Compare and distinction the portrayal of love in the three poems. All three poems- 'Plena Timoris', 'For Me From You' and 'Poem At Thirty-Nine' explore the theme of love. Each poem, however, approaches this theme diversely. 'Plena Timoris' by Thomas Hardy presents love philosophically; Rita Anayiam St. John in 'For Me From You' approaches love objectively, while Alice Walker explores love retrospectively. Hardy talks about romantic love and its own transiency; he firmly denies the tenet of resplendent, glorious love, accentuating the belief that love is ephemeral, shattering the loving ideal that is often accepted. St. John, on the other palm, talks about love in a marriage; whether love is actually significant in marriage; whether love is area of the formula. 'Poem At Thirty-Nine' presents the theme of familial love - the connection of love between the persona and her father as the narrator - Walker, examines the meaning of her romantic relationship with her departed father.
The variations in the three poems may possibly be discussed by the variations in cultural framework in relation to purpose. Hardy, in 'Plena Timoris', aspires to emphasize the transiency of love through the poem. While distancing himself- the narrator from the persona, Hardy reveals a 'tryst' between two 'addicts'; this 'tryst' is presented to be always a culturally well conditioned love - a love that the persona and her lover believe transcends others -before Hardy shatters this illusion, to establish his theme and present his subject matter. This theme could possibly have comes from Hardy's own private activities with love and his first relationship which was reported to be unsuccessful and unhappy. Hardy may also have been inspired by the widespread perceptions of the loving ideal at that time, and how he never experienced it. Similarly, St. John's theme also seems to be affected by cultural dimensions. The phrases 'wines taking' and a 'son for you in nine' suggest the role of ladies in Nigerian tribal tradition while 'in three a few months' shows that her response to her suitor's proposal is expected in 90 days. The combination of the phrases alludes to the fact the marriage may be a blend of traditional western and indigenous ethnic practise. That this poem is written in British and that the persona has a selection of whether she should marry the suitor means that the persona is well educated and that she actually is aware of her rights; yet, she actually is bound by social constraints, as she's to tolerate ' a kid for you[him] in nine'. Her theme - the objective examination of the part of love in matrimony is undoubtedly afflicted by this. As she examines, the european charming ideal is contrasted to her ethnic traditions of servitude in relationship as 'how much love' is contrasted to 'my place For Me From You. 'Poem At Thirty-Nine', on the other palm, is not influenced a great deal by its social context. It is however, damaged by the poet's loved upbringing by her father, which leads her to look at her love on her behalf father retrospectively and portray to the reader, the importance of familial love.
Each poem is structured to match its theme which is therefore effectively different. As the composition of 'Plena Timoris' and 'For Me From You' are in stark compare, the composition 'Poem At Thirty-Nine' bears similarities to the set ups of both the other poems. In 'Plena Timoris', Hardy writes with a rigid style which allows no room to manoeuvre. He uses the trochaic meter carefully, combined with the rhyme design of ABBAB in every four stanzas, as well as a strict structure. It is the meter and the rhyme plan which create stress between the subject matter and the poetic techniques. The audience feels the emotion and hears the rhyme echoing. The strain adds to the overall impact of the poem on the audience. The poem is rigidly structured with four stanzas and five lines in each stanza. Each stanza provides a specific goal. The first sets up the accepted affectionate ideal; the next describes a tragic occurrence; the third relates to the persona and the reader, a tale of how love can result in tragedy; and the previous stanza delineates the realisation of the impermanence of love. That is contrasted to St. John's amalgamation of stanzas, one idea mixing in to the next, each idea holding in to the next stanza. . While Hardy creates with rigidity, St. John writes in free verse, allowing the poem to move. She does not follow a set structure, rhyme program, meter or fixed length of stanzas. The poem rarely even has punctuation. This style provides poem a certain fluidity and versatility and mirrors the pouring of words, similar to the words of the suitor that have 'for days and nights and times' 'poured and poured'. This free composition does however distinction with the subject of the poem -the insufficient freedom if she were to sell her want to him and admit the proposal. 'Poem at Thirty - Nine' has components of the framework of 'For Me From You'. It too, is written in free verse, with ideas flowing from one line to some other. Furthermore, it is unrestrained by rhyme and unhindered by meter. It can have other elements, however, that echo the framework of 'Plena Timoris'. A variety of punctuation including semi colons, commas and full halts are being used to restrain the move of ideas. While most ideas stream from range to line, just a few move into other stanzas. This is less rigid than 'Plena Timoris' plus more handled than 'For Me From You'. This comparison in the composition of 'Poem At Thirty-Nine' could be reflecting the life span of the persona, which is free and unrestrained, set alongside the life of her father, which was restrained. It might also be reflecting the two different identities her daddy acquired - the free liberated man he was when he was cooking food and the restrained man when working and 'in the life he knew'.
