Edgar Allen Poe demonstrates in his written works of “Lenore”, “Annabel Lee”, and “To Helen” an element that seemingly attempts to give the reader exceptional emotional sadness. Poe does this by telling the poem in a point of view where a man tells the story of the death or remembrance of a young love or woman. He also puts a sense of gloom in each of his poems. This allows for the reader to create a mental image if the setting, without him having to directly point it out. As well, the gloominess of his poetry could also be due to his longing effect of sadness that he attempts to express.
The poetic techniques employed by Harwood effectively communicate distinctive aspects of her themes while allowing them to remain universal. Harwood captures ubiquitous tensions through her use of contrasting imagery and makes them familiar with vivid detail and a dramatic use of dialogue. It is Harwood’s unique ability to combine the philosophical and the emotive which allows for the continuity of her poetry. In “Triste, Triste”, Harwood explores the tensions between the creative spirit and the limitations of the earthly. The concept of the artists’ imagination as a separate entity, able to transcend the physical is a rather Romantic one.
'Mending Wall' is an interesting poem that is symbolic of the differences in human thinking on barriers Robert Frost is known to make use of nature and pathetic fallacies in his poems and a lot of symbolism that leaves the reader to imagine what he really means,making his poems highly subjective. In this piece, Frost has used words and phrases that we could draw parallels with,he uses a sense of underlying meanings with these phrases. In the title itself, ‘Mending wall’ the poet lets us know that the poem is about a wall or a fence,but later the reader realizes that it’s more than just the words on the surface that Frost wants us to recognize. The poet refers to the wall as a solid object but also a psychological or invisible wall,this wall signifies the differences between the two neighbors. Ironically,when the wall is actually supposed to separate two beings,this wall reunites the two neighbors ,this is seen in the title ‘Mending wall’,where one might suggest that this is grammatically incorrect, what Frost might actually be intending is that the poem is more about the wall mending the relationship between the two individuals than the two merely mending the wall itself !This wall maybe built due to differences in thoughts and ideas or merely just because of social awkwardness of the two characters.
Both The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls and A Psalm of Life share similar philosophies: Death is a part of life. However they differ in the moods of the writing; The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls portrays the philosophy in a dark and pessimistic mood while A Psalm of Life is more optimistic and sanguine. Both poems share the philosophy that death is a part of life. Longfellow states that life is a cycle. He says this in A Psalm of Life: “…the grave is not its goal."
Did these devices help create imagery or communicate the author's feelings? The poet used simile when using the word like to compare her to a night of cloudless climes and starry skies.” That showed the importance of his feelings for the woman and he also uses rhyme to alliteration to make the poem flow. Emotion: What emotion was the author trying to express? The author is trying to express the way he feels about the woman. He compares her to nature and describes her as soft.
Romantic art tended to revolve around nature or some heroic deed, ignoring or tuning away from industry and logic, and when it did not, it reviled it. Paintings often depicted beautiful landscapes such as those by Friedrich and Turner. William Wordsworth wrote poems about nature that portrayed it as a mystical, mysterious force. Romantic writers, such as Edgar Allen Poe and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe emphasized emotion, tragic figures, and sometimes mystery giving rise to Gothic literature. Romanticism responded to industrialization by shunning it and turning to nature, emotion, and mysticism.
Philip Larkin and Dannie Abse have very different and contrasting attitudes to relationships. On the whole, Larkin presents the concepts of love and marriage as very superficial and meaningless, whereas Abse appears to be less such nihilistic and more open and positive about such topics. Throughout Wild Oats, Philip Larkin uses various literary techniques, such as imagery, structure and symbolism to convey certain aspects of love and the passing of time. Larkin's poetry often relates to the social and cultural views upon love and marriage in his time. In Wild Oats It explains that a person, over the course of time, comes to realise that his greatest desires of love, are unattainable, and second best things will have to suffice.
Harwood highlights the extreme contrast in ones perception of love, life and death when influenced by either philosophy or poetry. In ‘The Violets’ Harwood explores the inevitable nature of passing time, that this passing gives rise to change and loss. The inevitability of the approach of death in the poem is seen through the figurative language and simile of sunset images ‘the melting west stripped like ice-cream’ symbolic of the inevitable approach. The connecting image of the violets are used throughout the poem ‘frail melancholy flowers’, ‘spring violets’ and ‘gathered flowers’ these images act as a metaphor representative of the stages of life. Each image is representative of high and low phases of life and ‘gathered flowers’ is suggestive of the end of life.
In Robert Frost’s poem, the imagery brings about a sad and depressing mood. In the line, “I have looked down the saddest city lane.” You can observe that the character is taking in his surroundings, which prove to be gloomy and depressing. It almost shows that he has a very negative outlook on life, like he’s stuck in a state of depression. On the other hand, in Dickinson’s poem the imagery brings about a state of confusion almost as if the narrator is lost in the darkness. This can be seen in “The Bravest – grope a little – And sometimes hit a Tree Directly in the Forehead – But as they learn to see –” This line shows that the narrator is lost in the night and doesn’t know where to go, due to the inability to see anything in the dark.
The tone is melancholy and is rings of sadness and boredom. The lines “our trim ship was speeding toward the siren’s island, driven by the brisk wind.” are rather dark because a brisk wind implies that the air was cold and coldness is associated with death. Also in the “Odyssey” there is a hint of sorrow when Odysseus could not satisfy his heart fully with the siren song, obviously for the better, “So they sent their ravishing voices out across the air and the heart inside me throbbed to listen longer”. In Atwood’s poem, the lines, “This song is a cry for help: Help me! Only you, only you can, you are unique as last.” Convey sadness for the siren who is portrayed as a involuntary prisoner on this island.