The Theme of Love in Poetry
For this essay I am going to read and analyse three poems on the theme
of love: "Cousin Kate" by Christina Rossetti, "Goodbye" by Anna
Landucci, and "The Library of Love" by John Citizen. The three poems
are set in different times and show the difference of attitude of love
between time periods. In Victorian time the topic of love was very
private and was not shown in public. Today's' society is totally
different where people will show their love to one another anywhere
and freely talk about it to their friends. Although love in society
has changed, love has always been discussed in arts such as literature
and poems emphasising how important love is to mankind.
"Cousin Kate" by Christina Rossetti.
This poem is the oldest of the three being discussed. It was written
in 1862. The poem is about a poor cottage maiden who was in love with
the local Lord, became pregnant to him but was cast aside when he
married her cousin Kate instead. Her love for the Lord was full of joy
at first but when he rejected her all sorts of emotions were released.
Hurt, anger, jealousy, regret, shame, and finally pride are all
expressed in this poem. The whole poem is written as a reflection of
the girl's life. Love changed her life completely. As it was written
in 1862 it had more of an effect on her life than if the same thing
happened today. She would have been sneered upon for having had sex
outside marriage and been sure that no other man would marry her.
The girl in the poem sees how she was influenced by the Lord's power.
She saw him as a very special man as in, "Why did a Great Lord find me
out?" The word "great" suggests she saw him as a superior person. If
he were a commoner without the Lord's wealth and power I think the
circumstances would have been different.
As the poem goes on it shows that she had become aware of the fact
that the Lord took advantage of her. This can be shown in, ""He lured
me to his palace home." The verb "lured" suggests she was led into a
trap like an animal and "palace home" indicates the seduction of
wealth again. The use of alliteration and repetition in the text, "To
lead a shameless, shameful life," emphasises that the Lord gets away
with a lot because of his sex, wealth and power.
The girl realises her mistakes. She realises that the Lord was just
using her and had no permanent relationship on his mind.
“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;
The Sonnet by Edna St. Vincent Millay, “Love is Not All” demonstrates an unpleasant feeling about the knowledge of love with the impression to consider love as an unimportant element that does not worth dying for; the poem is a personal message addressing the intensity, importance, and transitory nature of love. The poet’s impression reflects her general point of view about love as portrays in the title “Love is Not All.” However, the unfolding part of the poem reveals the sarcastic truth that love is important.
The poem begins with the author describing this perfect woman. As she goes on to say in line one, "At twenty she was brilliant and adored." The soft choice of words Kay choose create an instant connection between the reader and the woman. We are instantly engrossed in this woman, and sure enough adore her as well. The poem continues to describe her social status. From "Phi Beta Kappa" in line three and "men whose interest was their sole reward" in line four, we are instantly drawn with an image of this girl. We can conclude that this woman is young, successful, beautiful woman that is popular amongst everybody. She is the apple of everyone's desire. The author creates this girl to be that of one of the most intelligent, attractive girls the author (as well as the reader) has ever seen. As the reader, we can tell that she is from a very affluent background. This is implied in the lines "She learned the cultured jargon of those bred To antique crystal and authentic pearls." From the almost archaic setting to the famous people mentioned, the time period this takes place can be seen as around the early 1900's. In the line "And when she might have thought, conversed instead" is ...
In the essay I hope to explain why I picked each poem and to suggest
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.
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.
of the speaker through out the poem. One Art is a poem about inevitable loss and the incognizant
result it has on people. In all three poems the last line of the poems
There are many different themes that can be used to make a poem both successful and memorable. Such is that of the universal theme of love. This theme can be developed throughout a poem through an authors use of form and content. “She Walks in Beauty,” by George Gordon, Lord Byron, is a poem that contains an intriguing form with captivating content. Lord Byron, a nineteenth-century poet, writes this poem through the use of similes and metaphors to describe a beautiful woman. His patterns and rhyme scheme enthrall the reader into the poem. Another poem with the theme of love is John Keats' “La Belle Dame sans Merci,” meaning “the beautiful lady without mercy.” Keats, another nineteenth-century writer, uses progression and compelling language throughout this poem to engage the reader. While both of these poems revolve around the theme of love, they are incongruous to each other in many ways.
This was her first response to the news of his death. She would not had grieved over someone she did not love. Even in the heat of her passion she thinks about her lost love.
The Theme of Love in the Poems First Love, To His Coy Mistress, Porphyria's Lover, My Last Duchess and Shall I Compare Thee?
looks at the time and how the poet's father has lack of control of the
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
shows that the poet is so fixated in one woman that he is blinded by