ive written an essay and would love someone to read it and tell me what you think.
:) thanks.
Poetry changes throughout history as it moves through different time periods. One topic can take on different emotions depending on an author’s context; structure can also vary, as well as the approach to the subject. “Love’s Coming” by John Shaw Neilson and “How Do I Love Thee?” by Elizabeth Barratt Browning are an example of how the subject of love can be individualised by an authors context. When deciphered a poem can tell you a lot about a person and about the period they were composed in. Belief in religion can change the way a person thinks, how they act to situations and even their own emotions. With each historical phase a new way of writing and thinking comes about. As Neilson and Browning are compared new differences can come about and the similarities and dissimilarities become more potent.
The power of love can hit people in different ways. It can creep up on them as John Shaw Neilson describes in “Love’s Coming” which supports the age old idea that you don’t know what you have until it’s gone, especially by repeating the line “I knew not he was there”. Neilson speaks about how love is light and repeats the word quietly to enforce the thought that love is slow. The first two lines “Quietly as rosebuds talk to thin air” is a good example of how Neilson uses alliteration of ‘s’ sounds and ‘t’ sounds to make the poem appear soft and therefore that the idea of love is soft. These lines also set the mood for the poem as he uses rose buds as a symbol of the kind of love he’s feeling and as rosebuds are seen to be beautiful, soft and the flower of love, it encourages the reader to believe the love in this poem is tranquil but powerful. Neilson uses other imagery such as violins to represent the musical quality that love and loss can have possess is also mentioned in stanza two with the lines “Softly as players tremble in the tears of a tune.” The first two lines of the last stanza “Without hail or tempest, Blue sword or flame,” says that his love wasn’t fiery, scary or violent. He also uses personification throughout his piece. To give life, Neilson gives emotion to objects to symbolize his feelings. Stanza four enforces the implication that the narrator’s loved one had died through the powerful sentence “Softly as grief’s call In a violin” as grief is a general emotion associated with death and violins can express sorrow. The dominant emotion in this poem is one of despair and grief over the lost person and the guilt experienced from never appreciating what they had or could never express the love they had which is directed into the end line “I knew not that he came.”
Similarly, love can be felt intensely and deeply as shown in “How Do I Love Thee?” by Elizabeth Barratt Browning. Browning counts the ways she loves her soon-to-be-husband and describes her love so graphically the reader feels how intense and devoted to him she is. She uses a Petrarch sonnet structure as they are typically used in romantic poetry. Her use of words such as in the line “I love thee to the depth and breadth and height” show she is trying to measure her love in a way that includes that she loves him to her ultimate capacity, also continued in the subsequent line “my soul can reach, when feeling out of sight.” As they are the same sentence, it concludes that she loves to her souls limits. She also shows her love is nurturing with lines five and six “I love thee to the level of everyday’s Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light” which can be interoperated to mean “I love him enough to supply whatever he needs, day or night.” Barratt also uses alliteration of ‘L’ sounds, ‘T’ sounds and ‘th’ sounds to create and emphasis on certain words such as in line eleven “I love thee with a love I seemed to lose” which creates rhythm along with the assonance of ‘o’ and ‘ee’ sounds throughout the poem. In addition it creates a soft, emotional tone that emphasises the emotion in the piece. Repetition also enforces the love she has. Barratt uses anaphora with “I love thee” repeating it nine times throughout, stressing that she can’t say it enough. Her use of ‘thee’ can be interpreted to be affectionate with an admiration quality. She also uses metaphors to compare her love; line seven, “I love thee freely, as men strive for Right” is an example which can mean I love as willingly as men who fight for good. Barratt convincingly plays with words to capture the readers of this sonnet in her famous love story.
A person’s religious belief can influence the way they live their life. John Shaw Neilson did not have a large influence but an essence of belief has flowed into “Love’s Coming”. The first reference to a religious idea is present in stanza three line two “Their faint vows declare” and line three “Came the shy pilgrim:” with vows being taken as though in a typical Christian or catholic marriage and a pilgrim which is defined in the Oxford school dictionary as “a persons who travels to a holy place for religious purposes” although it could be taken as a non-religious reference to a traveller. The only other suggestion is in stanza four, line two “On a warm sin” as a ‘sin’ is something churches use to name an action they don’t approve of. As most Australians descended from European Catholics or Christians brought up in a hugely religious period, they were the main religions in Australia which set the basis for laws and values in the modern era so although Neilson wasn’t religious he had background in it which would have influenced his work. Elizabeth Barratt Browning however, had a very strong Christian background which was portrayed in “How Do I Love Thee?” She adds capitals to words causing them to mean the religious version, such as in line four “For the ends of Being and ideal Grace” and in “I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise”. The most meaningful mention is in the last two lines “-and if God chose, I shall but love thee better after death.” The Victorian era in England was still a high religious time period as scientific fact hadn’t yet become highly praised. Browning described herself as having “not the deep persuasion of the mild Christian but the wild visions of an enthusiast”. She was always fascinated with religion and even learnt enough Hebrew to read the Old Testament in its original form, resulting in her works containing high religious references.
