Love and Marriage in Poetry
In this assignment I shall be talking about the attitudes to love and
marriage, which these three poems reveal as well as their similarities
and their differences. The three poems I shall be focusing on are 'How
Do I Love Thee?' which was written by Elizabeth Barrett Browning;
'Remember', by Christina Rossetti; and Lord Byron's 'When we two
parted'. These three love poems are from the Victorian Era which
spanned over half a century. I shall be analysing the language, which
will lead me into an understanding of the meaning of each poem and
also the structure. In brief, two of these poems not only talk about
love's eternal qualities, but also about death and the pain of
separating. They are unanimously romantic in tone, religious in
outlook and hauntingly beautiful.
Victorian marriages were normally strict, a good thing for men, but
bad for women. Women were not allowed to make their own decisions in
marriage, but if they did and the father found them, he would separate
them. When the father married the daughter off, they sometimes got
unlucky and ended up with a husband who did not love the lady but just
used them as servants and for their body. In the Victorian Era, ladies
had no freedom what so ever, they were not allowed to have their own
houses, furniture, money; this all belonged to the husband. If some
women cannot stand the brutal behaviour, they either ran away or
committed suicide. In most cases, ladies tended to run away, but if
they did and made some money then unfortunately, if the husband finds
them, he will take all the money away. This was actually legal.
Not all Victorian marriag...
... middle of paper ...
...Thee' I believe that love and marriage are strongly
bonded as the narrator describes love in all its variety. I believe
she is describing her lover in many different passionate ways
reflecting her devotion - it is like a religion to her.
In 'Remember' the poet describes her feelings for her lover, (which is
a sad form of love). The narrator is talking about separation caused
by death where love is trapped in the middle. Yet it is
unusual in that, unlike Queen Victoria, Rossetti urges her lover to be
happy and if that means forgetting, then so be it. Victoria never did.
Both these female poets are also interesting in that love poetry was
the province of men, especially the Petrarchan sonnet, named after
Petrarch a Roman love poet. For women to be writing love poetry to men
was really quite revolutionary at the time.
Presentation of Family Relationships in Carol Anne Duffy's Poem Before You Were Mine and in One Poem by Simon Armitage
married and had two children with her, that relationship didn’t last. Even after a night of
In Christina Rossetti's "Promises Like Pie-Crust" and Edgar Allan Poe's "Bridal Ballad" female speakers encounter the milestone of marriage. Facing strong pressures from society, Rossetti's speaker refuses marriage in three well-reasoned arguments which are veiled in a guise of superciality. Conversely, Poe's speaker accepts marriage, but by the end of the poem realizes the dire consequences of her decision. Rossetti knows what she wants and does not want out of life; subsequently, Rossetti realizes that personal satisfaction and even joy may exist without a man and thus makes the tough decision not to marry. Poe's naive bride trusts in society and marries not out of love but in an attempt to attain happiness. Failing to either examine her inner thoughts or accept her misgivings, Poe's bride remains emotionally unready to marry. A paragon of the nineteenth century woman, Poe's bride, despite her doubts, succumbs to marriage whereas Rossetti's strong-willed speaker vehemently rejects the institution.
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
A Midsummer Night’s Dream consists of the dominant theme of love. It emphasizes marriage as proper contentment of romantic love. The conflict throughout the play stems from romantic troubles involving a number of romantic elements. This play implicates people who have a tendency to fall in love with those who are outwardly beautiful. The overall meaning of it is that outward beauty can become unappealing if it is all the love is based on. The power and passion of love threatens to terminate friendships, turn women against women, and turn men against men.
found A thing to do, and all her hair In one long yellow string I
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.
she hurt the knight in the process of her fun and games. At the time
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.
does without love imbibed in it. I agree with the view and definition of love and marriage in
To what extent does the presence of nature impact the poems in “twenty love poems and a song of despair”
shows that the poet is so fixated in one woman that he is blinded by
from the rest in that they describe a love that has ended or will end
“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