The Contrast of Pre-Twentieth Century Love Poetry
In the pre-twentieth century societies there were different views and
approaches to love, for example contrasting approaches to virginity.
In this essay I will compare and contrast four pre-1914 essays.
There are some features which may be expected to he found in
pre-twentieth century poetry. For example, imagery was mainly
nature-based, evolving around things such as time, weather, with
religion being a popular choice as it played a much more significant
part of people's lives then compared to now. With romantic poets other
themes/imagery are likely to be the cosmos, dreams, heart and soul
etc. I expect the poems to be metrical, with pre-twentieth century
poetry often having an iambic pentameter, in particular with love
poetry. An example of a typical poem would be a sonnet used to address
love, with 14 lines, an octet and sestet, iambic pentameter and
nature-based imagery.
One way in which the poems differ is in their use of imagery. A good
example of this is how 'To Autumn' (written by John Keates, considered
by Tennyson as the 19th century's greatest poet), which although not
strictly a love poem, is still contains many of the features of the
other poems and therefore suitable for comparison. It uses imagery to
do with nature very differently to 'The Sick Rose' (written by Blake,
regarded as a revolutionary and romantic poet). 'To Autumn' shows
nature very positively, using words such as 'mellow fruitfulness';
'rosy hue'; 'soft-lifted by the winnowing wind' to give pleasant, calm
images of the character (autumn). This effectively portrays the
character and feeling of calm, ...
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'quaint honour turn to dust' and 'into ashes all my lust'. 'The Flea'
also has a strange feature, the flea itself being very strange for use
in a love poem.
'The Sick Rose' is extremely different to a usual love poem' It is
very blunt (just 8 lines), to get his blunt powerful point across. It
uses forceful, violent imagery such as 'howling storm' and 'destroy',
which certainly isn't normal for a love poem. Blake doesn't use
rhyming couplets or iambic pentameter in this poem, further separating
it from a typical love poem and emphasizing his message.
These similarities and contrasts in features like imagery and voice
have shown that authors have different views of love and different
ways of showing those views. This difference in views is also shown by
the variation in how the poems fit to their typical genres.
The imagery used in the two poems is very similar at times. Both authors describe to the readers a picturesque view of nature, like plants blooming in the springs. Proof of this is found in “Lone Bather'; : “ is plant with lilies bursting from its heels.'; Similarly, in “The Swimmer'; the first
Therefore, one can see that these poems although similar in their title and central image of the star differ in their themes, form and treatment of the author's ideas.
she hurt the knight in the process of her fun and games. At the time
There are differences as well as similarities, the similarities include: they are all poems about and set in Seamus’ childhood memories
The setting shows many differences in both poems. What is comparable is that both memories are set at the narrator’s home. Hayden,
Both authors use figurative language to help develop sensory details. In the poem It states, “And I sunned it with my smiles, And with soft deceitful wiles.” As the author explains how the character is feeling, the reader can create a specific image in there head based on the details that is given throughout the poem. Specifically this piece of evidence shows the narrator growing more angry and having more rage. In the short story ” it states, “We are below the river's bed. The drops of moisture trickle among bones.” From this piece of text evidence the reader can sense the cold dark emotion that is trying to be formed. Also this excerpt shows the conflict that is about to become and the revenge that is about to take place. By the story and the poem using sensory details, they both share many comparisons.
When considering the structure of the poems, they are similar in that they are both written loosely in iambic pentameter. Also, they both have a notable structured rhyme scheme.
..., they are somewhat similar in comparison because they both have an inevitable ending, death. Both of the poems also used rhythm to give the reader a better insight and experience. The use of rhythm helps to set the tone right away. The use of symbolism and tone helped to convey an overall theme with both of the poems.
In conclusion, we can see that the two poems differ greatly in the feelings they project through mood and literacy devices. However, the poems do have one thing in common in that they both portray the same sentient of concern over plants that the authors clearly care a lot about.
They share the same theme which was mentioned in the first paragraph which plays a big part in writings. You might not think it but songs and poems are very similar. “The lyrics are just one moving part of the machine and without the music and voice they sit there” (Robbins 15). Why they sit there if you put it into stanzas you can create a poem. In these two pieces of literature I choose to compare they both share some really important literary devices.
Therefore, although both poems are written on similar topics, the poems are quite different, mainly only agreeing on the fact that war is wrong.
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.
There are no differences in the poems themselves as they are both set in the same scene but different centuries one has a negative point on the poem whereas the other has a positive however they tell the same story but in different words.
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.
Both poems where written in the Anglo-Saxton era in Old English and later translated into English. As well as both poems being written in the same time period, they are both elegiac poems, meaning they are poignant and mournful.