The poems The Sick Rose, Ballad, To His Coy Mistress and A Woman to her Lover Essay Example for Free

The poems The Sick Rose, Ballad, To His Coy Mistress and A Woman to her Lover Essay The poems chosen all explore a different aspect of love through the use of poetic features, language and range of perspectives. Whilst Ballad was a female perspective, showing her physical relationship with a very devious man, To his Coy Mistress is from a male perspective, as he attempts, through a seductive yet rational argument, to win over his coy lady. A Woman to her Lover is also from a female perspective about a woman who demands equality. On the other hand, The Sick Rose shows an assault and destruction, telling of a secret love between man and women, possibly through rape or sexually transmitted diseases. Out of all the poems I read, the aspects of physical and spiritual relationships interest me the most because they provide diverse views towards love. Ballad which is a traditional song, of oral tradition, presents male courtship through the use of language, seasonal metaphors and through the story it tells. It is made up of quatrains, rhyming couplets and a refrain, the range of words which rhyme together emphasise the emotions and tone of the poem. Ballad is about a deceitful philanderer, who seeks a beautiful maid. The man gets the lady pregnant and, throughout the last few, we see how she wants to kill herself and the baby. The maid is the speaker of the story, which gives a female perspective, of the story and an insight into the consequences of courtship for the victim. The opening of the poem begins with the line A faithless shepherd courted me. The word faithless immediately tells us that the man is not committed. Furthermore it says, he stole away my liberty, the use of euphemism creating the impression that the man has stole her virginity and freedom. We later see that the liberty is her virginity and decorum. Therefore, this leaves the maid with no freedom, because in past times it was thought that a single mother was greatly detested and unlawful children were not respected. In addition the ending of stanza one reads: When my poor heart was strange to men, he came and smiled and stole it then. This illustrates a very naà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ve maiden, who seems very innocent. A calculated effect is gathered as he sees what shes like, and then he takes advantage of her. The repetition of the word and creates a very step by step calculation. In the second quatrain, the maid uses seasonal metaphors to show their happiness together; however, the second two lines of the quatrain, illustrates the shame of her pregnancy : When my apron would hang low, me he sought through frost and snow. : When it puckered up with shame, and I sought him, he never came. The opening line creates a picture that the maid is fine and slim, would hang low. The second line captures how he would only look after her when there was no responsibility. The use of a seasonal metaphor frost and snow shows the relationship between winter and sorrow. The third line gives the impression that she is pregnant; however, when she seeks him, hes not there. The maids pregnancy scare is euphemised by her apron puckering up. It also shows love can be shameful but also bring happiness. Stanza three brings back happiness as it says, When summer brought no fears to fright. She becomes joyful; again as she finds that her pregnancy was a scare and that she has no baby. The use of a seasonal metaphor clearly shows the relationship between joyfulness and the summer. It goes on to say how the man came to guard me every night. However, there is a major contrast when it says When winter nights did darkly prove, none came to guard me or to love. This shows how when shes pregnant, the man was not there. This gives the impression that he has run away. Referring back to the previous seasonal metaphor about summer, the winter is now associated with sorrow as the man has gone. The maid has been left alone in the cold, whilst pregnant. The seasonal imagery makes us feel more sorry for her. The beginning of the fourth quatrain, shows how the maid is feeling very regretful, I wish, I wish, but all in vain, I wish I was a maid again. The use of repetition shows a very apologetic maid who has lost her virginity and can never get it back. The end line of the stanza highlights that she wants to kill herself: O when will green grass cover me, this indicates that she wants to be buried under the green grass as she feels mortified. The following stanza reinforces her thoughts in stanza four, that she wants to die: I wish my sorrows all away my Soul with god, my body clay. This emphasises that she is very sad, and she wants to die, my body clay. We clearly see the promises the man made to the maid: He promised beds as fine as silk, and sheets for love as white as milk He promised her the world; however, he leaves her to want a bed of clay. This shows how she is left wanting a death bed, in contrast to the fine silk beds. The following stanza shows how the man is very uncaring towards her: He kept this sheep on yonder hill. His heart seemed soft but it was steel. this shows how he is weak soft on the inside; however, the use of antithesis, highlights how he promised a lot on the outside steel and also shows that he is very heartless. The maid highlights her regret about the relationship, O had I walked ere I did run. She implies that she should have walked slowly into the relationship, instead of rushing. Towards the end of the story, the poignant mood is reinforced: He has two hearts and I have none The contrast of having two hearts and none, illustrate how the man has taken her heart away from her. Furthermore, poignancy is shown through