Porphyria's Lover Poem Analysis

With the use of various writing strategies, authors are able to create their work to their pleasing. The use of the language and how they choose to deliver their thoughts is what makes each writer unique. In poetry, diction and tone go hand in a hand (Liden Web). Depending on the words that the author chooses to use will determine the tone that the reader will get from reading it. The syntax of a poem will help a reader have an easier time understanding the main points that the poet is trying to convey. The diction, or word choice, that Browning uses in the poem Porphyria’s Lover reveals the madness that was concealed within the speaker. The speaker speaks with natural speech, as it isn’t difficult to understand how he is trying

The reader can get the sense that the narrator is evil and has a dark image associated with him. The morbid tone comes from the common implementation that the narrator is committing murder. There is a dramatic tonal shift in the middle of the poem. “So, she was come through wind and rain” (Browning l. 30) is the sentence that changes the way the poem is delivered. From lines 1-30, Browning makes Porphyria the active character and he seems to write this section as a traditional romanticized love poem. In opposition, from lines 31-60 the narrator now becomes the active character and the poem is no longer a love poem, but more closely related to a tale of horror. The effect that this shift gave was how the narrator’s mentality had changed and how devious his mindset was change to. It has a strong effect on the reader because the shift drastically changes from love to death. Browning knew that the certain topic he chose to write about would create a lot of questions from readers about his mental state. Through the use of cynical words and meticulous actions, the author is able to create the morbid and malicious tone in the poem. The malicious tone comes from the fact that he intentionally hurt Porphyria for the purpose to have her all to him. The reason that the type of tone that Browning utilizes in this poem is important is because the image that he creates by the use of the tone is what he is able to convey to the reader. The dark, malicious tone is able to shock numerous readers of his time and drive them to keep reading his work out of