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.
Browning’ poetry explores the consequences of obsession. How effectively does F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby deal with this issue in a different context and form? An idea that continually preoccupies and intrudes on a person’s mental and physical state is a term referred to as 1obsession and can lead to a character’s salvation or undoing. Elizabeth Barrett-Browning’s, “Sonnets from the Portuguese”, composed in the Victorian age of unparalleled power and industrial revolution, reflects significantly on the ideas of obsession and it’s ramifications through figurative language, poetic devices and techniques. Ideas such as idealistic love and societal expectations are heavily embedded within the Petrarchan sonnet form, which, on the
Max's story aims to encourage Liesel to be brave and willing to counter words of hatred with words of love; these final lines suggest that others would be willing to follow her if she took such a stand. 10. "I am haunted by humans." (550) The Book Thief is framed by Death's and death's inability to reconcile the remarkable cruelty and the remarkable compassion of which human beings are simultaneously capable. Liesel's life story contains elements of both, and by the end of the novel, Death appears to be no more capable of judging humanity than at the novel's outset.
Many of William Shakespeare’s sonnets are similar in their subject matter and who they address, but contain varying tones. Two of Shakespeare’s sonnets that fit this description are “Sonnet 71” and “Sonnet 73”. While both sonnets are written for the speaker’s lover and deal with the subject of death dying, sonnet 71 depicts a pessimistic and morbid tone, while sonnet 73 illustrates a bittersweet one. The differences in tone can be attributed to Shakespeare’s word choice, his use of figurative language, and his vivid imagery. Death is the main theme of both sonnets but the tone may differ a little.
Compare the ways controlling characters are used in Les Grands Seigneurs and My Last Duchess Dorothy Molloy and Robert Browning, the poets of Les Grands Seigneurs and My Last Duchess respectively, both create a significant and controlling character in their poems; using similar techniques and themes to illustrate the power and dominance to portray a specific message. Firstly, both Malloy and Browning frequently embed the personal pronoun ‘my’ into their controlling characters narrative. For example, the controlling character in Les Grands Seigneurs quotes ‘men were my buttresses’ in the opening line, whilst similarly, in the opening line of My Last Duchess, ‘that’s my last duchess painted on the wall’. This use of ‘my’ enables both characters to develop a sense of possession over their loved ones to the readers immediately; thus allowing their retelling of love to their audiences to be easier. This sense of control is only further strengthened by another technique used by both poets, the regular inclusion of caesuras.
How does the exploration of the connections between two texts from different times deepen our understanding of what is constant in human nature? The comparative study of the poetry of John Donne and Margaret Edson’s play, W;t, reveals changes in context inform what we value in human nature, specifically in regards to finitude, relationships and humanity. John Donne’s Holy Sonnets, ‘Death be not proud’, ‘This is my playes last scene’ and ‘If poysonous mineralls’ explore the fear of death and the need to belittle it, whereas ‘Hymne to God my God, in my Sicknesse’ (‘Hymne’) and ‘A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning’ (‘Valediction’) deal with the idealised, spiritual aspects of love and relationships. The need to undermine the power of death is reflected, though expressed differently, in both ‘Death be not proud’ and W;t. In ‘Death be not proud’, the personification of death, the logical argumentative structure and tone of the sonnet cohesively highlight the idea that death is not the absolute end, and can be transcended through a religious belief in salvation. In the concluding couplet, Donne affirms that after “one short sleepe” imposed upon us by death, we wake to the eternal life of salvation and in that life of the soul, “death shall be no more”.
Prior to this her life was shown as dark and deathly through the personification of the “mystic shape” that moves behind her. Love is shown as a saviour and a brilliant force that can transcend and give life to her darkest days. Barrett Browning’s sonnets were set in the wake of the Romantics, making the tone of the poems gloomy and filled with sorrow as well as the feelings of the force and intensity of
i William O’Neil Dr. James Nutter ENGL 102—Honors 24 February 2015 Romanticism Unshackled: a Study of the Modern Prometheus Thesis: Frankenstein should bear the title of Romantic literature because the novel embodies trademark Romantic ideas, situations, and characteristics throughout the text. I. In an attempt to categorize any novel as Romantic, however, one must first attempt to identify what, exactly, makes a work Romantic. a. A group of poets, including the likes of William Blake, Samuel Coleridge, William Wordsworth, John Keats, Lord Byron and—Mary’s husband—Percy Shelley, who are commonly credited as being the ground-breaking authors of the Romantic movement b. Lyrical Ballads moved poetry away from the times of the mythical and fantastical,
Within Dickinson’s poem I died for beauty.. beauty and truth underpin the essence of her message of sacrificing yourself in the name you desire to be recognised as. The persona Dickinson has adopted has been represented as an image of beauty which entails the assumption of intense feeling of passion and emotion, an essential truth about life. At the same time, a contrasting image of death is implemented with the ultimate power being nature, claiming us no matter what we may do. This image is further reinforced with the paradoxical ideas of unity and disintegration with ‘moss’ being represented as the agent of claiming our identity in the end as being a part of the human condition. We learn that with the gift of life and living comes death and decay, something we cannot hide from although from this, connectedness and unity emerges.
Context is a powerful influence on composers’ concerns and the way these are expressed.’ How have the different contexts experienced by Shelley and Scott influenced the way they explore concerns about love? Context: -Time 20th century compared to the 19th -Marys living arrangements, married to Poet Percy Shelley -Love influencing perfection -Societies expectation in the 19th C compares to Blade runner extreme differences in the expectation of love. -Similar-both aspiring perfection and progression -The norm of society was not accepted in science -Frankenstein symbolising woman in society of this time Frankenstein: Blade Runner: Technique/Effect: “There is love in me the likes of which you've never seen. There is rage in me the likes of which should never escape. If I am not satisfied in the one, I will indulge the other.”