#haveabanana

Comparisons of Love

In the great Gatsby, love seems to be all over the place. Everyone in the book seems to be at different stages of love and types of love. Gatsby is shown as having an obsessive love, were all he does is think about Daisy, and he wants to relive the past. Daisy is shown as having a superficial love and materialistic love, were it seems that she isn’t in love with him but is in love with what he has and what he owns. “I’ve never seen so many shirts” As for Tom, he seems to have a forced upon love as he appeals to society’s expectations even though he isn’t truly in love. I think that the only person in the novel who has a true love is Gatsby, as all he ever can do is think of Daisy and is just deeply madly in love with her. In the poem The sun rising it is very much similar to the Love Gatsby has for Daisy. In this poem, we seem that he adores her and thinks everything of her as does Gatsby. It talks of how their love will last forever, and this is also were Gatsby is misguided as there love does not last forever and that his living in the past cannot regenerate for the now as she does not love him back. In The Anniversary it shows how that they have been going together for a year and that their “Love hath no decay”. This is the problem with Gatsby as he thinks the same way and that no matter who she is with or how long they have been apart love is still there.

I believe that these two poems and the novel all use Hyperbole as they are great exaggerations of love. In the sun rising he says that sun rules and that they must do what they say. But by the end he states that sun should do what he says. As for the Aniversary it is also has the ruling quality with statements such as “second year of their rein” and that their love makes them kings “here upon earth we’re Kings” Also in Gatsby there is a power and ruling quality to it were Gatsby believes that they can do what they like because of his wealth, and that they can go anywhere and do anything.

In Donnes the sun rising, it refers to the universe and space, and that really as vast as the universe is there love is just as big if not bigger. He says that his partner is so beautiful that her eyes would blind the sun, and also when they are in the room together it is like the centre of the universe. That everything revolves around it. His enemy is the sun as it is this that defines there day and how long they can be with each other. Also as much as the sun blinds him he will not close his eyes else he will not see his love. He goes onto say that nothing in the world is as good as her. For Gatsby this is similar as he would give his all to be with her, and if that means wealth to buy her then he thought so be it.

In the anniversary, the rhythmic structure is in rhyming couplets to show there love, as in two people. It talks of time, and that there love lasts longer than time as it over comes nature. And that if one of them dies there love will still live on. As for daisy she does not see this as she is drawn to materialism not love. What a bitch.

Compare the presentation of Donne's and Fitzgerald's presentation of loveeeeee.

Donne and Fitzgerald are well known for their outstanding ability to produce the various formations love can come in. Both from different eras, Donne takes a more traditional approach to love. Unlike Fitzgerald, Donne's sonnets were a method of courting a lover in the 17th century, a more secretive, lustful portrayal of love. Whereas, Fitzgerald conveys love taking place in the Prohibition era also known as the 'Jazz age'. Fitzgerald uses this to make reference to how love survives under the influence of social status, the American dream, idealism and the struggles of economic instability. Thus, taking into consideration these factors, Fitzgerald urges readers to question whether the love expressed is true or in fact, artificial.

Donne expresses love as dominant and something which cannot be over-taken, as he uses a metaphor to describe the ‘sun’ as a ‘busy old fool’. This infers the ‘sun’ is aged, undermining the ‘suns’ natural power to disturb him and his lover. By doing this, Donne educates readers of the lovers ultimate power to ignore the ‘suns’ disruption  affirming the idea that the almighty force of the sun is powerless, in comparison to their love. This idea is reinforced as Donne refers to his love as ‘Both th’ Indias spice and mine’. By incorporating an exotic location and rare, cherished ‘spices’, Donne allows readers to understand how precious his love is to him. This makes readers develop admiration for how unique he perceives his love to be, which is exemplified further as he makes the bold comparison between ‘spices’ and his beloved. Also, by Donne labeling his lover as ‘mine’, this infers how eager Donne is to win his lovers hand and become united. As the poem progresses, Donne is keen to depict how love is his core focus as ‘the bed thy center is, these walls thy sphere’. By using this comparison  Donne portrays how that everything beyond the ‘walls’ in the physical world is minuscule  when weighed up with his love. This is extended further as by Donne explaining that ‘thy sphere’ is in fact subject to their love, urging readers to feel a sense of appreciation for their untouchable bond.

Likewise, in The Anniversary  Donne displays love as timeless. This is depicted as Donne explains although ‘the sun itself, makes times, as they pass’, their love will not change with time. This infers a sense of longevity and strength in their relationship, as it is able to sustain ‘times, as they pass’. This makes readers feel hopeful for the length of their love and how its proven to even surpass nature, the almighty ‘sun’. Also, Donne is able to inject more hope into readers as he ensures them  ‘our love hath no decay’. By using this hyperbole, Donne helps confirm that his love is eternal as it will never ‘decay’, no matter how much ‘time’ will ‘pass’. In addition, this exaggeration informs readers of the extent Donne will go to pursue  not just his love, but ‘our love’. As the poem progress, Donne's love is portrayed to maintain vitality as he outlines that even when their ‘bodies’ are rested in their ‘graves’ their ‘souls from their graves remove’. By expressing their ‘souls’ will still be in unity once they are physically dead, this amplify's Donne's love. The subject of the ‘souls’ enables readers to understand his ‘love’ is seen more as a connection of the minds, than physical attraction. This may be a comment on how genuine love is more than characteristics, geared towards individuals who are compatible mentally.