The life an author leads influences the poems they write. “Love’s Coming” reflects Neilsons’ life not only in the words he uses but also in the structure of his work. Neilson only attended three years of schooling in his life with one and a half years in his early life and a further one and a half in his adolescence. His interest in nature and reading and his observant nature made up for his lack of formal education giving him his ability to write decent poems. “Love’s Coming” is a free verse poem with every second and fourth line of each stanza rhyming. His lines are short but contain high amounts of rhythm with no more than seven syllables in a line but an average of four to five. Being a modern era poet in Australia gave him freedom in his work to break away from the traditional styles and ideas. His lack of formal structure is typical of a modern poet and is perfect for “Love’s Coming” because formal styles would add words, lines and such, compromising the simplicity of the poem. In comparison, Elizabeth Barratt Browning’s context of a high level education and a thirst for knowledge was perfect for “How Do I Love Thee?” because the sonnet is typical for a romantic poem and was very popular in the Victorian era. It was written for her husband Robert Browning in their pre-marriage days but was hidden until after the ceremony. The Victorian era was a time of change socially, economically and politically. England had recovered from its loss of American colonies and classes began to differ as people began to earn their fortunes and you no longer had to be born into upper class. Poetry started turning away from emotions and nature and focused on political issues. Browning also wrote hugely on such topics. Even though the modern era followed the Victorian they were quite different with Victorian poetry still being considered as shallow and traditional. Modern writers although not overly definable, broke away from structured forms and casual topics and chose to write more intellectually with more individual styles.
In conclusion, these two poems are a fine example of the effect time periods can have on an authors writing. “Love’s Coming” is a modern poem expressing the emotions one has when facing the realization of losing a loved one, whom was never originally acknowledged. The use of free verse structure allowed the author, John Shaw Neilson, to individualise his poem. Whereas “How Do I Love Thee?” is a Petrarch sonnet typical to the Victorian era with a formal feel but with a high level of emotion and feeling. The context of these two different authors can be seen throughout their poems with choice of words like ‘thee’ in Browning’s piece and Neilson’s use of more modern speech. The religious presence in writing is linked quite highly in which country and time period they existed in which can also been shown in their attitude to subjects as proved in paragraph three. Each and every writer has contexts so distinctive to themselves that their life and history echoes throughout the work they produce, this is what makes every poem so unique.
im especially unsure about my intro and my conclusion.
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nicky& edited this post 7 months, 2 weeks ago. Read the previous text »
ive written an essay and would love someone to read it and tell me what you think. :) thanks.
nicky& edited this post 7 months, 2 weeks ago. Read the previous text »
ive written an essay and would love someone to read it and tell me what you think. :) thanks.
Poetry changes throughout history as it moves through different time periods. One topic can take on different emotions depending on an author’s context; structure can also vary, as well as the approach to the subject. “Love’s Coming” by John Shaw Neilson and “How Do I Love Thee?” by Elizabeth Barratt Browning are an example of how the subject of love can be individualised by an authors context. When deciphered a poem can tell you a lot about a person and about the period they were composed in. Belief in religion can change the way a person thinks, how they act to situations and even their own emotions. With each historical phase a new way of writing and thinking comes about. As Neilson and Browning are compared new differences can come about and the similarities and dissimilarities become more potent.
The power of love can hit people in different ways. It can creep up on them as John Shaw Neilson describes in “Love’s Coming” which supports the age old idea that you don’t know what you have until it’s gone, especially by repeating the line “I knew not he was there”. Neilson speaks about how love is light and repeats the word quietly to enforce the thought that love is slow. The first two lines “Quietly as rosebuds talk to thin air” is a good example of how Neilson uses alliteration of ‘s’ sounds and ‘t’ sounds to make the poem appear soft and therefore that the idea of love is soft. These lines also set the mood for the poem as he uses rose buds as a symbol of the kind of love he’s feeling and as rosebuds are seen to be beautiful, soft and the flower of love, it encourages the reader to believe the love in this poem is tranquil but powerful. Neilson uses other imagery such as violins to represent the musical quality that love and loss can have possess is also mentioned in stanza two with the lines “Softly as players tremble in the tears of a tune.” The first two lines of the last stanza “Without hail or tempest, Blue sword or flame,” says that his love wasn’t fiery, scary or violent. He also uses personification throughout his piece. To give life, Neilson gives emotion to objects to symbolize his feelings. Stanza four enforces the implication that the narrator’s loved one had died through the powerful sentence “Softly as grief’s call In a violin” as grief is a general emotion associated with death and violins can express sorrow. The dominant emotion in this poem is one of despair and grief over the lost person and the guilt experienced from never appreciating what they had or could never express the love they had which is directed into the end line “I knew not that he came.”
