Love + relationships poems

Lord Byron

Themes - Romantic love, Loss, Distance, Heartbreak Emotions - Depressed, Sympathy, Grief, Wary

Imagery of death for heartbreak Violent imagery

'When we two parted // in silence and tears' - opening line

'To sever for years' - violent imagery

'Pale grew thy cheek and cold, // Colder thy kiss' - imagery in death in the word 'cold'

'They name thee before me, // A knell in mine ear' - 'knell' is a funeral bell, her name sounds like a funeral bell, death imagery

Circular Structure : Opening lines are 'When we two parted // In silence and tears' Closing line is 'With silence and tears'

-- Shows he has not moved on, is stuck in heartbreak forever

Neutral tones, Winter Swans

Percy Bysshe Shelley

Themes - romance, longing, passion, self-pity Readers Emotions - pity

Natural Imagery Personification

'The fountains mingle with the river' - personification, destined to be together/fit together perfectly

'The winds of Heaven mix for ever' - divine imagery, sense of purity and hope -- pantheism, connection from earth to heaven

'Why not with thine?' - Direct address -- spoken as a letter to the person he loves, emotionally manipulative, wants her to question her own decisions, sense of persistance/desperation

'As the waves clasp one another' personification, passionate physical imagery, uses nature to portray his love (pantheism)

'what are all these kissings worth, // if thou kiss not me' - breaks away from natural imagery, contrasts with herself

Repetitive structure in the stanzas shows how he won't take no as an answer

ABAB rhyming structure, rhyming in couples to represent him and his love

Stanzas end on rhetorical questions - stands out against the rest of the stanza, draws attention back to her -- stands out and shows how she is the disruption to harmony, harmony will be restored when she listens to him (question repetition could show she isn't listening to him now)

Sonnet 29, Farmer's bride, Porphyria's Lover and Winter Swans

Robert Browning

Themes - obsession, possession, control, desire, passion, power (gender roles/society) Reader's emotions - fear, concern, disturb

Porphyria is her name, but also a disease that can cause madness Pathetic Fallacy on opening lines 'The rain set in early to-night' and 'sullen wind' Religious images 'as shut as a bud that holds a bee' simile

'glided in porphyria' - 'glided' connotates grace and peace 'white shoulder bare' - her behaviour is shocking of a victorian woman, would be especially shocking to a victorian audience 'lover' - not his wife, infidelity 'and all night long we have not stirred, // And God has not said a word' - no consequences for his actions, waiting for punishment -- unresolved, ending is ambiguous (compare to The Farmer's Bride) 'no pain felt she' - numb, emotionless to her pain and death 'in that moment she was mine, mine, fair,' - poem about possession, he kills her to gain control over her, repetition shows his madness (again similar to TFB) 'My burning kiss' - fire creates images of passion or warmth but also violence and injury

Regular rhyme scheme - follows an ABABB pattern throughout Connotations of: > Regular, calm heartbeat > the asymmetrical rhyme scheme reflects the unbalanced character of the narrator

One long stanza

Volta - 'That moment she was mine, mine fair,' power dynamic shifts to him, sinister shift

The Farmer's Bride (violence), Love's Philosophy (obsession)

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

themes - love, longing, passion, obsession

Direct Address (Thee) throughout the poem, sense of obsession Natural imagery/ metaphors/ similes (as wild vines about a tree) Extended metaphor of trees and natural imagery represent how her passion is wild

'I think of thee!' - caesura puts emphasis and dramatic effect - passion and obsession 'my thoughts do twine and bud // about thee, as wild vines, about a tree' - passion is wild, like vines, her thoughts are the vines, her is the tree, they envelope him - possibly suffocate him, obsession 'bare' - when she sees him his true reality is revealed, not obscured by her thoughts

Pentrarchan Sonnet - 14 lines -- problem = first 8 lines -- solution = last 6 lines however in this sonnet, the volta occurs halfway through line 7 with a caesura, shows her impatience Sort of circular structure, 'I think of thee' and 'I am too near thee' -- last line is a reversal of first line, the problem is soleves, she is near him

Love's Philosophy (love, passion, but also obsession) Singh Song (obsession, can't think of anything else, love, admiration)

Thomas Hardy

themes - distance, lifelessness/death, indifference, numbness, nostalgia, regret

Images of death Juxtaposition - 'the smile on your mouth was the deadest thing'

'sun was white' - the sun is usually warm, represents joy -- here it is white as if all the warmth has left it (and the relationship 'starving sod' - 'starving' = connotations of dying 'fallen from ash' - fire represents passion and warmth in poetry, but ash shows how the fire has died, long since burned out 'the smile on your mouth was the deadest thing' and 'grin of bitterness' - happiness was a lie/mask, they have fallen out of love and they are stuck in the relationship

Not linear - he begins and ends the poem in the same place showing he hasn't come to terms with what has happened yet and revisits it frequently -- 'We stood by the pond that winter day' -- 'And a pond edged with greyish leaves' ABBA rhyme scheme is repeated every stanza, regularity could represent the 'neutral' storytelling described in the title, however this rhyme scheme (ABBA) could represent how the story begins with her, and somehow always returns to her, indicating he has not yet moved on