In contrast, Fitzgerald expresses love as something with no emotional or intellectual substance. Through the character of Daisy, Fitzgerald communicates how ‘her voice’ was ‘full of money’. This enables readers to understand Daisy’s shallow ‘money’ motive, as she’s driven towards Tom rather than the faithful Gatsby. This is depicted further as even as Gatsby makes all his efforts to impress and lur Daisy, she merely responds with ‘ive never seen such beautiful shirts before’. This weak response and instant reference to ‘shirts’ re-affirms the idea that she is drawn towards materialistic goods and is purely distracted by her artificial world. By doing this, readers are made to feel angered by Daisy's wealth driven motive and how depth-less she really is. Whereas, Fitzgerald conveys Gatsby as pre-occupied with the idea of love, rather than Daisy herself. Gatsby is shown blinded as he assures Nick ‘you can’t repeat the past?, why of course you can!’. This statement educates readers of how far distracted Gatsby is of ‘repeating’ the ‘past’, he is unaware of the superficiality of Daisy in the present. By Gatsby being absorbed into the past, readers are urged to evoke sympathy for his ignorance of his current position and helplessness to change it.

Furthermore, Donne's and Fitzgerald's portrayal of love is similar and dissimilar in various ways. Both Donne and Fitzgerald comment on how love can be eternal, as Donne displays its ruling and cannot be over-taken. This is similar in the Fitzgerald's ‘Great Gatsby’ as Gatsby fights to his dying day to pursue Daisy in order to rekindle their love. Although, through characters such as Daisy, Fitzgerald expresses how love can have no substance as its influenced by other factors such as money. Whereas, Donne’s motive seems clear throughout as he perseveres to impress and compliment his love. This is simply for a return of pure love, rather than materialistic gain. Although, it could be that Donne's method is simply a more tactful, intellectual way of alluring his love, in comparison to Daisy who outrightidly marry’s Tom. This may be questioning whether any love is real, as other factors begin to come into consideration, which can in effect, influence the characters decision.

Alsy! :DDDDD

Presentation of love in the Great Gatsby and John Donne’s poetry

John Donne, a cool guy around in the 16^th and 17^th century wrote a couple of well famous love poems of today. The Sun Rising and The Anniversary are what I’m going to delve into here.

Just a bit about the man himself, Mr. Donne was a real man in my books. He went against all social norms due to true love and the empowering emotion he felt for a certain Anne Moore which lead him to lose everything he had as she turned out to be his employers niece!!!!! And back in those days acts such as this were not acceptable. 

 Mr Donne, looking rather ravishing 

I feel that Donne’s love for Anne lead him to write two very successful poems.

The Sun Rising being one of them. Whilst reading this poem it was evident that there was a lot of exaggeration used, however, the way in which Donne uses it makes the poem what it is as we are able to understand how much he really loves Anne. By creating a conceit within this poem using the sun, Donne enables us to read the poem and follow his feelings of the sun. The first stanza in summary relates to the Sun waking up Donne and his lover and he wishes it would go away and leave them alone. “Busy old fool,” the first line and use of language sets off the idea that the sun is bothering them and its as if Donne is questioning the sun and why they have to be ruled by it. Immediately the reader is hit with a strong whiff of personification. As the poem goes on we see Donne’s representation of love being something special and sacred. Donne is basically stating that everything precious in the world is there with him and no “Indian spice and mine” will come close to how amazing his girl is, baring in mind back in those days Indian spice and metals were very precious. When reading this poem I personally got a sense of challenge as it feels like Donne is questioning the sun and challenging it as he doesn't understand why it behaves the way it does “thy beams so reverend and strong, Why shouldst thou think?”. There is the essence of  hatred as Donne doesn't seem to understand why the sun is as great as it thinks!

The last stanza reinforces the idea of competition as Donne outs the sun in its place “thou, sun, art half as happy as we.” Donne reaches the end of the poem by letting everyone know that the sun isn't half as happy as they are as the sun cant heat the whole world all the time, but they’re lasts all the way round the world unlike the sun and its beams. In conclusion, I would say this first number by Donne is a successful representation of true love. The use of hyperbole and metaphysical-ism makes the poem have a loving but smart and intellectual outlook onto love.  The sun... rising hehehehehehehe 

In the poem the anniversary, again Donne is able to show his idea of love and what it means really well.

The first stanza starts with the idea of eternal love and Donne highlights the idea of their love surpassing nature. I feel that Donne is very successful in getting the message across that their love is endless as he states that their love has ‘no tomorrow hath, nor yesterday.’ Donne is showing the reader that their love will always be there regardless of the time as their love is endless. Another effective technique Donne uses which shows his representation of love from the line “running it never runs from us away.” Here is Donne is creating a dynamic for love and giving it movement which makes this poem different from the Sun Rising. Donne is able to capture the emotions he feels as love takes over and show that their love is timeless and ‘hath no decay.’

The second stanza continues on with the conceit of eternal love as he moves to nature and the fact that even death will not part their love. Donne also introduces another conceit within this part of the poem as he sets the idea of their love being royal but also that their love is so special it surpasses royalty as royalty isn't as great as their love. Again there is a strong use of hyperbole as Donne gets the message across of how important his love actually is. He ends the second stanza with an empowering line in my opinion as he stats that “when bodies to their graves, souls from their graves remove.” Donne concludes the second stanza with the idea that even when they die, their souls will live on. This is something that makes Donne’s presentations of love so powerful as he doesn't confine love to an emotion within the body, he displays it as a feeling and sensation that stays with a persons soul until the end of time.

In the final stanza Donne changes the conceit once again to the idea of love having a ruling power and that “here upon earth” him and his partner are “kings.”  Love elevates them and Donne does a good job at showing how love can take them to places they want to be. For the first time in the poem Donne also refers to the potential dangers of love as he explains ‘treason to us, except on of us two.’ Here Donne is showing that there are no other people of factors that can get in the way of their, and the only dangers to their love are themselves.

