Love in Poetry
“The course of true love never did run smoothly,” (William
Shakespeare.) How far do you think the three poems you have read
conform to this view?
Throughout history love has been a favoured theme with many poets in
their writing. Carol Ann Duffy, (born 1958) tackles the issue of love
in her poem “Valentine,” as does Percy Bysshe Shelly (1792-1822) in
the poem “Love’s Philosophy,” and finally Robert Burns (1759-1796)
considers the topic in “A Red Red Rose.” As different poets
throughout history have written about the topic it is not surprising
that all three contain different and contrasting messages and
viewpoints. It is clear that with the passage of time, views have
become more pessimistic or some may say realistic. However, poems
written in the eighteenth century still have relevance today.
“A Red Red Rose” by Robert Burns portrays a very positive image of
love. Firstly, Burns compares love to “ a red, red rose.” This is
a traditional object linked with the theme of love and through this
comparison it is clear Burns is praising love. Burns describes the
rose as “red, red.” This a bright, vibrant, sensual colour commonly
associated when extolling love and appealing to the visual senses.
Burns also compares love to “ the melodie, that’s sweetly played in
tune.” This vivid description appeals to the reader’s auditory
senses. The fact that Burns implies love appeals to several different
senses demonstrates that he feels love is a powerful influence that
can be experienced by all.
In the poem love is portrayed as a unifying force. Images of the sea,
“the seas gang dry my dear” give the poem a natural element. This
emphasises that love is universal to all. The image of the rocks,
“t...
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...ve characteristics of love but Valentine
does address these issues more forcefully and in greater depth. Carol
Ann Duffy wrote her poem nearly 200 years after Burns and Shelley.
This means that a negative opinion of love would have been more
accepted in society. Duffy may also have experienced a particularly
painful relationship that may have ended on bad terms. My personal
favourite out of the poems is Valentine as I feel it does show a very
true side of love but achieves this in an original and exciting way.
In connection with Shakespeare’s statement, it is clear that Duffy
most definitely agrees with it while Burn is in no doubt that the
course of true love does run smoothly. Shelley, however, does not
agree or disagree with the statement and I would personally agree that
in some case love does run smoothly while in other relationships it
does not.
The poem I have chosen to compare with “ Valentine” is “ She walks in beauty” by Lord Byron. I chose SWIB because it is very different to valentine as it is about Byron expressing his love and celebrating his love for his cousin.
This shows that you are constantly affected by the ones you love and have loved. This poem focuses on the theme of love and its influence on your life and body,
I personally loved everything that this poem stood for. I liked that this poem had two average people at its center. They were not young or insanely beautiful, but they still showed how amazing love can be and how love goes beyond everything. When it comes down to it love has no gender, age, race, or time it is just about humans loving other humans. In this week’s chapter it is discussed how romance itself has a huge cultural impact and this poem definitely connects with this idea. This poem also follows the cliche of love. The way that love is blinding and will conquer all is presented in a real and believable way, but then it can also be considered unrelatable for some because how romance is set up to be and how high the standards are for true love. Furthermore, I like the idea of love going beyond age, beauty, and time but realistically for most people they will never experience a love so intense. People can though understand how what is portrayed in the media is not how everyone experiences love and that people who differ from this unrealistic standard can still be in love in their own intense beautiful way.
In romantic words, the poet expresses how much she does think of love. She state it clear that she will not trade love for peace in times of anguish.
“Love Poem With Toast” by Miller Williams introduces the effect our desires have in our daily lives in order to “move, as we call it, forward” (11). Miller Williams also conveys this message accompanied with a darker meaning; though these desires make up a large part of our lives, in the end none of it will matter because we leave the world the same way we enter it, with nothing. Despite this message being carried out, it is still a love poem at the surface, but it is not about a person confessing their love, rather pretending to love, and continuing to live with this self-conflict about choosing to be in a frigid relationship over not being in one at all. It is interesting how Miller rhythmically categorizes his message throughout the poem;
Attitudes Towards Love in Pre-1900 and 1990's Poetry “The Despairing Lover” written by William Walsh was written pre 1900 whilst the second poem “I Wouldn’t Thank you for a Valentine” by Liz Lockhead was written in the 1990’s. These poems are almost a century apart. Attitude towards love changes over time and these poems represent this. I Wouldn’t Thank you for a Valentine is about how people think about Valentine’s Day in the 1990’s, while The Despairing Lover is showing what people think and how important they see love in the 1990’s.
The Range of Feelings Associated with Love in Catullus and Lesbia' Poems Of Catullus’s poems, the Lesbia poems are the most memorable, particularly as they contain such a wide range of feelings and emotions. Whilst we do not know what order the poems were written in, it is tempting to arrange them in a progression from constant love, to confusion and despair and finally hatred. Poem 87 appears to be at the beginning of the relationship between Catullus and Lesbia. The symmetry of the couplets beginning “nulla” and ending with “mea est” emphasizes the idea that no one loves Lesbia as much as Catullus. The placement of “nulla” at the beginning of the
Both, the poem “Reluctance” by Robert Frost and “Time Does Not Bring Relief” by Edna St. Vincent Millay, revolved around the theme of lost love. Each poet used a similar array of poetic devices to express this theme. Visual imagery was one of the illustrative poetic devices used in the compositions. Another poetic device incorporated by both poets in order to convey the mood of the poems was personification. And by the same token, metaphors were also used to help express the gist of both poems. Ergo, similar poetic devices were used in both poems to communicate the theme of grieving the loss of a loved one.
It is said that Millay's later work is more of a mirror image of her life. This particular poem was written 1931, when she was thirty-nine. Unlike some of her earlier work this is not a humorous poem. It is very deep and meaningful.
Women in classical Egyptian, Indian, and Persian literature are depicted as being more than just one dimensional figures. They are displayed as living beings, capable of emotion and exercising power amongst men. Ancient history has shown that in places such as Egypt, woman had equal rights alongside men, in regards to legal and economic rights. At the time, rights were based on economic class and not gender. By having a rights system that mimicked that of men’s rights, Egyptian women were able to show their multi-dimensionality. This multi-dimensionality was best portrayed in love poems such as “The Beginning of the Song that Diverts the Heart,” “I passed close by his house,” and ancient Egyptian literary artifacts, involving stele’s of Ahhotep
Overall I think this poem was sad as it made me feel sorry for the
To what extent does the presence of nature impact the poems in “twenty love poems and a song of despair”
his love . This twenty line poem is also made memorable by the way the
Love is one of the main sources that move the world, and poetry is not an exception, this shows completely the feelings of someone. In “Litany” written by Billy Collins, “Love Poem” by John Frederick Nims, “Song” by John Donne, “Love” by Matthew Dickman and “Last Night” by Sharon Olds navigate around the same theme. Nevertheless, they differ in formats and figurative language that would be compared. For this reason, the rhetoric figures used in the poems will conduct us to understand the insights thought of the authors and the arguments they want to support.
“Love Poem” is a twenty-four-line poem in six stanzas. The generic tittle is an accurate description of the poem; it is a clue that this may not be a traditional example of love poetry. Both poems have the same rhyme scheme because the second and fourth line of every stanza rhyme. However, “Magic of Love’ speaks of a general love bringing happiness, joy and comfort. While “Love Poem” is much more personal. The speaker talks of memories with his clumsy love. Both poems have a different point of view when it comes to love. In Ferrier’s poem, she describes love as something perfect, that fixes everything. However, in Frederick’s poem, he doesn’t speak about what the love does right but rather he talks