Winter Swans (Distance) When we two parted (death of a relationship

Maura Dooley

Themes - Distance, Friendship, City/Rural Life

alliteration to put emphasis on descriptions of their lives contrasting verbs to show the different things they do in life 'digging' and 'planting'

'seeing the seasons' - (sibilance) he gets to experience nature and the seasons, he actually feels the effect of the seasons because he is working outdoors - at one with nature 'heartful of headlines' - (alliteration) she is full of other peoples stories (could be a comment on how people living modern city lives are living through the internet, lacking originality/individuality) 'blank screen' - she may see an emptiness in her job/city life that she displays on the next line as she asks 'Is your life more important because you dig and sow?' 'pouring air and light into an envelope' - his descriptions of the country make her feel as though she is there, feeling the air and light of the country, possibly implying a lack of the two in the city

• free verse and enjambment = flowing speech, changing naturally like the season

• straightforward language shows connection between people, like a letter

• uneven stanza lines shows disconnection/distance

• poem starts and ends by mentioning writing letters and tapping out messages to show how his world of rural life only exists within their letters

Follower (Nature, Rural Life, Family), Mother Any Distance (Distance)

Charlotte Mew

Themes - possession, violence, ambiguity, gender standards Reader's emotions - empathy, anger, confusion

Title - Wife is not named, apostrophe is possessive, she is his property Compares the bride to small animals Told from the farmer's perspective - his nonchalance shows how normalised this kind of disturbing relationship was Pathetic fallacy -- Summer = gives possibility of hope -- Winter = death and trapped in the relationship (even the farmer sees her discontent and misery)

'three summers since i chose a maid' - the noun 'maid' implies she is a young girl, probably a virgin 'a frightened fay' - 'fay' means fairy, which usually relates to innocents, purity and youth making the poem more disturbing as we are reminded once again that the bride is probably a child 'flying like a hare' - repeated animal imagery shows how he views her as another animal on the farm (not equal to him and in need of being controlled) ''Not near, not near!' her eyes beseech' - repetition, use of exclamation mark, verb 'beseech' show her desperation to be away from him and her raw fear. 'her eyes, her hair, her hair' - lack of explanation leaves the reader wondering, ambiguous ending, more impactful -- repetition shows his madness (Porphyria's Lover)

Volta as the season shifts to winter and she accepts her misery and lack of freedom

Short stanza's near the end - increases the pace > Suggests his passion or insanity is growing > Mimics her running away from him

Dramatic Monologue

Porphyria's Lover (violent, male perspective, ambiguous ending)

Cecil Day-Lewis

Themes - loss, reflection, relinquish, acceptance

'satellite // wrenched from its orbit' - semantic field of flying away ('winged seed', 'half-feldged'), violent verb 'wrenched' shows how the father feels his son is being pulled away from him and he can't stop it, feels like he needs to save him 'with leaves just turning' - leaves changing symbolises a new part of life/ fresh start, growing and changing 'And love is proved in the letting go' - wanting to love selflessly rather than selfishly, calmer/softer verbs than the first three stanzas

Same line length for each stanza, suggest that the narrator is steadily walking away and creating distance.

Volta at the start of stanza 4, as it shifts to acceptance and present tense

Mother Any Distance (separation from family but different povs), Climbing My Grandfather, Follower, Eden Rock

Charles Causley

Themes - nostalgia, peace, security, melancholy, longing, distance Reader's Emotions - Peace, Intrigue, Curiosity

Biblical Imagery 'Eden' - Heaven/perfect place 'Rock' - Something of stability

(talking about his dog) 'Still two years old' - 'Still' suggesting time is frozen, stopped in an idyllic moment 'My mother, twenty-three' - his mother is still young, this is a memory 'The sky whitens as if lit by three suns' - unnatural amount of light, dream-like sense of perfection, 3=holy trinity -- biblical imagery 'They beckon me to the other side of the bank.' - he is being called to 'the other side' he could be dying/trying to find peace in death

Each stanza is 5 lines, perfection and peace Last two stanzas = 4 lines then 1 line Line break could represent him crossing the stream which could be a metaphor for dying

Before you were mine (parent in a memory), Letter's from Yorkshire (distance)

Seamus Heaney

Themes - admiration, labour, identity, family roles, love

'his shoulders globed like a full sail strung' - compares his father's shoulders to a sail on a boat / ship, which emphasises how much he admires his power, sibilance of "shoulders" and "sail" suggests the father works very smoothly and deliberately

'Fell sometimes on the polished sod' - the words 'fell' and 'polished' contrast showing how the speaker was messy and imperfect as a child, but his father worked neatly

'It is my father who keeps stumbling' - repetition of the verb 'stumbling' creates a cyclical structure, the contrast between the child and the father now swapping roles on the farm could represent family duty and the circle of life

'I wanted to grow up and plough' - admiration, wanted to be his father

Neat, rhythmic- mimics the action of ploughing neatly in lines

Caesura in final stanza creates a clear break, forcing the reader to pause, before the volta follows and the roles between father and son reverse