Now onto Gatsby. An obvious difference in the presentation of love between Fitzgerald and Donne would be that The Great Gatsby is written in first person, so we are unable to know the true feelings of those in love such as Gatsby and Daisy.

Despite this, Fitzgerald is able to display the theme of love very successfully throughout the novel. Fitzgerald seems to make love something that only fools fall into. Love is expressed in many different ways throughout the book especially with different characters. Gatsby being a main character, I feel he is presented as someone in the novel who longs for the love of one person and effectively never gets it how he wants to. We see that Daisy and Gatsby have history and when they meet again after a longgggg period of time we see the sparks are still there. However, Gatsby seems blinded by Daisy’s love as I feel he is oblivious to the fact that Daisy is married and has her own child despite whether or not she’s happy. Daisy claims to love Gatsby yet when he dies she is no where to be seen. Effectively when we think about it, Gatsby died for Daisy as the love he had for her lead him to take the brunt of running over Myrtle and killing her. I feel Fitzgerald shows an artificial presentation of love within the play as there is not one character that is happy in love. Fitzgerald could also be showing that love didn't exist truly during that day and age.

Tom and Daisy’s relationship may show some kind of affection and loyalty, but we're not entirely sure if it's actually love.  And the same applies with Jordan and Nick as their love only lasts for a short period so was it lust of love? The only clear presentation of love is Gatsby who falls in love with Daisy but we do question whether he is in love with Daisy, or with a dream of Daisy. Using the characters within the novel we can see that Fitzgerald has quite a harsh view on love which raises the question as to whether he is trying to show love that is fake and artificial. There is no real love within the great Gatsby when you think about it long and hard but maybe this is the message Fitzgerald is trying to get through the whole time. 

....

 Around the time The Great Gatsby was written, there were big movements happening for the women of the time. As women gained more independence and it was seemed more acceptable to work, Fitzgerald’s attitude to women reflect this in the novel. Also, Fitzgerald is writing this novel not long after the war, so the attitudes to love at the time are very different to how they are now. Love in The Great Gatsby is influenced by attitudes to love after the war which is important as the society in New York after the war would be very different to now.  Donne on the other hand is writing poetry around in the Elizabethan era, however, the fact that he believes in true love lead him to go against the norms of the time as it would have never been socially acceptable for him and Anne Moore to come together the way they did. All in all I feel that Donne's representation of love is more sentimental to him as it comes from his own personal experience but most importantly from his heart.

I get the feeling that in Donne’s poetry he is showing that love has no end. He states several times of love surpassing nature, surpassing time and overcoming death, so the reader clearly gets the message that love isn't restricted to anything, and that it can be anything you want it to be. This is what I personally love about Donne’s poetry, his freedom and ambiguity allows the reader to relate to the feelings he creates in his poem which makes it relate-able and easier to understand although relating it to love nowadays it may seem to be a cynical outlook onto love. Fitzgerald on the other hand I think shows a more realistic approach to what love actually is. I feel he is trying to show his reader that love doesn't always work out and to also highlight that not every love story has a happy ending. 

 Despicable Lea 

Compare Donne’s presentation of love with the presentation of love in ‘The Great Gatsby’. How is Donne’s presentation of love similar or different to Fitzgerald’s?

Donne’s presentation of love in ‘The Sun Rising’ is reinforced in the language of the metaphysical conceit which expresses the depths of his love. Donne and his beloved wake up together, and Donne fears that someone will walk in on them; the unwelcome intruder is the sun that Donne treats as a person. “Busy old fool, unruly sun”, sets up the conceit. In the poem, though, Donne and his much-loved feel right at home: there's no chance either of them will go anywhere, because their love has placed them where they belong, and everything else must reorient itself around them. It follows that Donne is the master of the house; the sun, as a guest, should respect and obey him. Donne therefore reverses the conceit: having likened the sun to a person, he now gives a person—himself—the powers of the sun: “I could eclipse and cloud them with a wink”. The sun, having been shown the door, now gets asked to remain. The pronouns "I" and "she" disappear, leaving only "us" and "we"; thus combined, the lovers become the whole Earth, and since the sun's job is to warm the Earth, it ought to stay where the lovers are, and orbit them.

In ‘The Anniversary’, Donne claims the only thing not subject to “decay” is the love that he and the object of his affections share, suggesting love surpasses nature. The presentation of love reinforces their passion has “no tomorrow hath, nor yesterday” and is therefore timeless, beyond the reach of mortality. The first stanza is hyperbolic of eternal, everlasting love arguing for the constancy of their love, rather than a love that grows over time. While it does not decay, it also does not increase; he is satisfied with it. There is no “tomorrow” or “yesterday,” and the “first” and “last” day are kept all the same. Both are solid in their mutual love. Their love will live on in their souls, and these souls will be reunited after their bodies are moved to their graves. The final stanza points out that while they remain on earth, they are in the special realm of a steady love which is available to “none but we.” The stanza places the lovers directly in the seat of sovereignty in a kingdom made of their love, subject to no one but each other. A conceit is formed with a monarch ruling, and this being the second year of “reign”, suggesting love is prevailing. Similarly to ‘The Sun Rising’ love is portrayed as an elevating force, empowering them from being normal people.

In the novel, only fools are depicted to fall in love, and the biggest fool in ‘The Great Gatsby’ is deemed to be Jay Gatsby. It's Gatsby who falls in love, but whether he is in love with Daisy, or an idolized dream of her, is a central question raised from the novel. Moreover, it could be that he is in love with the idea of being in love, instead. Fitzgerald, as well, stresses the concept of true love always coming with destruction and violence. Additionally, all of the relationships in the novel fail because they are not based on love, but on materialism. Fitzgerald’s presentation of love in ‘The Great Gatsby’ is artificial. 1920’s America was a country where moral values were decaying and money was of more importance. Correspondingly, when Donne was writing during the Elizabethan age, money became the basis on which society was run rather than simply rank and status, and it became possible for those not born into the nobility to quickly rise to powerful positions.

