will continue after death and death is not a threat but a way of bringing their lovers even closer to them. This was a quote from Barrett.
Shakespeare chose to compare his love to summer while Barret compared her love to things that were personal to her. Barret used personal things to demonstrate how close her and her husband were.
Both poets chose to write in the sonnet from. This was because sonnets were popular for love poetry and also because of the complex rhyme and rhythm.
From William Shakespeare’s poem “Sonnet 18” and Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s poem “ How Do I Love Thee”. I have learnt that these poets believe their love is everlasting and will never fade away in the most disastrous time of life-death.
I have also learnt that comparing your love to positive and personal things will reflect how much you love that person and how cheerful you are to be in love.
I have now looked at the joy of love section, next I will analyse the sexual desires section.
“To His Coy Mistress,” written by Andrew Marvell (1621-1678). He is an English poet. His early work had echoes of cavalier poets like Lovelace and Cleveland, but he is now regarded as one of the best metaphysical poets. His reputation as a lyric poet is built on “To His Coy Mistress,” a classical metaphysical poem and ranked alongside the best secular poems of John Donne.
“To His Coy Mistress” is categorised in the sexual desires section.
This poem is well structured and divided up in three sections and the couplets rhyming together makes this poem joyful and cheery rather than miserable.
In this poem, Marvell tries to persuade his partner to give into his desires and sleep with him by using different persuasive devices.
Firstly, he uses flattery. He spends time admiring each part of his partner because she deserves to be admired. “An hundred years should go to praise, Thrine eyes, and on thy for head gaze; two hundred to adore each breast, But thirty thousand to the rest.” This illustrates that if he had time then he would spend his time admiring her.
Secondly, he shows that time flies. “Had we but world enough and time, This coyness lady, were no crime.” This expresses, if they could live forever then it wouldn’t matter that his partner is shy but they can’t live forever and time never stops and the poet is always aware of it moving too fast so she should give into his desires now.
Thirdly, he gives her a warning. “Thy beauty shall no more be found, Nor, in thy marble vault, shall sound my echoing song; then worms shall try.” This portrays, that if she’s going to make the poet wait too long, then she would die and her beauty will be wasted all for nothing.
Fourthly, he gives offers and solutions. “Let us roll our strength and all, our sweetness up into one ball,” this suggests that they should seize the moment now and the imperative “let us” is also used to persuade his girlfriend.
Finally, he uses pronouns. “Thus, though we cannot make our sun stand still, yet we will make him run.” Marvel uses pronouns such as “we” and “our” to make it sound as if they are united against time and this quote proves that he won’t let time take advantage.
There are many comparisons between “To His Coy Mistress” and “The Flea” by John Donne (1572-1631). Donne’s poems reveal the same characteristics that typifies the work of the metaphysical poets: dazzling word play, often explicitly sexual; paradox; subtle argumentation; surprising contrasts; intricate psychological analysis; and striking imagery.
Marvell and Donne both try to persuade their partners to give into their desires.
Marvell uses flattery to persuade his girlfriend while Donne uses a flea to emphasis that their blood is together in the flea so why can’t they be together. “It sucked me first, and now sucks thee, And is this flea our two bloods mingled be.” Marvell kept on commenting on his lover’s appearance but Donne kept on talking about the flea.
The most effective poem was “To His Coy Mistress.” I believe this because in “The Flea,” the poet’s partner got infuriated because the poet never stopped talking about the flea so she ends up killing the flea. “Cruel and sudden, hast thou since, Purpled thy nail in blood of the innocence?” this quote proves, that the flea was innocent and it was a insignificant creature just like his girlfriend’s virginity is irrelevant that’s why he was using it to persuade his partner. In “To His Coy Mistress” the poet used many persuasive devices rather than just one.
From Andrew Marvell’s poem “To His Coy Mistress” and John Donne’s poem “The Flea” I have learnt, that these two poets tried to convince their partners to give into their desires by using many different persuasive devices. I have also learnt by using these influential devices it shows to theirs girlfriends that they are desperate.
Now I have observed the sexual desires section next I will examine the pain of love section.
“First Love,” written by John Clare (1793-1864). John Clare was born in Northamptonshire.
