How is the Theme of Love Differently Treated in the Poems Essay Example For Students

How is the Theme of Love Differently Treated in the Poems Essay A reader of a love poem has a specific. Prejudiced view of love poetry. Generally, it is that love poetry is sentimental and flattering. It is supposed to talk about flowers and chocolates, romance and passion from one person to another. The reader expects imagery of harts and roses, and cliched similes and metaphors. An affectionate and caring tone should be used. The should be honest, sentimental and, above all, romantic. However, this is often not the case. Love can be portrayed as passionate and sexual, romantic and caring, destructive and heartbreaking, and, unfortunately, possessive and deadly. The types of love in a poem can be reflected in many ways. One of these ways is the structuring of the poem. To His Coy Mistress has a syllogism structure, the first stanza is the if, from the if, but, so syllogism argument. This is shown in the first line Had we but world enough, and time. This stanza also uses many hyperboles to emphasise the writers love for his mistress, such as love you ten years before the flood, meaning that he would love her forever, and then ten years. As the main theme of this poem is sex, many physical references are made, such as two hundred to adore each breast. The main purpose of this stanza is to compliment the mistress to show how great it would be if they had enough time, as they could walk and pass our long days/by the Indian Ganges side. This is a very romantic scene, and the mistress would feel complimented by it. There are very few references to the personality and character of his mistress, ad this shows that Marvell is only interested in sex. However, like most of this poem, it can be taken another way. Marvell mocks romantic convention by using blatant double entendres such as my vegetable love should grow. This can be taken romantically, about his love growing, or as a sexual phallic image. This also hints at his attitude towards women that they are his, to be used for whatever he wishes. Things change a lot by the second stanza. It is the but part of the syllogism. Marvell says that they do not have enough time for all of the romantic things in the first stanza, so they should go on ahead and have sex. To illustrate the point that he is running out of time, he personifies time I always hear/times winged chariot hurrying near. This verifies the fact that they will not be able to have sex soon, if they dont do it now. He says that ahead lie deserts of vast eternity, meaning that if she doesnt have sex with him, she will have noting to look forward to, because she will no longer be desirable. The writer than goes on to say that if she doesnt, she will die a virgin. He uses vulgar and insulting imagery to illustrate his point and try to shock her, such as worms shall try/that long preserved virginity. He is using a phallic image to show that if he doesnt have sex with her, lesser man (the worms) will. Basically, he is trying to establish the fact that she cannot win unless she has sex with him. He sums up the but part of the syllogism by saying the graves a fine and private place/but none I think do there embrace, urging her to have sex with him before its too late. The third and final stanza is the if part of the syllogism. It begins with now therefore, which indicates that he thinks she now wants to have sex with him. He describes her as being young and beautiful by saying how the youthful hue/sits on thy skin like morning dew, and passionate at every pore with instant fire. This shows that he wants her to realise that it would be great if they had sex. There are numerous references to fun and games, such as now let us sport while we may/and now like amorous birds of prey. This reinforces the point that sex would be good. He also says how time would be beaten if they had sex stand still yet we will make him run. This emphasises that all the things that would happen to her in the first stanza wont happen if they have sex. First Love. However, is quite different, although it has many similarities. It describes how the writer sees a girl and immediately falls in love with her, and his depression when he cannot be with her. It emphasises her beauty in the first stanza by using similes her face it bloomed like a sweet flower. This stanza also emphasises his love for her, and how he is instantly love struck stole my heart away complete. This shows that he has fallen in love with her on the spot, and thinks she is the only person he could ever love. He seems mesmerised by his love for her his legs refused to walk away, and it seems that time slowed down for him, because his life and all seemed turned to clay. To show how mesmerised he is, repetition is also used, such as the use of pale pale as deathly pale Fictive Motion in Classical Chinese Poetry EssayThis suggests that the poem is a careful and reasoned argument, and that he has put a lot of effort into complimenting her. This is the only poem so far to link up with the first impression of love poetry. It is different by a long shot to My Last Duchess because it shows that Shakespeare accepts the woman as a person and is happy to compliment her, unlike the duke, who would like to be complimented. It is quite similar to First Love, as it depicts the woman as someone of great beauty. Porphyrias Lover is the last of the five poems. It is the most extreme of all the poems. It begins by setting the scene with reference to the weather, such as the sullen wind was soon awake. These references, written in the romantic style, contrast with the next part of the poem. This gives an impression of unrest and foreboding. The main theme of the poem is obsession. This is shown in the structure of the poem a dramatic monologue. The weather and contrast of Porphyrias warmth is reinforced by the claim that Porphyria worshipped me and that she is perfectly pure and good. This indicated that he thinks that she is a good person and this makes his later actions more shocking. When he kills her, he attempts to justify his actions to himself I am quite sure she felt no pain. This shows that he doesnt not feel guilt over murdering his girlfriend, and is led to think she wanted to be killed. This could mean that he wants be with her always, dead or alive, or that he thinks that she wants to be with him, even if it means death. This is indicated by the words the smiling little rosy head/so glad its has its utmost will, giving the impression that she wanted to be killed. Another contrast in poem is that between innocence and guilt. Porphyria is smooth, white indicating her innocence, and she is murdered by someone who feels no guilt. The obsessive love is also indicated by this as he says thus we sit together now, meaning that he thinks she wants to be with him, although she may have felt differently, had she been alive. The love in this poem is similar to that in My Last Duchess, as Porphyrias lover is also extremely possessive. However in My Last Duchess the duke hates his wife, whereas in Porphyrias Lover he is clearly devoted to her, as he gives an impression of respect and desire in his description of her. The contrasts in this poem of Porphyria and the grimness of the atmosphere are also used in Shall I Compare Thee for the same purpose to highlight the goodness of the fine woman in question. Overall there are 5 types of love in these poems. The first, in To His Coy Mistress is passionate, lustful and free, and this is similar to that in First Love as the writers talk only about looks and not personality. One of the other types of love is quite unique in these poems the caring, affectionate love shown in Shall I Compare Thee. It is perhaps the best expression of love that the reader gets and the only display of true love. The other two types of love are very different to all of these, the possessive types shown in My Last Duchess and Porphyrias Lover. This is the worst form of love as in My Last Duchess the duke is so possessive of his wife that he treats her as an object whereas in Porphyrias Lover he is so obsessed with her that he wants to kill her to be with her forever. The poem that displayed that displayed one type of love very well was First Love. It shows how the boy is immediately taken by a girl he sees and his heartbreak when he cannot be with her. However the type of love most people would like to feel is that in Shall I Compare Thee which displays a staggering amount of compliments for the lady in the poem. Overall these poems are very different in their portrayal of love, but each manage to convey it to the reader exceedingly well through use of structure (such as the dramatic monologue form of My Last Duchess that shows his self centeredness and control), language (such as the complementary language used in Shall I Compare Thee). Imagery is also used effectively (as in First Love when Clare describes himself as winter and girls as flowers to show that he does not comply with them). The actual content used is also very effective as in To His Coy Mistress, where the syllogism and the tactics of complements and frightening are used to, what is in my opinion, good effect.