Donne’s and Fitzgerald’s presentation of love are similar in terms of how romantic love is concentrated upon, however not only does Fitzgerald concentrate on romantic love, he focuses on parental love too. Fitzgerald uses an involved unreliable narrator who avoids commitment in love and is cynical about parental love of Daisy and Henry Gatz. By contrast, Donne on the one hand, views love as fundamental and more real than the basic realities of time, which gives a sense of a very positive attitude towards love. However, it could also be read that the poem reflects the poet's expression of joy in his possession of his beloved; there is certainly a sense of a possessive pride in the woman whom he has acquired which highlights an attitude to love known as ‘courtly love’.

The language used in ‘The Great Gatsby’ reveals the ambivalence of Nick’s attitudes. He uses complimentary language to describe Gatsby’s feeling for Daisy (“value, “bought luxury”) but he also uses language of romance (“blossomed”, “incarnation”, “ripe mystery”). Similarly, the language of Donne’s poetry is filled with romance, highlighting the significance of love. Normal everyday activities such as those pursued by the “late school boys and sour prentices” are seen as ordinary and unimportant compared to the greatness of love. This poem truly reflects an exploration of the importance of love for all human existence.
The structure of the poems pervade with mention to his beloved throughout. Donne’s love for his beloved was sincere and heartfelt, suggested in “souls where nothing dwells but love” from ‘The Anniversary’. A reference to "souls" reinforces the spirited, deep-rooted nature forming this love.

Although Donne believes that love is the most important thing in the world, he also sees the necessity for this love to be real and actual, not a distant idealized love as was found in other poetry of his time. In comparison, Daisy admits to Gatsby “I did love him (Tom) once- but I loved you too”. Readers are left questioning whether Daisy appears insincere and incapable of love or if she has a realistic understanding of love, similar to some readers’ perceptions of Donne’s love, due to his continuous, hyperbolic phrases, using dynamic imagery.

Attitudes to women in 1920’s America influences Fitzgerald’s presentation of love as does the significance and influence of war on attitudes to love which is important, considering Fitzgerald is writing about New York society shortly after the First World War. On the other hand, Donne’s poems, written during the Elizabethan Age may reflect Donne's relationship with his wife, Anne Moore. The poems can certainly be read as reflecting a progression in Donne’s feelings, but the poems as a whole express the conflicting attitudes that characterize the full experience of love.

Donne’s attitude to love can be seen as ironic and cynical, especially regarding love and human motives. While clearly on the surface, Donne's poems can be read as glorious verses of love, as a modern reader we question the silencing of the woman and the male exultation during his conquest. However, Fitzgerald is equally, if so more, cynical; all his characters “bruise hearts”. Yet, the message of the novel is clear, that love should always be selfless.

M Chacko

Heartbreak; Clenched soul (Pablo Neruda) & Sonnet 139.

In his poem clenched soul, Pablo Neruda expresses his deepest emotion of grief, portraying despair and heartbreak following the loss of a loved one. Neruda faces intense thoughts of his past, where he expresses his feelings in his writing using techniques such as metaphorical language and similes. He is having delusional thoughts as he thinks that he and his loved one are walking together ‘’ hand in hand’’. He also uses the colour blue; ‘’blue night’’ & ‘’Blue sweater’’ to emphasize on the sorrow and inner emotion which he feels. He reminisces on past happy memories, however he describes these memories ‘’burned’’ like a ‘’coin in my hand.’’ This simile highlights the pain he feels as a result of her absence, and just the thought of these memories signifies the intense rawness which is inflicted upon him. Neruda in addition uses rhetorical questions where he seeks some answers in his emotions and wonders why she left him; perhaps because she found someone else in her life, ‘’Who else was there?’’

Shakespeare’s Sonnet 139, also emphasizes on heartache. However his mistress hasn’t left him, but humiliates him by cheating on him. The speaker displays a feeling of struggle and heartbreak as she has concealed him from the truth, surrounding the relationship with secrecy. ‘’Wound me...with thy tongue’’; here he explains that he would rather hear the truth coming from her instead of him having to confront her. He shows a sense of jealousy and does not like the fact that she is allowing herself to other men and the looks she gives other men, ‘’her pretty looks have been mine enemies.’’ In the second line, ‘’...thy unkindness lays upon my heart’’ he states that her betrayal and ‘’unkindness’’ is oppressing him causing him to feel heartache and emotional damage. The speaker also implies that she has ‘’power’’ over him, to an extent where she is powerful enough to control his emotions, let alone cheat on him and break his heart. Throughout the sonnet, the speaker expresses his misery as a battle which he faces against his inner emotions and his mistress. However he has already lost this battle as he says ‘’o’erpressed defence can bide?’’ Her dishonesty has overburdened him, and he feels as if he is losing this battle which he faces. At the end of the poem, the speaker indicates that he’s been put through a great deal of mental anguish and that he has already been killed inside, she might as well finish him off by confessing her deceitful actions to him.  

Although the women in the poems act differently towards the speakers, the way they have shown their love to their men is still the same. Love is usually shown to give a happy and warm feeling giving a sense of value and emotional fulfillment, however the speaker in Sonnet 139 , and Nerdua portrays love negatively feeling agonized, and a sense of emotional discomfort. Furthermore this also shows that the outcomes of being in love are not always positive. They can also have distressing and painful effects as demonstrated by ‘Clenched Soul’ and ‘Sonnet 139’

tahsin.