the use of diction, of sorrows in the time to come and Weeping on a strangers knee. The word, strangers knee implies that the father wont be there to care for them and the baby will be bought up by a stranger. The tenth stanza includes half-rhyme, brass-face, which emphasises the sorrow the lady is experiencing. The metaphor emphasises how she is feeling: My heart would break- but it is brass At the beginning of the poem the mans heart was steel; however, the maid now explains that the man has gone and she has hardened up inside, it is brass, and this implies that she is ready to kill herself as she is strong enough to do so. Furthermore, she says to see thee smile at words that be, the messengers of grief to me, which concludes that she decides to kill herself and the baby. In the final stanza there is a major contrast to the beginning as she says: Ive made thy pillow on a thorn Compared to the middle of the poem where it says Beds fine as silk, she know goes on to show how she is lying her head on thorns. The final two sentences illustrate that she is going to kill both her and her baby as the word our is repeated three times, possibly to reinforce her mind that both of them are going to die. Overall, the poem is a very universal one; to me the poem is about a betrayal in love. Though the poem includes physical relationship, the lady is disowned during her pregnancy and the results in a fatal ending of death. In contrast, To his Coy Mistress is about a speaker who attempts, through a seductive yet logical argument, to win over his coy lady. Whilst both poems To his Coy Mistress and Ballad highlight the underlying themes of love, time and death, in Ballad this is achieved through a series of seasonal metaphors, range of language and diction, whereas in To his Coy Mistress the use of rhyming couplets and a syllogistic argument help construct an argument for sex. At the start of the poem, the man tells the lady not to be shy: This coyness, lady, were no crime This shows how the man is trying to explain to the lady that, if they had more time in the world, it would be acceptable to be shy. He goes on to say that he imagines that they are separated by two rivers: Thou by the Indian Ganges side shouldst rubies find; I by the tide of Humber would complain.___________________________ The man goes on to express his feeling of having more eternity: My vegetable love should grow Vaster than empires and more slow. The use of erectile images clearly gives the picture that he has a growing love for the lady, and she is a natural vegetable waiting to be picked. On the other hand, this could also mean he is waiting to have sexual intercourse, as the lady has yet not picked his genitals, yet they are growing with love. The man also uses a persuasive technique to persuade the woman: Two hundred to adore each breast, the used of hyperbole two hundred, makes the lady feel even more beautiful and more confident of herself. Furthermore, he goes on to say how he has another side to him: And the last age should show your heart This word heart suggests that the man is convincing the lady that he is very romantic and not just sexual. In the second stanza, the man uses language which implies that they are getting older each day. The opening line of the second stanza reads But at my back I always hear, this shows it could be a possible turning point. Moreover, the man says Deserts of vast eternity, showing the lady that without her, his life is barren and desolate. Further on in the stanza, he explains how she will lose her virginity to worms: My echoing song; then worms shall try That long preservd virginity The word worms illustrates shocking imagery, and the two lines mock idealised romantic poetry. The third stanza, explains how the man trys to tell the lady to have sex now, whilst they still have time. The opening explains his feelings: Now therefore while the youthful hue The word youthful shows that they should have sex whilst they are young. The fourth line of the stanza shows that she is ready to have sex, At every pore with instant fires. The man further goes on to say that he and the lady should take advantage of the moment: Now let us sport while we may The word sport is used instead of sex, to show that sex can be fun and you dont have to be shy about it. He also uses a simile to show how they are loving birds, And now, like amorous birds of prey, amorous birds are associated as long; therefore, he compares him and the lady to loving birds. He continues to talk about time, Rather at once our time devour, he explains how they should make good use of the time. Towards the end of the poem he uses very passionate and energetic words: And tear our pleasure with rough strife Thorough the iron gates of life The words rough strife explain how joyful he is, and the words iron gates of life, show how passionate he is. The final two lines of the poem, show that the man wants to enjoy the time with the lady whilst they can: Thus, though we cannot make our sun Stand still, yet we will make him run The suttle pun suggests that they could have a baby. The word sun could possibly have two meanings of having a son or just that it is near the end of their life. Furthermore, the word run could mean that they will make their sun run. The rhyming couplets in the poem create a very upbeat and jaunty tone. We know that the man has constructed a very logical argument, because he uses words such as We could spend decades or even centuries in courtship if time stood still and we remained young., in addition, But time passes swiftly and relentlessly, Therefore, we must enjoy the pleasure of each other now, without further ado. We also know when the conclusion of the poem is because he uses words such as Now therefore, And now, and thus.