He first begun to publish poetry in 1820, aged 27. He married Martha Turner in the same year, despite still being in love with his first girlfriend, Mary Joyce. John Clare was a Romantic poet
Romanticism was a movement in art in the early 19th century (1790-1840). This embraced a dramatic, personal and emotional style of poetry but rejected the more objective, reasoning style. The language of the poems is simple and accessible because the poets of this period wanted to bring the language of poetry closer to the language of real people. The subject of the poems of this period was based on the common and everyday life of ordinary people and many poets chose to write about the natural beauty they saw around them.
“First Love” is categorised in the pain of love section. This poem has three stanzas with eight lines in all three stanzas and every other lines rhyme.
The main theme of this poem is love at first sight. The quotes used to express that love was a surprise and struck suddenly are “I ne’er was struck before that hour” and “with love so sudden and so sweet.” This reveals violence because the use of the words “struck” and “sudden” plus the use of the alliteration on the second line draws the attention of the reader to illustrate that it was love at first sight.
The simile used on the third line, “her face it bloomed like a sweet flower.” This simile demonstrates the girl’s appearance. It is associated with delicacy, beauty and colour.
On the fourth line, John Clare uses the word “stole.” “And stole my heart away complete.” This signifies that the poet had no control over his heart and that the girl took it away from him.
The effects that the girl had on the poet is: “My face turned to pale as deadly pale,” demonstrates that love had a shocking effect on him; “my legs refused to walk,” illustrates, he was rooted to the ground “and when she looked, what could I ail? My life and all seemed turned to clay?” This portrays, that his life was still and couldn’t do anything.
The quote that expresses the poet’s feelings were sudden and intense is “And then my blood rushed to my face.” This suggests his blood moving very fast. The alliteration used on the last line in the second stanza, “And blood burnt round my heart” also emphasises the poet’s intense feelings.
The reader knows that love has turned the poet’s world upside down. “Seemed midnight at noonday” “Words from my eyes did start – They spike as chords do from the string.” This signifies that the poet’s world got jumbled up.
There is a change in tone in the final stanza. “Are flowers the winter’s choice? Is love’s bed always snow?” the poet asks uncertain questions and also the use of the words “winter” and “snow proves that the poet is doubtful. This may be because the girl that he loves might not love him back.
In the final stanza, line twenty proves that the girl is not interested in him. “Not love’s appeals to know” this proves that the girl doesn’t feel the same way as the poet does.
In the final stanza, the last two lines illustrates to the reader that the poet’s love is not returned. “My heart has left its dwelling place, And can return no more.” This quote demonstrates that his heart has gone to her who he fell in love with but he has not gained any benefits from this, as she has not returned his love.
There are many comparisons between “First Love” and “The Lost Love by William Wordsworth (1770-1850). He was an English poet, one of the most accomplished and influential of England’s romantic poets, whose theories and style created a new tradition of poetry. Wordsworth defined the new style of poetry and explained what the Romantic poets wanted to achieve though their poetry.
“First Love” was about love at first sight while “The Lost Love” was about the death of a loved one. “But she is in her grave.” This proves that she is dead.
Both poems have three stanzas and they are both emotional, Romantic poems and the language of both poems are very simple which appeals to ordinary people. Both of these poems express the emotional aspects of Romanticism and demonstrate the dramatic side of the poems.
In “First Love” the poet’s love was not returned by the girl who he fell in love with.
“The Lost Love” is a simple poem just like the girl in the poem was pure and simple. The reader can tell that the girl was pure because of the name “Lucy.” “When Lucy ceased to be.”
In “The Lost Love” the use of the lament “oh” illustrates that his emotions have taken over. This poem was taken from lyrical ballads, which was the most important work in the Romantic period.
Form John Clare’s “First Love” and William Wordsworth’s poem “The lost Love.” I have learnt that when love isn’t returned or you lose a loved one; will have an awful effect on a person’s life. I have also learnt that Romanticism was very important in these two poet’s lives as this illustrated the emotional and dramatic aspect of love.
In conclusion I have learnt from reading poetry spanning a period of several hundred years that people can emphasise their love by comparing it to positive and personal things and also believing that your love will last forever even after death will signify the trust and love that two people shared. In addition I have learnt you can use persuasive devices to convince your partner to give into your desires and also the loss of a loved one or the disappointment of love when it isn’t returned can have a profound effect on a person’s well being mentally and physically, this was expressed through the emotional and dramatic Romantic poems.
To summarise, I have learnt that love can lead to happiness, where there is trust, love and care between two people to the sexual stress, where you want your partner to give into the sexual side of love to the end or loss of love, where someone you love dearly dies or the person you love doesn’t feel the same way about you and your love isn’t returned.