Comparison and contrasting Valentine and Sonnet 130

Valentine is an intense love poem in where the poet Carol Ann Duffy critisises the conventional symbols of love such as “red roses” or “satin hearts” and compares her perspective of love to “an onion”. By portraying the linguistic technique an extended metaphor, “I give you an onion” Duffy illustrates how normally, lovers choose to represent their love with common gestures, which have lost meaning with time and can therefore be forgotten or lost easily. However, Duffy informs her readers that love should not be taken for granted over time, as some lovers may do, it should be cherished, like an onion “possessive and faithful”, love should have significance especially amongst youngsters today, and once found should not be mistreated.

On the other hand, Shakespeare’s uses a satirical tone throughout “Sonnet 130” to mock the conventions of courtly love during the Elizabethan era, where males would always complement their mistresses (by writing them meaningful love poems) to show appreciation of their love. “ I think my love as rare” highlights Shakespeare’s view of how lovers should be honest with one another and be truthful instead of pretending that their love is perfect by ignoring the faults over a period of time when clearly there are many mistakes which have caused conflict within their relationship. Whether it be insulting a loved one’s physical attributes or their personality Shakespeare emphasizes how love is not true love unless these faults have been identified once they have been identified their love has been strengthened. “But no such roses see I in her cheeks;” 

However Shakespeare compares the persona’s love to a number of negative physical attributes which criticize her physical qualities, “My mistresses eyes are nothing like the sun”. By using extended metaphors in his description Shakespeare rejects the idea of creating an idealistic image of his lover and instead insults her “if snow be white, why then her breasts are dun”. Shakespeare shows that love is not in imagery; love is accepting her as she is faults and all. In conclusion, I think that Shakespeare mocks love in sonnet 130, however Carol Ann Duffy is promising her readers that her love is more original honest and more true, she says ‘I am trying to be truthful’. I believe love is about honesty regardless of the time period.

 M.

'True Love' vs 'Courtly Love'

The origins of courtly love were believed to be in France in the 12th century. In English courts, courtly love wasn't practised until and from the 1300’s to 1500’s. In the Middle Ages, a successful marriage was seen as one that brought wealth and material or economic advantages to a family. Marriages were usually arranged by the parents, this would have been for many reasons; to join ties, expand businesses or perhaps for land or an increased amount of riches. Love and Marriage were rather two separate things, than one combined.

William Shakespeare’s sonnet 130 is one of his most famous, Shakespeare plays on the ‘love’ of the courtiers in Elizabethan time. I wouldn't consider it real love but more an affection that was only considered to be love. Sonnet 130 is a love poem that is the complete opposite of what love poems in the Middle Ages were about. Love poems usually confess the beauty of one’s love, praising the big or small things about their love, confessing to their affection towards the other person. Shakespeare however turns it around with his humour yet seriousness of what love really is. Sonnet 130 has a few themes tied to it, Shakespeare rhymes about love but also truth, women and stereotypes. He expresses that women are not perfect and love is not trying to win them with ‘in comparison’s’ to natural or artificial things. Love is defining beauty as something that will indeed come with flaws, but it is what you make of it, and how you see it that defines oneself, ones love and the one you love. Love does not need conceits or deceits for it to be true love.

Shakespeare’s last line in sonnet 130; ‘as any she belied with false compare’ - his way of showing that his love, which is ‘rare’ is the kind that accepts her as she is, despite physical or non physical flaws. Appearances becomes a major theme here, appearances can be in reference to how true love appears and what it really is. Appearances can also be linked in with the theme of women and stereotypes, of what the ‘perfect’ woman may be. Shakespeare describes the appearances of a woman from the strands of her ‘black wires’ to her skin and ‘breath’. He uses descriptions of nature in comparison to the realness of her actual self; he says ‘my mistresses eyes are nothing like the sun’, the first line of his sonnet, a contradiction to what love poems were usually about. Shakespeare states as he continues on to produce thirteen more lines; ‘the breath that from my mistress reeks’, her breath is not something that smells sweet but the smell reeks. A statement that would leave a woman stunned. Beauty doesn't always remain, sometimes it can fade with age, but if love remains, beauty would too.

In comparison to Shakespeare’s sonnet 130 is his sonnet 116. Sonnet 130 speaks truth the way sonnet 116 does, only Shakespeare’s tone in sonnet 116 is softer. Sonnet 116 is Shakespeare attempting to define love, what love is and what love isn't. Shakespeare describes love to be ‘the star to every wandering bark’- a guiding star to lost ships and ‘the marriage of true minds’, perfect and unchanging.  Shakespeare says ‘love is not love’, ‘which alters when it alteration finds’; so love does not change in response to change, it is ‘an ever fixed mark’. ‘Love’s not Time’s fool’; true love does not change with time, ‘love alters not with its brief hours or weeks’; love endures and lives through time. Love ‘bears it out even to the edge of doom’, so even up to the day of reckoning love is still love. William Shakespeare masterfully includes in this sonnet - ‘whose worth unknown, although his height be taken’, love’s value cannot be calculated although its altitude can be measured.

