relationship, and for some, of life itself. It is in this widespread influence that the conceptions of love and marriage are such powerful topics in modern and classical literature, specifically poetry, the more lyrical structure providing a more aesthetic and artistic impression on the reader, usually the object of the poet’s desires. Yet, William Cowper’s poem Mutual Forbearance – Necessary to the Happiness of the Married State Cowper twists the expectations of marriage to something more unstable, more simulated, offering his own personal frustrations through a loose lyrical structure. And it is this poem that will be the focus of my essay.
The poem begins by describing the actions of the "lady [addressing]" her spouse, which provides
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Ultimately, the brevity of each couplets creates the need for emotion and tone to be compressed into these units, so each word needs to count, and Cowper certainly attracts the reader to the unfortunate situation of the lady by doing so. Moreover, the rhyme reinforces the metrical pattern of the poem, and being Iambic Tetrameter, work together to create a fast-moving pace that both exposes and symbolizes the frivolity of the marriage. Yet this dull room, and that dark closet,
Those hangings with their worn-out graces,
Long beards, long noses, and pale faces, (lines 4-6)
To maintain this metre, Cowper uses elisions in the form of ‘‘closet’’, ‘‘graces’’, and ‘‘faces’’, the pronunciation of the words changed to appear as if they have one instead of two syllables. This reinforces the rhyming pattern and makes sure the metre flows, which in this case is iambic tetrameter, consisting of four metrical feet, and an unaccented/accented iambic stress pattern.
The poem’s form is an intriguing measure of analysis, and Cowper adopts the form of a loose lyric poem, which works with the rhyming couplets to create an emotional response from the reader. Lyric poetry is a ‘‘formal type of poetry which expresses personal emotions or feelings, typically spoken in the first person’’. This type of poetry was the dominant form of English poetry
Compare the views of relationships in ‘The Unequal Fetters’ with those in ‘To his Coy Mistress’. What is suggested about the different ways in which men and women view love?
The poem then transitions to the post-marriage life of the couple in stanza two. In lines eight through ten, the speaker states that she is too shy around her husband. Not only does she not smile, but also she does not answer her husband when he calls her. This shows that the speaker's life took a great emotional transition, as she is overly shy and feels uncomfortable around him. However, around the middle of the second stanza, the speaker transitions into another stage of
Poems consist of a variation of different techniques in order to convey a message or idea to readers. Wilfred Owen, Thomas Hardy, Adrienne Rich, Bruce Dawe and Robert Browning are great poets who explore these issues, conveying their emotions, which influences a perception of an issue. In each of their poems they express the hidden message of hope, along with their main message. They use similar techniques to express their ideas, which illustrates their purpose to the reader.
Ever since the beginning of time, love has played an enormous role among humans. Everyone feels a need to love and to be loved. Some attempt to fill this yearning with activities and possessions that will not satisfy – with activities in which they should not participate and possessions they should not own. In Andrew Marvell’s poem, “To His Coy Mistress,” the speaker encounters an emotion some would call love but fits better under the designation of lust for a woman. In contrast, the speaker of Robert Herrick’s poem, “To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time,” urges virgins to marry, to make a lasting commitment in which love plays a
To begin with, the author’s implementation of short sentence fragments throughout the poem illustrates the exasperation and frustration bottled up in women in response to
The study of any poem often begins with its imagery. Being the centralized idea behind the power of poetry, imagery isn’t always there to just give a mental picture when reading the poem, but has other purposes. Imagery can speak to the five senses using figurative language as well as help create a specific emotion that the author is trying to infuse within the poem. It helps convey a complete human experience a very minimal amount of words. In this group of poems the author uses imagery to show that humanity is characterized as lost, sorrowful and regretful, but nature is untainted by being free of mistakes and flaws and by taking time to take in its attributes it can help humans have a sense of peace, purity, and joy, as well as a sense of
In poems it is essential to be a creative writer. The author uses many techniques from from exposing deep thoughts to giving humorous jokes throughout the sentence. As a human being, we may have difficult times in understanding what is trying to be said. We may agree or disagree depending our viewpoints on life. One of my Favorite poems is “The Ballad of Sue Ellen Westerfield” by Robert Hayden. My favorite poem is the type of poem that has some history and confusion. When getting the audience confused, it makes them want to know more and reread the whole passage again. Hayden’s poem is a fresh new opening that brought an old dimension, his creativity to open the minds of others and look back to the past.
Throughout the poem, the author creates different tones using different types of figurative language and diction. The poet starts off the poem with the metaphor, “Although she feeds me
In ‘The Farmer’s Bride’, the Farmer marries a girl without getting to know her. As the marriage progresses, the wife’s mental illness gradually develops – at first she ‘turn[s] afraid’, until she tries to run away, and will only speak to animals. This causes the farmer to become jealous, impatient and possibly mentally unstable. In the fourth stanza, the farmer describes his wife as she is to nature
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
In today's modern world, the use of poetry to communicate and express oneself has become quite rare. One of the main reasons is due to the fact that with such an old style of writing, it is very often hard to understand properly. poetry is indeed difficult to read and hard to understand, but given time, it is a rewarding challenge. Poetry is not only written verse but is used in songs as well. Taken the time to listen to the words of modern songs, you will realise that the lyrics of the song are actually a poem linking modern day music to poetry.
poem wherein she’s revealing her never-ending love, devotion, and appreciation for her spouse. The fact that she was born around the seventeenth century could mean it is puritan culture for women to remain reserved, regardless of how they may truly feel; however, she makes it her obligation to make her husband aware of feelings, whether positive or negative. She uses figurative language and declarative tone through imagery, repetition, and paradoxes to send her message. "To My Dear and Loving Husband" can be interpreted in many ways by many different people depending how it is initially read. This uncertainty allows the poem to be interpreted on a surface level and on a deeper level.
Poetry has a role in society, not only to serve as part of the aesthetics or of the arts. It also gives us a view of what the society is in the context of when it was written and what the author is trying to express through words. The words as a tool in poetry may seem ordinary when used in ordinary circumstance. Yet, these words can hold more emotion and thought, however brief it was presented.
In the poem, Dickinson describes marriage as a “solemn contract”. This may suggest that women exchange themselves for financial security, seeing men as nothing more than a customer, who is able to provide for them. Equally, “Title Divine is mine” may suggest that there is no existence of love within a marriage because women are “Betrothed – without the swoon”. Marriage is portrayed as an act of subjugation against women who were subdued by men and their efforts to gain and keep control over women through social relations in both poems.
The poem is about being pregnant and she uses nine lines with 9 syllables in each line. This is stated in the first line of the poem. There is a sense of regret about the pregnancy throughout the piece. Plath focuses on the negative attributes of being pregnant and the inflections of it on her. "An elephant" suggests her belly is showing and she feels large. However, Plath describes herself as a "ponderous house" suggesting that she is slow and clumsy because of her weight and she is trying to hide this. "This loaf's big with its yeasty rising" implies that she is getting even larger as time goes on. In the 6th line the impression that this is her first pregnancy and she is feeling obese is shown when she says, "money's new-minted in this fat purse." Two meanings can be derived from "a cow in calf." One being that she is a child giving birth to a child. The other is that she feels the baby is bigger than her, literally a calf giving birth to a cow. Plath also gives the idea of being ill and having pains when she says, "I've eaten a bag of green apples." However, at the end she knows there is nothing she can do but go through with the pregnancy; "boarded the train there's no getting off."