Timely Indulgence Often, the history behind love stories has two -if not more- sides. Both sides of this story can be seen in W.H. Auden’s poem Clocks and Lovers, in which each side has a different attitude. The attitudes of the clocks differs greatly from that of the lover, with opposite points of view. Both attitudes relate to separate groups of people and are shown simply through analysis of the poem, because the poet uses literary devices to emphasize both perspectives. While the lover overzealously believes his love can transcend time, the clocks counter by stating that time’s relentlessness erodes all.
The overzealous beliefs brought about by love can be seen in the attitude of the lover, who acts as though his love will never die and can never be changed by time. When speaking to his lover, he says “I’ll love you, dear, I’ll love you / Till China and Africa meet / And the river jumps over the mountain / And the salmon sing in the street.” The last three lines of this stanza are hyperboles, giving the lover emphasis on how his love will die only when the absolutely impossible happens; therefore, he believes it is impossible for his love to die. In this stanza imagery is the upfront literary device, as is seen when Auden uses strong phrases such as “salmon sing” and “river jumps” to create an image of the impossible occurring to add to the unrealistic attitude of the lover. Impossible events continue to occur when the lover says “I’ll love you till the ocean /
Paul Newman once said, “People stay married because they want to, not because the doors are locked” (74). There is no such thing as the perfect relationship, however, being involved in a healthy relationship is essential for a person to feel valued, safe, and happy. Unfortunately, in the situation of Kelly Sundberg’s personal essay “It Will Look Like a Sunset,” and Kate Chopin’s short story “The Story of An Hour,” include extreme examples of unhealthy relationships. The essay “It Will Look Like a Sunset,” shares painful experiences of Sundberg’s physical and emotional abusive relationship with her husband Caleb, while “The Story of an Hour,” shares a rare reaction of a married woman, Louise Mallard, who explores her emotions cautiously when hearing about the death of her husband. Each woman faces their own prison created by their husbands. The two marriages represent the figurative meaning of doors being locked in a marriage. Both pieces of literature convey the theme of confinement by using the literary devices of foreshadowing, imagery, and conflict.
In the beginning of the poem, the speaker presents love as a subjective matter by contrasting it with the significant image of the star, a symbol of divine objectivity. Since long ago, man has learned to observe stars for its “steadfastness” for directions and guidance (1). Thus in western culture, star is seen as a prophetic divine existence, a form of absolute truth or universal rule, above all arbitrary and relative beings on earth. The speaker then implies love to be the opposite by emphasizing the star’s incapability of worldly emotions and personal perspectives by applying the metaphor of “Eremite” (4). The stoic hermit or recluse under religious vow sacrifices personal feelings and preferences in order to obtain absolute truth. Hence, the speaker perceives love as a subjective matter, unrelated to the absolute. In line 6, the metaphor of “mask” also proves such assumption: Only by covering the objects, the snow, amorphous
Marriage in 1894 was not all about love, but a choice made for you. The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin, shows how not all marriage has a happy ending. The story is a perfect example of why a spouse should not be chosen for you. No one shall experience a tragic ending similar to Louise Mallard. Although the story was written 122 years ago, it is shocking that till this day, some relationships are comparable to Brently Mallards and Louise Mallard’s marriage.
“Love Poem” by John Frederick Nims is an excellent of example of an author using many types of literary terms to emphasize his theme of a love that is imperfect yet filled with acceptance. In, this poem Nims uses assonance, metaphor, and imagery to support his theme of “Imperfect, yet realistic love”.
Jeannine Johnson concurs, confirming, “The poet argues that wisdom and age do not determine one 's power to love deeply and honestly. Even though Annabel and her lover were young, the speaker contends that their feelings surpassed those of all others” (1). In matters of love, age is an insignificant factor for those who cannot see past the passion in each other’s eyes.
Beginning early in the poem and used heavily throughout, imagery and personification are utilized to exemplify the lovers' argument. The belief that love is never ending is created through never ending connotations, "I'll love you, dear, I'll love you Till China and Africa meet, and the river jumps over the mountain and the salmon sing in the street." The lover uses images of the impossible such as fish singing, the laws of physics breaking, and distant continents meeting. This strengthens the original belief that love is eternal and superior to time itself. These tasks are nearly impossible and the idea of love one day ending is equated with them.