Similarly, love can be felt intensely and deeply as shown in “How Do I Love Thee?” by Elizabeth Barratt Browning. Browning counts the ways she loves her soon-to-be-husband and describes her love so graphically the reader feels how intense and devoted to him she is. She uses a Petrarch sonnet structure as they are typically used in romantic poetry. Her use of words such as in the line “I love thee to the depth and breadth and height” show she is trying to measure her love in a way that includes that she loves him to her ultimate capacity, also continued in the subsequent line “my soul can reach, when feeling out of sight.” As they are the same sentence, it concludes that she loves to her souls limits. She also shows her love is nurturing with lines five and six “I love thee to the level of everyday’s Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light” which can be interoperated to mean “I love him enough to supply whatever he needs, day or night.” Barratt also uses alliteration of ‘L’ sounds, ‘T’ sounds and ‘th’ sounds to create and emphasis on certain words such as in line eleven “I love thee with a love I seemed to lose” which creates rhythm along with the assonance of ‘o’ and ‘ee’ sounds throughout the poem. In addition it creates a soft, emotional tone that emphasises the emotion in the piece. Repetition also enforces the love she has. Barratt uses anaphora with “I love thee” repeating it nine times throughout, stressing that she can’t say it enough. Her use of ‘thee’ can be interpreted to be affectionate with an admiration quality. She also uses metaphors to compare her love; line seven, “I love thee freely, as men strive for Right” is an example which can mean I love as willingly as men who fight for good. Barratt convincingly plays with words to capture the readers of this sonnet in her famous love story.
A person’s religious belief can influence the way they live their life. John Shaw Neilson did not have a large influence but an essence of belief has flowed into “Love’s Coming”. The first reference to a religious idea is present in stanza three line two “Their faint vows declare” and line three “Came the shy pilgrim:” with vows being taken as though in a typical Christian or catholic marriage and a pilgrim which is defined in the Oxford school dictionary as “a persons who travels to a holy place for religious purposes” although it could be taken as a non-religious reference to a traveller. The only other suggestion is in stanza four, line two “On a warm sin” as a ‘sin’ is something churches use to name an action they don’t approve of. As most Australians descended from European Catholics or Christians brought up in a hugely religious period, they were the main religions in Australia which set the basis for laws and values in the modern era so although Neilson wasn’t religious he had background in it which would have influenced his work. Elizabeth Barratt Browning however, had a very strong Christian background which was portrayed in “How Do I Love Thee?” She adds capitals to words causing them to mean the religious version, such as in line four “For the ends of Being and ideal Grace” and in “I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise”. The most meaningful mention is in the last two lines “-and if God chose, I shall but love thee better after death.” The Victorian era in England was still a high religious time period as scientific fact hadn’t yet become highly praised. Browning described herself as having “not the deep persuasion of the mild Christian but the wild visions of an enthusiast”. She was always fascinated with religion and even learnt enough Hebrew to read the Old Testament in its original form, resulting in her works containing high religious references.
The life an author leads influences the poems they write. “Love’s Coming” reflects Neilsons’ life not only in the words he uses but also in the structure of his work. Neilson only attended three years of schooling in his life with one and a half years in his early life and a further one and a half in his adolescence. His interest in nature and reading and his observant nature made up for his lack of formal education giving him his ability to write decent poems. “Love’s Coming” is a free verse poem with every second and fourth line of each stanza rhyming. His lines are short but contain high amounts of rhythm with no more than seven syllables in a line but an average of four to five. Being a modern era poet in Australia gave him freedom in his work to break away from the traditional styles and ideas. His lack of formal structure is typical of a modern poet and is perfect for “Love’s Coming” because formal styles would add words, lines and such, compromising the simplicity of the poem. In comparison, Elizabeth Barratt Browning’s context of a high level education and a thirst for knowledge was perfect for “How Do I Love Thee?” because the sonnet is typical for a romantic poem and was very popular in the Victorian era. It was written for her husband Robert Browning in their pre-marriage days but was hidden until after the ceremony. The Victorian era was a time of change socially, economically and politically. England had recovered from its loss of American colonies and classes began to differ as people began to earn their fortunes and you no longer had to be born into upper class. Poetry started turning away from emotions and nature and focused on political issues. Browning also wrote hugely on such topics. Even though the modern era followed the Victorian they were quite different with Victorian poetry still being considered as shallow and traditional. Modern writers although not overly definable, broke away from structured forms and casual topics and chose to write more intellectually with more individual styles.
In conclusion, these two poems are a fine example of the effect time periods can have on an authors writing. “Love’s Coming” is a modern poem expressing the emotions one has when facing the realization of losing a loved one, whom was never originally acknowledged. The use of free verse structure allowed the author, John Shaw Neilson, to individualise his poem. Whereas “How Do I Love Thee?” is a Petrarch sonnet typical to the Victorian era with a formal feel but with a high level of emotion and feeling. The context of these two different authors can be seen throughout their poems with choice of words like ‘thee’ in Browning’s piece and Neilson’s use of more modern speech. The religious presence in writing is linked quite highly in which country and time period they existed in which can also been shown in their attitude to subjects as proved in paragraph three. Each and every writer has contexts so distinctive to themselves that their life and history echoes throughout the work they produce, this is what makes every poem so unique.
im especially unsure about my intro and my conclusion. bolded sentence i think ill change but i dont know.
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