Ben Jonson is known for his outstanding poems and plays written in the seventeenth century. He’s capable of putting simple words in a verse and makes them have so much meaning just by the way he uses them. In the poem “His Excuse for Loving,” his use of diction, syntax, and tone are used in a way that lets the reader realize exactly what he means. Jonson’s work in this poem is quite simple, but says so much. He expresses exactly how he feels towards his loved one with the use of certain words that tie everything together. The language in the poem seems to be somewhat plain. Although it is plain, the author, Jonson, still manages to put some dazzle inside what is plain. His word choice is simple throughout each verse, therefore leading to the …show more content…
First of all, the sentences are seen as simple. He does not make them long nor does he put extremely big words. He also kept each sentence to only six words each, making it simple and straight forward. Even with the sentences kept short, the poem is very formal. He does not sound like he is begging his loved one, or threatening; he is simply expressing the way he feels in a formal matter. His use of simple words and sentences lead the reader to imagine him saying everything with passion, but not acting in an informal way. Another thing in syntax is the repetition he uses. Jonson shows a repetition of him saying he loves her even though he is old, but then says she makes him feel young. He jumps back and forth between these two subjects throughout the poem. Never wanders off elsewhere. This shows the reader Jonson’s love for her. This also creates a rhythm of passiveness. It is like the poem is just going with the flow and not moving around everywhere like a storm. At the end, the syntax and the poem relate in a way of explaining something in a way that is formal. Nothing to add that makes it complicated or hard to understand the actual meaning (Pinsky …show more content…
This is because Jonson shows his writing in a behavior that is acknowledged and not hated. In other words, his tone is not angry, sad, or even desperate. Formal is the word that pretty much describes it the best just like his syntax. Tonal shifts are a minimum in this poem. Actually there is no shift that changes his actual tone. He says his age does not affect his love, but doesn’t go into a sad tone. He simply stays serious as he was in the beginning. Therefore, the poem is not affected by tonal shifts, leaving a clear understanding. Jonson creates the tone of formal or serious by just expressing himself in a behaved manner. Nothing else expresses these two tones. Plus his wording is just phenomenal; which ties everything together so well. The meaning of the poem and the tone come together to show beautiful work with so much expressed in such a simple
The poem starts off brilliantly. “The first four lines are beautifully phrased, and the opening couplet in particular has ingrained itself in the collective consciousness” (Blair, 1). “She walks in beauty, like the night/ Of cloudless climes and starry skies;/ And all
The tone of the poem changes as the poem progresses. The poem begins with energetic language like “full of heroic tales” and “by a mere swing to his shoulder”. The composer also uses hyperboles like “My father began as a god” and “lifted me to heaven”. The use of this positive language indicates to the responder that the composer is longing for those days – he is nostalgic. It also highlights the perspective of a typical child. The language used in the middle of the poem is highly critical of his father: “A foolish small old man”. This highlights the perspective of a typical teenager and signifies that they have generally conflicting views. The language used in the last section of the poem is more loving and emotional than the rest: “...revealing virtues such as honesty, generosity, integrity”. This draws attention to a mature adult’s perspective.
The poem is composed in free verse and it has no rhyme scheme or meter. It is 51 lines long and takes no particular structure with fluctuated line lengths all throughout the work. It is told as story from what can be accepted is a young boys' viewpoint. There are points in the story where it makes it clear the story is being told later on, as in line 8 where it is composed "Even/a quarter century later…." however a significant part of the story is told in the current state. This change makes readers feel as though we are
Because the speaker is direct and clear, we are able to recognize the nostalgic tone simply because of what the speaker is explicitly telling us. However, the structure of the poem also contributes to the tone. There are no punctuations throughout the entire poem, yet we still read it slow enough to create a dramatic and sad mood. The poem is divided into fourteen couplets, each with a substantial gap between them. At the end of a couplet, we are forced to slow down and fully pause before moving on to a new section. In addition, most of the lines are complete clauses
The tone of the poem is simple with broken down sentences. Adolescent love is simple much like childhood love. There are the sweaty hands, heavy breathing, butterflies in the stomach, but when kids fall in love, its not true love, it most likely is just a crush. The words that are used in the poem are not complex but short and meaningful. When reading between the lines, and reading the poem more than twice, it is much easier to put two and two together and have a better
The way the poet used powerful word choices and emotion to show how he felt throughout the poem In the beginning of the poem it starts off sad but by the end of the poem it shows a side of anger. I thought the poem was very strong and powerful because of the personification he used. I think his poem was powerful because it felt personal and something relatable in his life. Throughout the poem the poet seemed like he was talking about someone in his life such as his partner. I think if the poet did not seem like he was talking to a partner then it would not be as straightforward as it was. Since he used personification throughout the poem it made me as a reader to be able to connect with what the poet and it made it feel more personal. I really liked the word choice the poet used throughout the poem. Some of the words stood out to me more than others. One word that really stood out to me when reading this poem was the word “shit.” While most poets do not use profanity, it helped show how he was feeling and the emotions he was using at that time. I think this poet was speaking from his life experience and wanted to show the emotions he was feeling when this was happening. I think people write poetry for an act of self-expression. I believe when a poet writes a poem that they are trying to write about a personal experience in their life. Also, a poem can be emotional and creative with only a
He uses this in the poem to give it rhythm to engage the reader and
beloved dies. Throughout the poem, the speaker describes the hurt and sorrow that he is feeling
There was a lot of syntax in the poem, syntax is the arrangement of words, phrases, periods, commas, etc. An example of syntax is in the lines “We dared each other. Laughed a little. Thought about it.
This is another great thing I love about his poems. He does not use much words to show emotion because it loses value.
The poem sits easily on a page and is visually satisfying, although this is in part due to the visual rhymes previously mentioned. This appearance though is false as the poems content is analysed but reinforces the theme of appearance and reality in the 4th stanza. Again, the "controlled" use of structure can be seen as adding to the poems "passion" showing a masterful combination of the two. The repetition of and permutations on the line: "my heart is breaking for a little love" is another structure that reinforces the poems meaning and show the despair that the poem communicates. The move away from the 1st person in the last two stanzas serves to provide a different perspective on the emotions discussed allowing a broader view than if the whole poem was in the first person, again this use of structure emphasises the underlying emotions.
The words using consonance in this poem are clothes, blueblack, cold, cracked, ached, breaking, call, and chronicle. All of these words in their particular arrangement in the sentences explain the situation the father and son in, and the reason for committing to his work. The first stanza connotes that he wasn’t thanked for his rigorous labor, because he wasn’t doing out of compassion and affection, but out of obligation. An individual is only thanked when they do something out of compassion, kindness, and affection but, his father did not do
Finally the poem has an emotional appeal. The poems tone is positive in a negative way it is sort of uplifting even though there is nothing encouraging about the situation. This is shown tough the use of words such as " I am the thousand winds that blow/ I am the diamond glints on the snow" these phrases have positive connotation saying that he will always be with us
He doesn't actually mention how he feels, but instead, the imagery he uses and the way he describes his ex-girlfriend shows that he feels broken and angry. The tone in this poem is very solemn and dull, though it is quite strong in some areas like "The smile on your mouth was the deadest thing" and "your face, and the
Here is the interpretation and analysis of the poem based on the sections that respect the grammar and meaning of its sentences: