In this essay there will be three poems being described and evaluated. The first poem is “First Love” which is written by John Clare. The second poem is “Porphyria’s lover” which is written by Robert Browning. The last poem is “My Last Duchess” which is written by the same poet Robert Browning.
In “First love” the poet has fallen in love. Poet has seen a beautiful lady and his heart is stolen by her. The poet struggles to talk to his love. This man is totally confused and helpless. The poet also knows that he can’t have the woman he admires because of her higher status.
In “Porphyria’s Lover” the lady loved the poet very deeply but the poet was suspicious about her. The poet also did not want someone else to have her. The poet was an obsessive person. So the poet strangled her with her own beautiful long yellow hair. The poet thought that he did not do anything wrong with her because he thought that she was only his. So that’s why he mentioned in her poem “And yet God hasn’t said any word”. He didn’t regret on what he done because he thought that she was only his, so he was able to do any thing with her what he wants.
In “My Last Duchess” the poet was not able to understand his wife. He didn’t realize that his wife was a friendly person and she liked freedom. He mistakenly felt that his wife loved other men. He thought that other men were pleasing her too much. He wanted to rule her because he believed that she needed to obey his orders. He was snobbish on his power so that’s why he wouldn’t stoop. At last he arranged some one to snatch her life.
He implied the message to father of his second wife that if her daughter doesn’t obey him, the same thing will happen to her which happened with his first wife.
In both “Porphyria’s Lover” and “My Last Duchess” the women were murdered.
In “First Love” the type of love is unattainable, unrequited which is totally different from other two poems because the type of love in other two poems is totally opposite than this one. The type of love in “Porphyria’s Lover” is obsessive, psychotic and possessive. The type of love in “My Last Duchess” is very paranoid, powerful and jealous.
The important task to explore is the vocabulary which was used in the poems:
The vocabulary which the poet used in “First love” is very sweet na�ve and different than other two poems. The poet has fallen in love. Poet has seen a beautiful lady and his heart was stolen by her. He never saw more beautiful lady than her. He mentioned in his poem
“I ne’er was struck before that hour”. He used uncomplicated words to express his feelings e.g. “With love so sudden and so sweet”. He struggles to talk to his love but he was totally confused and incapable; he knows that he can’t have his love because of her higher status. So that’s why he mentioned “Are the flowers the winter’s choice?”.
The vocabulary of “Porphyria’s Lover” is dissimilar than the “First Love”. The poet used very athletic vocabulary such as “Blushed bright beneath my burning kiss”. The poet used very powerful vocabulary to show his jealous for her e.g. he mentioned “In one long yellow string I wound”. He used strong vocabulary such as “she’s mine, mine” which shows that the writer is very obsessial man. The writer also uses some vocabulary which shows that he didn’t felt any guilt e.g. “no pain felt she”. These all type of vocabulary tells us about the type of his love which is forbidden and gripping love.
The vocabulary which was used in “My Last Duchess” is quite similar with the “Porphyria’s Lover”. The poet used very covetous language e.g. “Too easily impressed” to show his jealous love for her. The writer used words such as “my” and “mine” which shows that he thought that she was only his, no one can take her accept of him and he can do anything to her which he wants. These all type of vocabulary tells us about the type of his love which is paranoid, jealous and complicated love.
The next important task to explore is the sentence structure which was used in the poems:
In “First Love” the writer used uncomplicated words in his sentences which tell about his feelings e.g. “My legs refused to walk away”. He used very common words which show about the reaction of love on him e.g. “Blood rushed to my face”. This quote tells that the writer was embarrassed. He used some similes in his sentences e.g. “Her face it bloomed like a sweet flower”. These similes make a very good imagery for the reader. The writer also used alliteration to give a very good sound to his poem e.g. “Love so sudden and so sweet”. There is also use of rhyming couple in the poem e.g. “hour-flower, pail-ail” which makes a very nice sound pattern for the reader. The poem is written in three steps with equal eight number of lines. The poet also used rhetorical questions “Are flowers the winter’s choice?”. These all things together make a very good sentence structure.
The sentence structure of “Porphyria’s Lover” is different than the “First Love” because in this poem the writer didn’t use the smiles. The biggest different of the sentence structure of this poem is that its lines are enjambment. He used exclamations to show his thoughts “And God has not said any word”. Exclamation shows that the poet didn’t felt any remorse. The writer also used some athletic words in his sentences e.g. “no pain felt she”. This quote tells that the writer didn’t felt any guilt. However he used the alliteration which is also used in “First Love” to give a nice sound to the poem.
“Blushed bright beneath my burning kiss”. He used the repetition in his poem “mine” which makes a strong sentence structure. However he also used the personification in his sentences “The sullen wind was soon awake”. There is also a rhyming scheme in this poem just like in “First Love”. He used rhyming couple in his poem to aware from every thing e.g. “night-spite, awake-lake”. This rhyming scheme makes a very good sound for the reader. He also used metaphors in this poem which helps to make a good sentence structure “In one long yellow string”. It also builds a very good imagery.
In “My Last Duchess” the poet used dramatic and powerful sentences. He used the exclamations which are also used in “Porphyria’s Lover” to show his feelings “I gave commands”. This quote tells us that he wants to rule her because he believed that she needed to obey his orders. He also used rhetorical questions which are also used in “First Love” “who’d stoop to blame”. There is also a rhyming scheme in this poem just like in “First Love” and also in “Porphyria’s Lover” e.g. “wall-call, hand-stand”. This rhyming scheme makes a very good sound for the reader.
The next important task to explore is the imagery which was used in the poems:
In “First Love” the imagery is very unsophisticated and innocent. The sentences which the poet used show all the imagery very clearly. The imagery of the “First Love” is that the poet’s heart was stolen away. That poet is helpless in love and he was very romantic. The poet said “Words from any heart did start; they spoke as chords do from the string”. This statement shows a very romantic imagery. “My life & all seemed turned to clay”. This statement makes a scene in which poet is helpless and struggles to talk to his love. This sentence also shows that how much poet loves her. The writer said “And took my sight away” . This sentence also makes a very romantic scene in which Poet fallen in love and his heart stolen by her.
The imagery of “Porphyria’s Lover” is different than the “First Love” because it has very obsessive and passionate imagery but its not much different than “My Last Duchess” because it also have some obsessive imagery. The writer said “In one long yellow string I wound” . This sentence makes an obsessive image in which he was killing her. “As a shut bud that holds a bee” . This sentence make a image in which the writer still thinking that she is still keeping a secret and she is lying to him. The writer also used “beneath my burning kiss” which makes an image which shows the depth of the Poet’s passion.
In “My Last Duchess” the very little imagery is used. This is because the poem gives us a very clear image that (Duke) the poet is very powerful man and his love was a powerful love. However its imagery is different than the “First Love” but not much different than the “Porphyria’s Lover” because it has psychotic, murderous, dramatic and jealous imagery. The writer said “As if she ranked my gift of a nine hundred years old name”. This sentence makes an image that he is not happy with Duchess. The poet also used dramatic monologue because the poet was telling the story to his servant. In the beginning of poem “That’s my last duchess painted on wall”. This quote makes a scene in which the Duchess is an object which is drawn. This sentence makes a scene in which Duchess was murdered. He said “Too easily impressed; she liked whate’er”. This sentence makes the image about the jealous in his heart for the Duchess.
Conclusion:
In “First Love” the poet’s love is unattainable and unrequited. The “First Love” is a good poem because the writer loves the women very deeply. The poet used very sweet vocabulary to shows his feelings. In this poem the writer didn’t killed someone.
However in “Porphyria’s Lover” the lady loved the poet very deeply but the poet was suspicious about her. The poet was an obsessive person. So the poet strangled her with her own beautiful long yellow hair. The poet thought that he did not do anything wrong with her because he thought that she was only his. So that’s why he didn’t regret.
In “My Last Duchess” the poet was not able to understand his wife. He didn’t realize that his wife was a friendly person and she liked freedom. He mistakenly felt that his wife loved other men. He thought that other men were pleasing her too much. He was proud on his power so that’s why he wouldn’t stoop. At last he arranged some one to snatch her life. In “My last Duchess” and “Porphyria’s lover” both women were killed without doing any mistake.