Sonnet 116 is full of imagery, images of marriage, fixed marks, stars and ships, of time and rosy lips, of cheeks and the day of reckoning. In comparison to sonnet 130, instead of love being compared to nature and colour, Shakespeare uses more real imagery and the passion is more evident in his sonnet 116 than in 130. He ends with ‘if this be error and upon me proved’- if his statements are incorrect and it has been proved so, then ‘I never writ, nor no man ever loved’; he declares that he has not wrote a word and neither has a man ever been in love. The ending of the sonnet is powerful and he leaves with two sentences strong enough, bold enough and challenging enough to let the readers of this poem know that he has spoken the truth.

iH

Considering we've studied one of his books for a while now, i'd just like to wish Mr F.Scott Fitzgerald a happy frickin birthday today! - Never forgotten dude Gatsby will forever live on....

 xoxoxoxooxoxo

YOLO

Porphyrias Lover

It is a Very dramatic love poem. At the start we see that the speaker lives in a cottage, and out from the storm poryphyria comes in to comfort him. She offers her "bare soldier" as a sexual implication. She shows her complete lust for him and that her love is like worship towards him. In the end he wishes to preserve this moment, and does not want anyone to corrupt her and strangles her with her own hair. Which could be seen as her beauty is what killed her. The speaker of "Porphyria's Lover" sounds awfully straightforward. His tone is incredibly reasonable, which makes it even creepier considering he's describing horrific things (such as strangling his girlfriend and cuddling with the corpse). He even makes it sound as though he was doing her a favour – he calls it "her darling one wish" There is a terrible storm commencing, which could show what is about to happen. The poem is very graphic with and dramatic with the affair, murder, and then necrophillia, showing the speakers madness. 

In the Sonnet by Shakespeare it uses emotive language, comparing every feature to amazing objects such as "Your eyes are like the sun". In comparison to Poryphyrias lover, they both talk about how beautiful there partner is, but shakespeare is more pleading to be with this person, and wants to spend his life time with her. However in Porphrias lover it is a much more darker poem of love, saying although she is beautiful, he wants to preserve her beauty, and instead of loving her all the time, he thinks by killing her its a deep sign of his love for her. Really trying to make her life this beautiful jewel. 

The presentation of Love in Christina Rossetti's 'Remember' & William Shakespeare's 'Sonnet 18'

Comparison of Love in Cristina Rossetti’s ‘Remember’ & William Shakespeare’s ‘Sonnet 18’

 

 

‘Sonnet 18’ depicts the simplicity and loveliness of someone’s dear beloved, on the surface, highlighting the attempt to maintain a young man’s beauty for all time by comparing “thee to a summer’s day”. Deeper analysis suggests summer tends to unpleasant extremes of windiness and heat, but their beloved is deemed always as “more lovely and temperate”, anyhow. ‘Remember’ is representative of a romantic love, shared between a woman and a man. It was written during the Victorian era, a time where poetry about love may seem sentimental, but in fact display strong undercurrents of passionate feelings, such as in “hold me by the hand”.

In ‘Sonnet 18’, summer is compared to as “the eye of heaven”, reinforcing the mesmerizing, wondrous nature of it.  Additionally, by describing summer as “eternal”, the speaker promises beauty will always be embodied in the sonnet. The rhyming couplet ending the sonnet proposes further that beauty will not perish, as it’s preserved in the words, “so long as men can breathe”. Both texts have religious references including a mention to “pray” and “silent land” in ‘remember’, and “heaven” in the sonnet. “Silent land” could be symbolic of religious land being either heaven or hell, indicative of the idea of death.  

The idea of love and death in ‘Remember’ are intertwined as if they are inseparable components of life, similar to ‘Sonnet 18’. Rossetti eventually becomes aware of the fact its acceptable for her loved one to be happy, as she gets closer to death, even if she isn't there “better by far you should forget and smile”. The message of the poem declares we must start taking action now, and not wait till death breathes down our necks. Her voice turns kind, reassuring and accepting towards the end of the poem. “Forget and smile” are compassionate, loving words far from commanding and threatening. Likewise, Shakespeare’s words “darling buds of May” in ‘Sonnet 18’ places focus on the sweet, caring voice permeating the verse.

Moreover, both texts display use of imagery to do with death. Line 11 of the sonnet beginning with “Nor shall death brag” underlines the fact that not everything should change even if death is a result, which is also the message in Rossetti’s ‘Remember’ as instead of grieving, “do not grieve”, Rossetti has realized it’s better for her lover to enjoy life with her in the back of mind, remembered, than to live his life in sorrow and never experience the beauty of life.

Love is characterized as having the potential of being dangerous in ‘Sonnet 18’, suggested in “rough winds” highlighting summer days can end with an extreme change in motion, and are not “lovely” all of the time. A summer’s day is fleeting and “nature’s changing course” is around the corner, placing emphasis on how autumn comes after. In resemblance, Rossetti too indicates how the nature of the love she’s experienced isn't perfect, as the poem is seen as representative of the constant struggles intertwined with the relentless frivolities she’s encountered; a mirror image of events in her life. Her tone remains quite pessimistic, as she acts as if she’ll die any day.

A form of punctuation ends every line in the sonnet, and this particular feature itself differentiates it from the usual form of a sonnet, heavy with alliteration and assonance. Similarly, Rossetti uses some variety in her punctuation, although mostly commas and colons spread through the poem. Shakespeare and Rossetti could have done this purposely to exaggerate the darkness and corruption they could have once faced, but the fact they still have prevailed on in their lives and see the good instead of dwelling on some bad moments.

The heart and soul appear like different entities, according to Rossetti. They have opposite intentions “nor I half turn to go yet turning stay”, implying the heart doesn't want to leave world nor leave beloved behind, yet it will have to due to the force of nature. The soul, on the other hand, must go where it belongs. Rossetti mentions of the future in line 6, “you tell me of our future that you plann’d”, proposing that if she dies, then there is no future. However, her acceptance of the fact that even though she will die that doesn't mean he should live in sorrow comes later in the poem in lines 9-10, “yet if you forget me for a while and afterwards remember, do not grieve”. She just wants her lover to remember their love and fun times they shared ultimately. In comparison, ‘Sonnet 18’ is suggestive throughout that the beauty of the man will be everlasting. There’s an important theme of power voiced by the speaker to defy time and last forever, carrying beauty to future generations. 

