The Theme of Love in Poetry

The Theme of Love in Poetry

I have chosen to compare four poems, the first one is 'Porphyrias

Lover'. It is written by Robert Browning who died in 1889. The second

poem, 'My Last Duchess', is also by Robert Browning. Browning was a

great poet in the Victorian age and married Elizabeth Barratt. The

third poem is called 'First Love'. It is written by John Clare

(1793-1864). The final poem is 'Ballad'. It is an anonymous poem as

no-one knows who wrote ballads. This is because they are word of mouth

and are passed down through many generations going through minor

changes each time and therefore by the end they become a completely

different poem to the one in the beginning.

The three poets write about the same theme but, as expected, have many

differences and similarities with each other in their writing

techniques. Obviously, the two poems by Robert Browning will be very

similiar to each other. 'Porphyrias Lover' and 'My Last Duchess are

both written from a mans point of view . This shows that Browning has

used the same approach to both of the poems. Maybe he wants to make a

point of men not always being listened to and so writes both poems

with a biased interpretation of the event.

'Porphyrias Lover' is about a girl named Porphyria who seduces a man

who is possesive and undoubtedly insane. Some of the techniques included

in Porphyria's Lover are Pathetic Fallacy, endstopped lines, personification,

metaphors and en jambement. The poem begins using pathetic fallacy

(the weather and atmosphere outside reflect the girls feelings) and

personification of the wind, 'The sullen wind was soon awake', to set

the scene.

Straight away we feel edgy around this man because he says, 'I

listened with heart fit to ...

... middle of paper ...

...ou are in one of the

characters positions and that you understand exactly how they feel. En

jambement gives a sense of disorder. It becomes too regular if only

endstopped lines are used in the poem although it does control difficult

explanations.

The obvious difference between all the poems, is the structure and

regular rhythm and rhyme patterns. Porphyria's Lover is constructed

using alternate rhyming lines with roughly eight syllables to each line

whereas My Last Duchess is written in rhyming couplets with ten

syllables to each line. As these patterns are even, they create a

sense of balance and control within the poem, especially if the lines

are endstopped. If on the otherhand, there is en jambement present, the

poem is still effective and probably even more so because it adds a

bit of life and irregularity instead of the constant even beat.