Before you were mine (admiration for parent), Climbing my Grandfather, Mother any distance

Simon Armitage

Themes - distance, growing up, family (parent-child) relationships), independence, freedom, maternal love

Mother and son becoming farther and farther apart Images of anchor and kite

'acres of the walls, the prairies of the floors' - represent the distance between them, massive amounts of space represent the space and possibilities -- acres and prairies are wide expanses of land, contrasting the typical home that is filled with memories and possessions, this new house is completely empty -- blank canvas

'the spool of tape' - tape measure could represent umbilical cord, connecting mother and son

'space-walk' and 'a hatch that opens into endless sky' - create image of an astronaut -- astronaut on a 'space-walk' would be attached still to the mother ship

'Anchor. Kite.' - caesura, full stops isolate the two nouns that represent mother and son. -- 'Anchor' could represent safety but also being stuck/held back. -- 'Kite' could represent how he relies on his mother, a kite can sail perfectly through the sky, but only when it is held onto and watched over by someone

'to fall or fly' creates imagery of a bird leaving a nest

First and second stanzas are the same length, third stanza is different, this could imply that when he moves, his life is no longer the same.

Dramatic monologue

Rhyme pattern in first stanza represents closeness of mother and son, but he breaks the rhyme scheme as the poem progresses, showing their distance

Walking Away, Before You Were Mine

Carol Ann Duffy

Themes - love, admiration, memory, nostalgia,

Compares mother to Marilyn Monroe Hollywood film imagery

'the corner you laugh on' - the corner could represent that they are at a turning point in their lives

'stamping stars from the wrong pavement' - there was a wrong decision made, the right pavement could have been the path into stardom and fame (as previously connected to Marilyn Monroe) and the wrong pavement could be the one to family life -- stamping stars could refer to the hollywood walk of fame the word 'stamping' could show how she destroyed that dream, stamping out her chances of fame with family life

title - 'mine' is a possessive pronouns, how a child would feel about her mother

• four equal stanzas reflects steady passage of time and its changed - equal stanzas could represent different pages/photos in an album, as stanza one depicts a photgraph

• cyclical structure shows changes that time has brought

Follower, Eden Rock

Owen Sheers

Themes - joy, sadness, peace, beauty, recovery, love, coldness, contentment

Pathetic Fallacy in opening stanza Their relationship is reflected in nature and the swans

'the clouds had given their all' - personification, effort, their fight is represented in the weather

'gulping for breath' - final stretch, relationship is struggling, but fighting to survive

'silent and apart' - separation

'skirted the lake' - avoiding the lake, avoiding their problems

'until the swans came and stopped us' - volta, shift to peaceful, beautiful imagery

'unison' - swans contrast the couple

'halved themselves in the dark water // icebergs of white feathers' - 'icebergs' hide more under the 'dark water', there is more than surface level tension in their relationship 'halved' imagery of separation

'folded, one over the other, // like a pair of wings settling after flight' - peace, the flight was their fight 'rough weather'-the flight was difficult

Winter Swans has seven stanzas, the first six of which are three lines each - though the final stanza has two. This emphasises the final stanza and also suggests that the couple are now, like the lines, a reconciled pair.

Mother any distance, neutral tones

Daljit Nagra

Themes - love, priority, admiration, care, adoration, desire, affection, disregard

'my bride' repeated to show love/obsession/passion for wife -- all his thoughts centre around her

'the brightey moon' - the couple look up at the moon together, traditional romantic relationship -- despire the stereotypes and challenges they face through the rest of the poem, they are simply in love with each other

'silver stool' - silver is valuable, their time together is valuable -- the stool is singular, they sit very close - indicates intimacy

• no regular rhyme scheme but rhymes used to lift tone

• features voices of narrator's wife and customers showing the community

• song like with verses and a chorus makes it sound lively

• little punctuation makes poem flow

• alternated between marriage descriptions and customer's complains

• pace slows at end to imitate the intimate scene and closeness

Sonnet 29, Love's Philosophy, Porphyria's Lover

Andrew Waterhouse

Themes - Childhood, Adulthood, Nostalgia, Familial Love.

Extended Metaphor of comparing the grandfather to a mountain -- represents how his grandfather was a figure of stability in his life

'i change // direction ' the enjambment mirrors a physical break in his path and a change of direction

'trying to get a grip.' - finding stability and trying to find security in someone he loves (contextually links to his mental health struggles)

'smooth and thick // like warm ice' - oxymoron 'warm ice' could tell us that the grandfather was a cold person, but he was warm and loving towards his grandson, they had a special connection

'I discover // the glassy ridge of a scar' - the grandfather had an interesting, eventful life which makes the speaker curious and intrigued by him, admiration and love

'knowing // the slow pulse of his good heart' - the old man is covered in scars and flaws but all that really matters and brings true peace and comfort to the child is his good heart, his good qualities are below the skin - isn't a superficial love, he knows him really well - recognises his heart beat

• present tense allows imagination

• enjambement imitates motion of climbing

• poem is one long stanza representing the length and difficulty of the journey

• caesuras represent obstacles

• last two lines are shorter- like the summit

Follower, Eden Rock