love in poetry
The poems that I have selected to portray the idea of love and relationships all incorporate contrasting thoughts to show the many different aspects of love and relationships. ... Elizabeth Barrett Browings’ “Sonnets from the Portuguese” presents the idea of pure, unconditional and eternal love, whereas “Remember” by Christina Rossetti, conveys an alternate idea of bitterness that love and relationships can lead to. “My Last Duchess” by Robert Browning displays again a different side of love and relationships. The demonstration of obsession, possessiveness and materialistic views within the poem convey the different aspects of love and relationships. “Sonnets from the Portuguese” uses the traditional form of the Italian petrachan sonnet to present the theme of love and relationships discussed within the poem. The poet, to develop the argument of the different stages of love, uses this traditional form of sonnet. ... This was a traditional way to present the expression of love in the Victorian era. From the opening line, the poetic voice portrays the joy and delight felt by this kind of love and relationship. This is presented to the reader in the form of the rhetoric question, “How do I love thee?” The tone conveyed is one containing happiness showing this love to be as such. This sets the tone of the poem to portray love to be joyful. In the portrayal of love, the poetic voice conveys how it to be boundless as: I love thee to the depth and breadth and height My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight The language of this abstract image portrays love to be inconfinable. This is emphasized by “when feeling out of sight” as the image of the love is portrayed as being further that can actually be seen which accentuates the boundless image of love. The poetic voices’ “soul” adds to the this image as a soul is not an object which can be contained within the body as it knows no bounds, and so the portrayal of love can be viewed as eternal. This image also depicts the magnitude of love as the language of “depth and breadth and height” shows how vast the love the poetic voice feels. The structure is a vital tool to the poet when portraying love and relationships in the poem. ... This enforces the idea of the endless boundaries and the magnitude of love and relationships have within this poem. ... This enforces the portrayal of love and relationships within the poem. Another structural point is the use enjambment; this can highlight many aspects of love and relationships, which are trying to be conveyed. The enjambments of: I love thee to the depth and breadth and height My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight For the ends of Being and ideal Grace. adds to the portrayal of love knowing no limits at both enjambments. ... The lack of punctuation of “ I love thee to the depth and breadth and height” reiterates the boundless image of love, as the punctuation cannot disrupt the line and so is elongated. Enjambment is also used to portray a different aspect of love being described within the poem. The enjambment of: I love thee to the level of every day’s Most quiet need, by sun and candlelight. ... The enjambment builds the reader up to the anticipation of love being compared in great magnitude again, however the language contrasts this pre-conception as the love is now presented to the reader at a realistic level. This is can be seen, as love is shown to be also the “Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.” The portrayal of love is shown to be adaptable and how it can just contain the companions “Most quiet need.” The poetic voice demonstrates the importance of companionship of the relationship here as well and how the love of the relationship is adaptable to each other’s need “by sun and candle-light.” The contrast between the boundless love described previously, to this image of day and night, “by sun and candle-light” also highlights the realistic level that the poem has been brought down to and so conveys a real image of love and relationships. The portrayal of the purity of love and relationships discussed is emphasized when the poetic voice describes how “ I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise. ... By comparing love and relationships to this, the poetic voice presents the purity being portrayed in the love and relationships.