Persuasive Techniques Used in Poetry

Persuasive Techniques Used in Poetry

Compare the persuasive techniques used in the poems. Say which poems

you feel are the most effective and Why?

Persuading poets have been writing poems on love, lust and nature

since the beginning of time. The 7 poems that are analysed here range

from the 16th-19th centuries.

These poems are all written by men arguing and persuading the effects

of love.

In “To virgins”, it appears that Robert Herrick uses small amounts of

natural imagery to persuade virgins and to stress the fast passing of

time.

He begins with a time threatening statement urging the virgins to

”gather ye rosebuds while ye may” he then adds

“This same flower that smiled today tomorrow will be dying”.

These images assert the time that is passing. He uses personification

of “time flying” to do this. He mentions death in the first stanza

that he uses in a way to signify the fast approach of the virgins

death.

He uses the phrase “smiles today”, to tell us that beauty goes quickly

and it will soon ware out so you must use your time while you have

your beauty.

Herrick uses phrases such as “his race be run” and

“Nearer he’s to setting”.

These are also to express the running out of time with speed.

In the first stanza, the first two lines have a positive disposition

and in the third and fourth lines the form changes to a negative mood.

This pattern is followed throughout all 4 stanzas.

The uses of personification are used to signify the passing of time.

By using these phrases, it explains that everything is alive but it

will soon die.

At the start of the third stanza, Herrick talks about your young age

when you are fitter and healthier and you have passion and beauty. In

the...

... middle of paper ...

...this he is trying to state that being with him wont change

anything either.

This poem can compare well to “To his coy mistress” by Andrew Marvell.

These poems share similarities in the way that they both have three

sections split up into stanzas. The first, which argues the subject.

The second, which stresses consequences and a third stanza that

explains a persuading alternative.

In my opinion, the most effective poem is “The Flea”. This is because

I think the way that Donne has set up his subject is more persuading

than the others and also makes it a more interesting poem.

I feel that “To his mistress going to bed” by John Donne was the least

successful because it is not very persuading because of the urgency in

the mood of the poem. It contains no love phrases and is a poem about

lust and revelation that contributes to it being very threatening.