The Theme of Love Essay -- Love Poetry Literature Essays

The Theme of LoveRomantic love, physical love, unrequited love, neurotic love.Compare the ways the poets have written about the theme of love,bringing out different aspects of it.In the six poems I have studied, I draw a wide range of different typesof love mentioned. I will be looking at 3 poems in depth. These arePorphyrias raw sienna, written by Robert Browning, My Last Duchess,written by the Duke of Ferrara and To His Coy harlot, written byAndrew Marvell.When it comes to romantic love, To His Coy Mistress contains someelements of it. To His Coy Mistress also includes aspects ofphysical love. When it comes to unrequited love, Porphyrias Loverand To His Coy Mistress hold a large scale in them. My LastDuchess also includes shades of unrequited love. Porphyrias Loverand My Last Duchess contain features of obsessive love.In my essay, I would like to pay particular attention to unrequitedlove because it shows how the women in the poems are seen as apossession, which the men must r ightfully have. I will also look at aspects of obsessive love. To His Coy Mistressis not gener in ally positioned in this type of love as the poem does notreally contain obsessive love, but in my opinion it throw out be placed inthe category as the speaker is pressuring the girl into having sexwith him and he wants her to sleep with him now. He is being seen asobsessive and wanting things his way, immediately. This can be seenwhen he saysHAD we but world enough, and quantifyThis shows that time is short and wasting away. This quote isimportant as it is a powerful opening, stressing the impact of timeupon them.I will first compare Porphyrias Lover and My Last Duchess... ...it justfor pleasure?The narrator is transparent in what he wants. He except wants hismistress for sex and pleasure.The poem starts with the pronoun we but as the poem progresses, itstarts to separate into individuals I and thou. At the end, itturns back to us.The first stanza of the poem makes the referee thin k that it is a lovepoem, when really it is a lust poem. The narrator uses the images offear and lost opportunity and time as a threat to the woman.The writers, in the poems that I have compared, bring out love indifferent ways. There are different tactics involved, which is what Ithink make all these poems unique and interesting to read. Each poembrings about different types of love. The poems all try to get thewomen they think they rightfully deserve, except for My Last Duchesswhere he is obsessive about his woman.