Comparing the Way in Which the Poets of Funeral Blues and First Love Portray Their Experiences of Love

Comparing the Way in Which the Poets of Funeral Blues and First Love Portray Their Experiences of Love

Both poets emphasise and depict the agony and discomfort of love.

Auden is utterly distraught due to the loss of his romantic other and

because of the immense pain he is suffering he wants everyone else to

tolerate the same anguish. Phrases such as 'Stop the clocks' and 'Cut

off the telephone' suggest the narrator is demanding the whole world

to stop and listen to him. He wants the world to share his grief. He

uses strong negative imperative verbs such as, 'Stop' and 'Cut off' to

portray his vituperate anger. Similarly, in 'First Love,' Romeo is

portrayed as tormentry. This is shown in the line, 'I ne'er was

struck.' The verb 'struck' implies ambiguity and that experiencing

love is terrible. Moreover in the sentence, 'With love so sudden and

so sweet.' Sibilance is used, which creates a sense that love is

ominous, dark and a form of an untreatable illness. In contrast in

'Funeral Blues' Auden is in agony because of the loss of his loved one

and used aural effects to convey this throughout the poem. 'Silence

the pianos and with muffled drum,' emphasises that he wishes for the

world to be the be silent with him and 'muffled drum' sounds like it

is a heartbeat reflective of his own paired existence. The narrator

also demonstrates this by saying, 'Let aeroplanes circle moaning

overhead.' The use of the imperative again shows his pain due to its

demanding nature and the world 'moaning', creates an overall effect to

convey crying and pain. He only wants people to hear his moaning and

is willing to share his pain. Alternatively, Clare does not ...

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... two rhetorical

questions show how confused he is and this depicts that he is much

happier here and he is also seen as speaking in a melodramatic tone.

'Not love's appeal to know' is another statement in which Clare makes

which implies that he is positive and that it is arresting him.

On the other hand the speaker in 'Funeral Blues' states that love has

taken toll over him and has effected in ways which cannot be put

right. This is evident in the line, 'For nothing now can ever come to

any good.' The harsh sounds used suggest about pain and that he wishes

everyone around him to suffer with him. The melodramatic tone conveys

the negative last tine depicting that there is no hope and that Auden

has given up. Also the use of the plosive alliteration makes the harsh

sounds depict how nothing is now left for the narrator.