Thou Didst Say Me Versus Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal

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INTRODUCTION: Love. Love is generous, boundless and is one of the greatest gifts one can obtain from God, however when in love anything can transpire. And that is exactly how the poets Mariam Waddington’s, “Thou Didst Say Me” and Alfred Tennyson’s, “Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal” navigate their poems. Both offering conflicting sentiments toward love relations to the table and ultimately delivering a unique testimony about the subject of, love. PARAGRAPH #1 The common factor found within these two poems were in fact, metaphors. The writers Waddington and Tennyson both apply them to accentuate crucial opinions that influence love relations. In the third stanza, line one Waddington writes, “late as last autumn…”, however in the beginning of the poem he had written, “Late as last summer”. Therefore, autumn is a metaphor for different phases of life; spring represents childhood, summer is young adulthood and in this case autumn represents the middle age as winter would be death. Metaphorically speaking, as the season changed from a blissful summer to a dry autumn, so did their relationship. And we can all agree that as long as the clock remains to tick, time can change everything, even love. In Tennyson’s poem the fourth stanza, line two it mentions, “A shinning furrow, as thy thoughts in me”. This charmingly written metaphor refers to the author and his significant other. Tennyson uses a farmer’s tractor which produces furrows on the ground to relate to his sense since this person has had furrows of her thoughts leave a shining trace in his mind. PARAGRAPH #2 In Waddington’s poem he relates his story in the poem by expressing a paradox, alliteration and irony. The speaker uses the paradox, “the delicate delicate serpent of your lip... ... middle of paper ... ...man’s chest but in the poem it is indicated as a lake, the lake that the water lily sunk into. Tennyson uses all of this to make his “love story”, which of course is dyed with the same beautiful and restful atmosphere of twilight and a gathering darkness filled with stars. Conclusion: These poems have quite a few similarities, as well as their differences. Mariam Waddington’s, “Thou Didst Say Me,” displays love being overly joyous but also heart-breaking and despondent. On the other hand Alfred Tennyson’s, “Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal,” depicts a sugary love story all calm and beautiful. Both offered their end of the bargain: conflicting sentiments toward love relations to the table and ultimately delivering a unique testimony about the subject of, love. And as always love may have its golden tragedies but one always has a hold of their own feelings of love.

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