W.H. Auden and Bruce Dawe, in their respective poems ‘Stop All The Clocks’ and ‘Suburban Lovers’, depict two different reactions to love. Auden’s use of an A, A, B, B, rhyme scheme creates rhythm through each of his 4 stanaz. Contrastingly, Dawe uses syllabic rhythm such as “on the fleet diesel that interprets them, like music on a roller-piano as they move, over the rhythmic rails”. Dawe also uses alliteration to create this similar pattern such as “breeze blowing”, “cliff of kissing” and “sandstone sustaining”. Both of these techniques create tone within each poem allowing the reader to reflect the mood of each poem. Auden’s rhyme scheme portrays a tone of sadness and grief in its simple structure and Dawe reflecting a tone of joy and longing
Unlike other forms of literature, poetry can be so complex that everyone who reads it may see something different. Two poets who are world renowned for their ability to transform reader’s perceptions with the mere use of words, are TS Eliot and Walt Whitman. “The love song of J Alfred Prufrock” by TS Eliot, tells the story of a man who is in love and contemplating confessing his emotions, but his debilitating fear of rejection stops him from going through with it. This poem skews the reader’s expectations of a love song and takes a critical perspective of love while showing all the damaging emotions that come with it. “Song of myself”, by Walt Whitman provokes a different emotion, one of joy and self-discovery. This poem focuses more on the soul and how it relates to the body. “Song of myself” and “The love song of J Alfred Prufrock” both explore the common theme of how the different perceptions of the soul and body can affect the way the speaker views themselves, others, and the world around them.
The love between the two seems that it will be eternal. Time seems to stand still in this poem, seizing a moment between two lovers and accentuating it with nature’s majesty.
“Forecasting” is a poem by Hannah Kroonblawd, who created the speaker to have a sense of love and a lot of feelings towards someone. The speaker feels enamored with that someone, but also feels like it is dangerous. The speaker expresses the love she had when she was six and seven, she senses that moment when her parents took her to watch the Northern Lights. Between her emotions for that special someone, for example, the senses she’s having, and the thoughts of that someone. Kroonblawd uses the poem that symbolizes the tone, imagery, and the sense of what people actually feel in real life when it comes to love. Although, the speaker feels enamored towards that someone, she never stopped thinking about him. It leaves a question mark for the
Andrew Marvell writes an elaborate poem that not only speaks to his coy mistress but also to the reader. He suggests to his coy mistress that time is inevitably ticking and that he (the speaker) wishes for her to act upon his wish and have a sexual relationship. Marvell simultaneously suggest to the reader that he/she must act upon their desires, to hesitate no longer and ³seize the moment?before time expires. Marvell uses a dramatic sense of imagery and exaggeration in order to relay his message to the reader and to his coy mistress. The very first two lines of the poem suggest that it would be fine for him and his mistress to have a slow and absorbing relationship but there simply isn¹t enough
The middle-class ladies didn't work, and didn't have a life outside their homes. They dedicated all of their time, energies and passions into keeping their men happy and contented; and in return, were loved, pampered and protected from the harsh realities of life. Even though this idea of total subjection and passivity, wouldn't have a hope of success in today's society, the level of trust and commitment these two "Romantic Poets" apparently share, could be the ideal that all couples should aspire to. In sharp contrast to Browning idealistic and spiritual love poetry of the 1800s, Seamus Heaney's Twice Shy uses an altogether more contemporary and realistic style of prose too describe love in the 20th century.
W.H. Auden’s “The More Loving One” is an intriguing poem that touches on the topics of love and humanity in the form of astrology. Auden uses a number of poetic devices to portray this message clearly to his audience. He doesn’t however write a direct translation of what he thinks of love but instead uses metaphors in order to challenge the readers’ imagination.
Society’s perception of love changes constantly. As a result, poems of different time periods have different perceptions of love and beauty. Ben Jonson’s “A Vision of Beauty” and Samuel Daniel’s “But love whilst that thou mayst be loved again” reflect the importance of physical beauty in love during the Renaissance Era. In the Victorian Period, Wilfrid Scawen Blunt’s “I See You Juliet” and Robert Browning’s “A Face” continue to reflect society’s fascination with female beauty in both a positive and negative way. In the Modern Period, a shift occurs in both marriage and love with a greater emphasis on true love and inner beauty. William Butler Yeats’ “When You Are Old” and Edna St. Vincent Millay’s “Only Until This Cigarette Is Ended” show
During the Renaissance period, most poets were writing love poems about their lovers/mistresses. The poets of this time often compared love to high, unrealistic, and unattainable beauty. Shakespeare, in his sonnet 18, continues the tradition of his time by comparing the speakers' love/mistress to the summer time of the year. It is during this time of the year that the flowers and the nature that surround them are at there peak for beauty. The theme of the poem is to show the speakers true interpretation of beauty. Beauties worst enemy is time and although beauty might fade it can still live on through a person's memory or words of a poem. The speaker realizes that beauty, like the subject of the poem, will remain perfect not in the