Comparing The Two Poems: When We Two Parted And La Belle Dame Sans Mer

In this essay I am going to compare and contrast ‘When we two parted’ a poem of George Gordon, Lord Byron’s written in 1815 and Letitia Elizabeth Landon’s ‘Love’s last lesson’ written in c1838, both poets are British and of the romantic period.

The similarities between the poems lie in their abilities to utilize imagery as a means to enhance the concept of the fleeting nature that life ultimately has and to also help further elaborate the speaker’s opinion towards their own situation. In Keats’ poem, dark and imaginative images are used to help match with the speaker’s belief that both love and death arise from fate itself. Here, Keats describes the beauty and mystery of love with images of “shadows” and “huge cloudy symbols of a high romance” to illustrate his belief that love comes from fate, and that he is sad to miss out on such an opportunity when it comes time for his own death.

Prompt: Read the following two poems very carefully, noting that the second includes an allusion to the first. Then write a well-organized essay in which you discuss their similarities and differences. In your essay, be sure to consider both theme and style.

In the study of English literature, “The Sullivan Ballou Letter” by Sullivan Ballou and “To Lucasta, Going To The Wars” by Richard Lovelace are very similar and different in many various forms of ways. These works of literature can be categorized as goodbye letters from two men who sent them to their wives to show their love, before they leave for different wars. “The Sullivan Ballou Letter” is written in American literature and “To Lucasta, Going To The Wars” is written in British Renaissance literature. The work of literature written by Ballou is perceived in more of a formal way and Lovelace’s is viewed in the form of a ballad with a iambic tetrameter as a rhyme scheme. These two works of literature are compared and contrasted by their

As for the form, there are a number of poetic devices which serve to fill the poems with the necessary diction. As Lovelace’s poem is easier and lighter by tone, there are not so many devices, but still the figurative language is romantic and eloquent. The imagery is delicate and beautiful. The innocence and pureness of the protagonist’s beloved woman is described by the words “the nunnery of thy chaste breast and quiet mind”; the lover’s attitude is shown by the words “Sweet” and “Dear”; the rush and aspiration of the hero is underlined by the metaphors of “flying” and “chasing”. There is no place for regret or fear; on the contrary, it seems that the hero relishes his fortune, his obligation and the

In both poems there is the recurrent theme of irony. In “To His Coy Mistress” the poem’s entire first section is ironic in the sense that the speaker knows he isn’t being genuine. The speaker uses words to his advantage and we can take little of what he says to be truthful. In Line 1, “Had we but world enough, and time”. The first section of the poem is a series of hyperbolic statements meant to impress and flatter the reader but the

It is certainly implied that both of these poems are concerned with the ideal of true love, but we have seen that they differ quite dramatically with the authors' mindset and themes which they are attempting to portray. Both poems revolve around the consistency of love, whether existent or not, though their discrepancies are valid, it is these discrepancies, which provide readers with the conception and comprehension of what true love really is.

Love can be quite a difficult topic to write about, expressing one’s intimate and innermost emotions requires a great level of dedication and honesty. If done correctly, the outcome is truly stunning. John Donne’s “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning” and Katherine Philips’s “To Mrs. M.A. at Parting” are two masterpieces of this genre. These poems depict the concept of true love so meticulously that the reader cannot help but envy the relationships presented. Perhaps the reason that these works are so effective is due to the fact that they are incredibly similar to each other. Although some differences are present when it comes to structure and gender concerns, the poems share the same theme of love on a spiritual level and show many parallels in meaning.

The first similarity that was noticed was how both these poems have the same rhyme scheme. A rhyme scheme is the pattern of how rhyme sounds occur . In the case of these poems, the last word in the line rhymes with the following, and then it starts a new word to rhyme with afterwards. In My Last Duchess, the twenty- first line rhymes with the twenty- second line: “For calling up that spot of joy. She had” (21) A heart—how shall I say?—too soon made glad,” (22). When looking at the similar poem, My Ex- Husband, the twenty- first and twenty- second lines rhyme with each other as well: “Half- hidden in a corner nook. Such stuff” (21) “Was all too well rehearsed, I soon enough” (22). This is an obvious similarity to both the poems because they show this throughout the whole reading. Although these simple similarities are pretty obvious, there are some similarities that require a bit more

There are many different themes that can be used to make a poem both successful and memorable. Such is that of the universal theme of love. This theme can be developed throughout a poem through an authors use of form and content. “She Walks in Beauty,” by George Gordon, Lord Byron, is a poem that contains an intriguing form with captivating content. Lord Byron, a nineteenth-century poet, writes this poem through the use of similes and metaphors to describe a beautiful woman. His patterns and rhyme scheme enthrall the reader into the poem. Another poem with the theme of love is John Keats' “La Belle Dame sans Merci,” meaning “the beautiful lady without mercy.” Keats, another nineteenth-century writer, uses progression and compelling

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

Both, the poem “Reluctance” by Robert Frost and “Time Does Not Bring Relief” by Edna St. Vincent Millay, revolved around the theme of lost love. Each poet used a similar array of poetic devices to express this theme. Visual imagery was one of the illustrative poetic devices used in the compositions. Another poetic device incorporated by both poets in order to convey the mood of the poems was personification. And by the same token, metaphors were also used to help express the gist of both poems. Ergo, similar poetic devices were used in both poems to communicate the theme of grieving the loss of a loved one.

The poem “How Do I Love Thee”, by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and “What Lips My Lips Have Kissed”, by Edna Vincent Millay are both well-known poems that both have themes of love. (LIT, Kirszner & Mandell, Pg. 490). In both poems the poet helps the reader experience a lot of emotion with the use of certain words. There are speakers in both poems. In Mrs. Browning’s poem, the speaker is undefined, leaving open that the speaker could be a he or she. Millay’s poem which is written in first person, the speaker is more defined leading the reader to believe it is a she who is talking about love in the past tense. Both poems are sonnets written with fourteen lines, and written in Italian style. When comparing these poems we will be looking at the use of rhyme scheme and metaphors and how they were used to express emotions in these two sonnet poems.

Both poems contain declarations of love and both attempt to persuade in a personal way. Also both Poems offer gifts or nice promises to they’re women if they are to cooperate.

In the second stanza, the speaker beholds a piper joyfully playing under the tress for his lover to find him with song. “Are sweeter; therefore, ye soft pipes, play on; not to the sensual ear, but, more endeared. The use of imagery of the senses is effective here. For I consider poetry to be more musical in nature than literary text. The speaker claims to be hearing melodies emanating from the urn, which for me the sound transmission from the urn correlates to the finite aspects of fleeting love. While the nature of art of the urn seems to me to represent the exquisiteness and infinity of the universe. Indeed, the sounds of silence from art is akin to vastness of space and time. “She cannot fade, though, thou hast not thy bliss,” (line19). Keats is asking the readers to not grieve for him. Because, her beauty will not diminish over time it is everlasting.