The Theme of Love in Mariana and The Despairing Lover

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The Theme of Love in Mariana and The Despairing Lover This essay will explore and explain how the theme of love is shown and presented in two different poems. 'Mariana' is one poem and was written by Tennyson, the other is 'The despairing lover' which was written by William Walsh. By analysing both poems, it will determine how the theme of love is shown. 'Mariana' is a poem about love, isolation and abandonment. Tennyson is quite serious, sympathetic and not critical of Mariana at all. He tries to encourage sympathy from the reader by using repetition to remind us of her despair, "She only said, 'My life is dreary, He cometh not,' she said; She said, 'I am aweary, aweary, I would that I were dead!' This is a refrain at the end of each verse and changes slightly throughout the poem. This gives the effect of sympathy to the reader and also emphasises her weariness. The mood of the poem is very depressing, sad and lonely. The environment around Mariana reflects the mood quite dramatically and pathetic fallacy is used. Lines such as "The broken sheds look'd sad and strange" and "Unlifted was the clinking latch" show how this is used and shows how the house and its surroundings are as sad as Mariana. Also, Mariana's actions influence the poems atmosphere. Lines such as "She drew her casement - curtain by" show this and suggest a mood of darkness and a depressing atmosphere. The author puts across Mariana's feelings in a way that is quite effective. He writes Mariana's thoughts and actions to show her feelings - "O God, that I were dead!" is the last line of the poem and shows us clearly that Mariana is feeli... ... middle of paper ... ...uthors view on love quite well, that love is not forever. The structure of this poem is completely different to that in 'Mariana'. It has shorter syntax and a much quicker pace with regular punctuation. Also, there is no repeated refrain in this poem which makes it less depressing and tedious. The theme of love is presented in a more mocking way in this poem, whereas in 'Mariana' the poet is much more serious. I believe both poems show this theme very well, but 'The despairing lover' does so best as it is a less tedious poem and much shorter, making it easier to read and understand. 'Mariana' is quite long-winded and wordy which gives it, its harder-to-understand sense. Therefore I believe that "The despairing lover" has the best influence and affect on the reader in describing and presenting the theme of love.

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