M Chacko

In the poem Ghost, Huntington is portraying a shy lover who is infatuated with another. This love grows gradually, allowing readers to see the stages of her lust and how her fondness grows for him over time. This evokes a one-sided romance as Huntington describes her as a ‘shape moving rapidly, nervous’ around the lover, as she is too afraid to express her true feelings. This imagery helps readers develop an understanding of her reserved nature as she is reluctant and ‘nervous’ to confront the lover. By doing this, Huntington infers a type of unrequited love as he is not yet to acknowledge her, allowing readers to develop empathy for her lonesome position.

Likewise, in Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18, flattery and lust is projected as he questions ‘Shall I compare thee to a summer day?’. This flattery is extended as he compares his lover to an enlightening, natural force – the sun. This comparison magnify's the love as Shakespeare refers to ‘thee’ as the ‘summer’, informing readers he is immersed in her gleaming ‘summer’ - like nature. Also, by involving a rhetorical question that is directed straight to ‘thee’, Shakespeare is presented as courageous as he presents his unconditional charm straight to her. Although, as the display of love was a poem, it is arguable that he may have also been too afraid to tell her. This is similar to Ghost, as both lovers seem to apprehensive to verbally confront their lover, inferring love as something not to be openly forced, but for it to be something to progress naturally over time.

Furthermore, Huntington expresses how the lover grows to become more at ease as time progresses as she makes herself ‘present, though never distinct’. By doing this, Huntington is highlighting how loves forces are drawing her closer despite her shy nature. This infers how powerful love can be, as she is keen to be acknowledged by him. However, the lovers confidence is short-lived as she fails to make herself ‘distinct’ enough for him to realise. This urges readers to feel sympathetic for her, as shes shown as powerless to overcome her timid nature. This could be a reflection of the modernist era, in which women were granted the ‘worthy’ status of a housewife. The inequality of power and authority between men and women may have influenced Huntington’s presentation of the lover being captivated in a  ‘nervous’ persona.

In contrast, Shakespeare's portrayal of his admiration for his love may have been due to the 1500’s era of courtly love. The strong nature of his sonnet would have been to merely impress and allure his lover. Shakespeare communicates this through his irregular rhyme scheme, as the ‘eye of heaven shines’ when ‘every fair from fair sometime declines’. This educates readers of his lovers superiority, as he infers even though everything beautiful will ‘decline’ she will not in his ‘eyes’. By describing her in this way, Shakespeare educates readers of her superiority and how eternal his love is for her. Moreover,  the rhyme scheme throughout the sonnet forms a sense of rhythm and progression in his lust. This shows how at ease Shakespeare feels when describing her, making the sonnet appear more poetic and sincere when its received. 

Similarly, Huntington expresses a positive progression in love as it concludes with ‘of a dream where I finally tell you my name’. This makes readers feel relieved as she has reached her ‘dream’. By using the term ‘dream’, Shakespeare involves connotations of her finally reaching her fantasy. This also infers that the poem is a reflection of how she used to be, as she now she has achieved something she once only ‘dreamed’ of, informing readers she is content. This produces a more hopeful ending, as she is able to be fulfilled by love and solidify it with her ‘name’.

In addition, the use of inclusive language, as she reveals her ‘name’ in the final couplet makes the poem seem more personal and her relationship is something secretive to reveal to readers. This may be a comment on love shouldn't be something to boast about, but purely between two people. Also, by giving him her ‘name’, this implies that the lovers are possibly united and married, which makes love seem as something worth to wait for and not to be forced.Equally, Shakespeare's love seems to be something to be endured as he expresses that as ‘long as men can breathe or eyes can see, so long lives this, and this gives life to thee’. This clever connection depicts that as his ‘life’ ‘long’ love will remain, as ‘men’ are still able to ‘breathe’. This puts forth the idea that his love is boundless, as his poetry will never transpire. This is supported by the conclusion of a rhyming couplet, describing that as far as his ‘eyes can see’, they will ‘give life to thee’. The flow in the conclusion develops an endless, ever-lasting love, re-affirming his first lustful thoughts. From this, readers can feel confident that Shakespeare is revealing his true feelings as they are consistent throughout, helping end the poem with a sincere message.

Overall, both the poems evoke similar underlying messages. Huntington is keen to portray how time is a vital factor when finding genuine love. As in Ghost, the lover discovers that through time, true love will conquer all falsity and superficial love. Comparably, Shakespeare's persistent sonnet is one to not ignore. The passionate, flattering comparisons educate readers of the extent of his love. This could in fact be a contrast, as in stead of waiting or a natural progression, Shakespeare sees love as something to accomplish and strive upon.

- Alsy! :)

The representation of love in After Love, by Randy Hurst and Sonnet 23 by William Shakespeare

The poem After Love holds an ambiguous tone as Hurst allows the reader to interpret the poem the way they want to.

The poem is about a couple who have split up and through the poem Hurst allows us to follow him through his journey of getting over his loved one…

All these splintered memories
Are razor shards of hope
Little brittle fragments of
Sugar sweet iced dope

Our lies are dreams we manifest
While shuffling through the clouds
The futile leaden steps we crave
Just barely sweep the ground

We stumble lurched and lonely
In frantic fixed desire
In glass our flowers frozen still
Were once a flaming pyre

On the shell of the interior
The sole sensation, tense
Firing nerves and buzzing skin
Indict our common sense

These walls we have assembled
Our prison and our home
Are all that we resemble
In step and dream and poem

Randy begins by presenting his poem with quite sharp and blunt words in the first stanza. “Splintered, razor, brittle.’ All of these give the reader the image of harshness and this could immediately gives the reader the idea of pain as he refers to memories. The memories he refers to and the way in which he refers to them highlights that the lover in his life has left and so this is post-break up.

