Different Attitudes To Love In La Belle Dame Sans Merci And I Wanna Be Yours

Different Attitudes To Love In La Belle Dame Sans Merci And I Wanna Be Yours

In This essay I will aim to consider the different attitudes of love

demonstrated by John Keats and John Cooper-Clarke. I will go on to

consider how each poet uses imagery and other language devices to

convey their message. I will compare the structure and rhythm of each

poem, and consider how this affect the mood created in each poem. To

conclude, I will show that the cynical attitude towards love

demonstrated by John Keats is a reflection upon his painful life

experiences, while the more positive attitude demonstrated by John

Cooper-Clarke conveys a message of hope while accepting the

imperfections of the human race.

'La Belle Dame Sans Merci' by John Keats and 'I Wanna Be Yours' by

John Cooper-Clarke can both be described as love poems. They both deal

with the matter of unequal, one-sided, unreturned, desperate and

obsessive love.

'La Belle…' is a pre twentieth century poem (written in 1819), however

'I Wanna…' is a twentieth century poem. As there are clear

similarities in the types of love being portrayed in both poems I am

able to make the early assumption that attitudes to love have hardly

changed between 1819 and now.

In the poem 'La Belle…' Keats demonstrates that he relates to the

feeling lost/troubled love through e.g. 'With horrid warning gaped

wide, And I awoke and found me here, On the Cold hill side.'

Throughout Keats' life he was unable to marry the woman that he loved

and so related to the emptiness described in the Knight's words. He

also understands the pain of losing loved ones as both his mother and

brother died durin...

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...de towards love he still appears to be warning the

reader that if you want to experience true love, you must first earn

the trust and respect of your chosen one.

I like the way that Cooper-Clarke uses imagery of everyday items to

show that love encompasses all aspects of live I emphasise with the

message that even if you have made a mistake and strayed or broken the

trust there is always hope that with sufficient effort you can repair

the damage and enjoy the fruits of true love again.

Overall, I am struck by how little the feelings about the concept of

love has changed from 1819 to the present day and believe that many

people today could identify with the feeling expressed by both poets

depending upon their own personal experiences. My personal preference

is 'I Wanna Be Yours' because it carries a message of hope.