Representations of Romantic Love in Poetry Across the Periods

While the first two stanzas illustrate his view of Love in general and all lovers, the third stanza relates his personal experience with Love and Donne reveals the reason for his view of Love as a cruel, consuming power. Donne entice the readers with his use of figurative language, specifically imagery and personification, and diction. The speakers own experience with Love has left him feeling empty. And makes his feel how powerful and cruel love can really be. Donne’s use of those certain literary elements allows him to create a hostile speaker who is against love and is currently feeling heartbreak from losing his

Since time immemorial, the concept of love and its definition have been highly personal and truly unique phenomena. They have been the source and product of comedy, tragedy and everything in between. Poets have praised and despised it, the media has sold it and mankind has ever longed for and misunderstood it. In her poem, Variations on the Word Love, Margaret Atwood juxtaposes the connotations and denotations of the word “love” in order to comment on the misrepresentation

mind. It suggest the poet see it as love or nothing and that he was

Poets have written love poems for centuries with the first said to be around 1000BC. But what is love? It is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as ‘ to have attachment to and affection for’. However, after studying various love poems, I have found that love is portrayed in many different ways. It can be possessive, hateful and pure and the fact that William Shakespeare said ‘The course of true love never did run smooth’ suggests that love is more complicated than a simple dictionary definition.

Poetry is oftentimes associated with the subjects of love and romance. Poets throughout the ages have used this medium to express their deepest emotions in the most eloquent of ways. Whether the poet is a man or woman is irrelevant. Poets of both genders have succeeded in expressing a heartfelt love to another with a poetic language that speaks volumes in a relatively short amount of text. Two poets from two separate eras each wrote a poem with just such a theme. Anne Bradstreet in “To My Dear and Loving Husband” and Edgar Allan Poe in “Annabel Lee” created magic by writing these poems that express a love for another that transcends time and place.

The poems I have chosen to write about are ‘They flee from me’ by Sir

Poetry is one of the countless items on the list that is thought of when the subject of love, whether it be legitimate, everlasting, or even fleeting, is brought to the light, but the thing about literature is that it can give off an impression that the events and emotions portrayed are too good to be true, especially when it comes to the topic of love. True love is out in the world for everyone, but very few

This essay will be exploring the use of language and imagery in the poem ‘Valentine’ by Carol Ann Duffy to emphasise certain emotions within the text. This poem refers to the dark side of love and relationships several times, for example; “Its fierce kiss will stay on your lips.” This creates a different atmosphere to the stereotypical love poems, which are known for their mention of red roses and satin hearts. Although the title gives us an impression of a cliché-filled poem, as we continue reading, the poem seems like more of a warning than an encouragement to involve oneself in relationships and commitment,

The love story is one of the oldest and most cherished traditions in any world culture. The prevalence of romantic works throughout history, whether Greek myths, Jane Austen’s dramatic narratives, or today’s dime-a-dozen romantic novels, ultimately encourages us to believe in the power of true love. We identify with the archetypal star-crossed lovers, who combat established convention in order to assert their romance, because we too yearn for our own “happily-ever-afters.” When used in conjunction with reason, love is the highest form of compassion – without it, we could not possibly interact productively with one another or develop as individuals. But when we take a new perspective and examine love as an independent,

Love has a voice that speaks to everyone differently. For some people it is a gentle whisper, but for others it is a scream, yearning to be noticed. Love is a common theme in literature, discussed in many works. Love is a very broad term, that can be defined in many different ways. Love has many characteristics, with many individual interpretations. In this essay, I will be talking about three poems: Robert Graves’ Symptoms of Love, Bob McKenty’s Adam’s Song, and Muriel Stuart’s In the Orchard. Each of these poems demonstrates their own meaning of love, and each author interprets love in their own different ways.

How is Love presented in Romeo and Juliet and two poems from the Shakespeare Literary Heritage

In order to describe the form which Donne gives to true love he chooses to create a scene of separation. He insists that when in love, absence is not a cause for despair. Stanza two describes the usual reaction lovers have to separation but explains that such reactions of tears and sighs do not prove one’s love but rather the

In this compare and contrast essay I will compare four poems in detail and mention two in the passing to find similarities and differences. The poems and sonnets I have chosen to compare are ‘Porphyria’s Lover’ and ‘My Last Duchess’ by Robert Browning and Sonnet 18 and Sonnet 130 by William Shakespeare

“How do I love thee?” The infamous Sonnet 43 by Elizabeth Barrett Browning is both thought provoking and lovely, with a somewhat melancholy undertone. How has this small poem shaped the way we as a human race view love, and how is it that most of us know those first few powerful lines by memory?

Near the end of the poem, Donne makes an unlikely comparison between the couple and a draftsman's compass. This is one of his most famous metaphysical conceits because the two elements which are being compared appear completely different, and yet, amazingly, Donne is able to connect them. He explains that his wife is his "fixed foot" that leans towards him as he roams and straightens again as he returns, but remains his center. Her firmness is what makes his circle complete, "[a]nd makes [him] end where [he] begun"(line 36). The imagery of the circle and the spheres in this poem solidify the eternity of their love and the knowledge that the speaker will always return to the place where he began. Donne's comparisons create an image of celebration rather than mourning.