As the poem goes on we see how Hurst approaches dealing with a break up. “lies are dreams we manifest.” This gives us the impression that their lies are things they are trying to make happen as they were both unhappy being in the relationship. “Shuffling through the clouds” makes the reader think of the effects the breakup has had on both of the individuals as maybe now they are left to think on their own and this has become difficult because before the decisions they made were made together. This all shows how a split between loved ones can affect individuals and Hurst’s message is becoming clearer as he emphasizes how different things are when they’re not together.

The third stanza stands out to be quite different from the rest. This, to me is one of the most ambiguous verses within the poem as there is no direct image of what they are talking about. My own interpretation lead to Hurst reminiscing of the individuals in the poems wedding. “in glass our flowers frozen still,” the fact that the flowers are frozen still, gives the idea of their wedding being a moment in time that they want to last forever. Therefore the flowers symbolize that special momentous day for the pair in the poem and nothing can essentially take that memory away regardless no matter how hard they try. The emotions described in the third stanza also signify an exhilarating  moment for the couple at the time, “tense…buzzing skin.” Hurst is able to recollect these feelings and bring them back to him as if they are reliving the moment once again. Personally I think he is stating that regardless of what happens there will be memories and moments within their relationship that neither of them will ever forget.

The last stanza enforces reality into the poem. Throughout the poem we gather that the poem is a reflection of a relationship that has passed. All the memories which will forever last are revisited and Hurst describes just how love can be. However in the last stanza we realize that despite there being memories kept, the couples was unhappy “our prison and our home.” Hurst, referring to their home as a prison is a clever technique in which the reader can understand that they pair were unhappy. A prison is something associated with anger, hatred and isolation, and if the couple had one another and felt these feelings, it’s clear that the split was needed. 

As well as giving us an inkling into what drove them apart, the last two lines of the stanza stand strong and are a good way to end the poem “Are all that we resemble, In step and dream and poem.” This leaves us as the reader with a lasting impression of their relationship and the poem as a whole. We gather that despite the pair being apart maybe Hurst still holds onto the love that they had. What is also interesting is that Hurst implies that the poem is another memory of their relationship and this could lead us onto think that the purpose of the poem is to give life to a relationship which has ended, and unlike the relationship the poem will last forever.   To be totally honest, i'm not actually sure if this is Randy Hurst, it was the first image that came up on Google and i thought i'd take a gamble.

Another poet who writes of love is the famous William Shakespeare. I decided to pick a Sonnet randomly and I ended up with Sonnet 23 which, persomally to me has an intricate view on love.

As an unperfect actor on the stage,

Who with his fear is put beside his part,

Or some fierce thing replete with too much rage,

Whose strength's abundance weakens his own heart;

So I, for fear of trust, forget to say

The perfect ceremony of love's rite,

And in mine own love's strength seem to decay,

O'ercharged with burthen of mine own love's might.

O! let my looks be then the eloquence

And dumb presagers of my speaking breast,

Who plead for love, and look for recompense,

More than that tongue that more hath more express'd.

O! learn to read what silent love hath writ:

To hear with eyes belongs to love's fine wit.

Considering this poem was written in Shakespearean times it took me about half an hour to actually understand what was going on in the poem, but when I eventually got to grips with it all I thought it was a perfect poem to compare ‘After Love’ with.

One immediate and clear difference between the two poems is that Sonnet 23, surprisingly is a sonnet! Therefore it has 14 lines. This sonnet however, is one stanza long with no breaks.

Now after doing a bit of research on the Sonnet it was interesting to find out that is not actually addressed to a woman, it is in fact addressed to a lovely boy. The poem was written by Shakespeare to show the awkwardness he himself feels towards the boy. This awkwardness is due to depth of emotion that the speaker has for the young man. The speaker's nervousness prevents him from expressing himself with his usual way while in the young man's presence. The speaker begs the young man to read the words that he has written, so that the young man will know how the speaker feels about him. 

Immediately we see a difference in the presentation of love between the two poems. Firstly. Hurst’s poem essentially talks about the pain that love brings to individuals in a relationship. The poem is realistic in the way that it reminds the audience that nothing lasts forever, however, you can always hold onto memories and these can never be taken away or destroyed if the strong love you have for someone is still there regardless of whether you are together or not. Shakespeare on the other hand represents love as a shy emotion. He speaks of the poet being nervous to talk to the boy and that when around the young man, he can’t be himself. The sonnet is applicable to life today as we all know the feeling of butterflies and legs like jelly!

Most of Sonnet 23 compares the poet's role as a lover to an actor's timidity onstage.

The first two lines of the sonnet, "As an unperfect actor on the stage… Who with his fear is put besides his part," are linked with the first two lines of the second part of the sonnet, "So I, for fear of trust, forget to say… The perfect ceremony of love's rite."

The Sonnets final couplet begins with "O," which is commonly used to exaggerate a preceding emotion. The speaker in the poem once again begs the young man to read what his silent love has written. The poet also introduces a paradox: love allows for one sense (sight) to do the work of another sense (hearing).

Overall, we can see that the two poems I chose to compare are different in several ways. If I had to choose, I would say the representation of love in Shakespeare’s sonnet is better and well portrayed, as it is written in a way that connects the reader with the poem. Saying that, both poems tackle issues which are frequent in love and both poets are able to present their feelings into their poem successfully.

The theme of a forbidden love is dominant in Shakespeare’s sonnet as their love could be considered off-limits and offensive; either because they are from different social classes or because they are both men. Whereas Hurst deals with the issue of broken love, as the pair are no longer together. 

  And we all know who this spice is... its Mr William Shakespeare himself! 

Thanks for reading....peace out, Despicable Lea