The tone and mood of most three poems are essentially different. Hardy changes his build constantly, in conjunction with his narration. In the first stanza, as the 'enthusiasts viewed' and 'laughed and leant', he sustains a quiet, almost mellifluous shade, setting up the field and slowing the speed, and making a disposition of serenity and serenity, before suddenly accelerating the tempo in a flurry of activity, as the 'men emerged up to them'. The shade changes and there's a sense of urgency and stress in the firmness, accentuated by a wide use of punctuation- commas, semi colons, full ceases. In the 3rd stanza, his firmness them becomes semi-detached, solemn, as in four brief cryptic statements, he sums in the 'woman's' life. Throughout the stanza, the spirits is sombre, and serious, which assists Hardy's goal as he changes build within the last type of the stanza; the firmness becoming philosophic, maybe even condescending, as Hardy stresses -'so much for love in this mortal sphere'. St John on the other hand maintains a firmness of detachment and disenchantment throughout the poem as she weighs in at his offer 'For Me From You'. Her shade is sardonic at times, such as when she 'go[es] to market stall' and 'ask[s] how much' and compares like to an object for sale on the market. Her depressed firmness makes the audience sympathize with her. Her build of detachment and depression is accentuated by the somber ambiance, perhaps even one of monotony, which prevails throughout the poem. This constant unchanging feeling is contrasted to the assorted, ever-changing feeling in 'Plena Timoris'. The ambiance in 'Poem At Thirty-Nine', on the other hand, is a representation of her love on her behalf father. It is a mixture of lament, nostalgia and ardent affirmation of both - the love the person feels, and your debt she owes her father, even though he has passed on. The firmness in 'Poem At Thirty-Nine' is that of reverence although, often, it is seductive with the reader. The tone is particularly reverent as she details how 'he grilled just like a person/ dance/ in a pilates meditation/ and craved the voluptuous sharing/ of good food' and at the same time intimate as she goes on to spell it out how 'he could have grown/ to admire/ the woman I've become'. This reverent and romantic build makes the audience empathize as well as perhaps makes the reader reverent too.
The dialect in the three poems is as different as the tone and spirits in them. The terms in 'Plena Timoris' is very formal and objective. The distant-narrator-from-persona effect allows Hardy's theme to be conveyed through the storyplot of the persona, and aids the suspension of disbelief.
This is contrasted to 'For Me From You' and 'Poem At Thirty-Nine' in both of which the persona and the narrator will be the same. This helps it be much more intimate and casual, even colloquial sometimes. It creates it especially intimate in 'For Me From You' where the language is almost stream of consciousness and the reader hears every considered the persona. The persona is offered to be engaged within an unspoken conversation with her suitor and, the reader; and the audience hears as the 'words come muscled, come hurrying', 'come': 'proposing' and 'disposing' as well as the personas other feelings and emotions. 'Poem At Thirty-Nine is less extreme for the reason that manner, and is also less close, but personal yet, allowing the reader to empathise.
A wide range of poetic techniques are employed by the three poets to effectively communicate their respective themes or templates. Reasonable devices, literary devices, imagery are being used to express views effectively. Metaphoric words, alliteration, verbatim, enjambment, irony is employed generously. By alliterating the phrases 'enthusiasts viewed' and 'laughed and leant' at the start and end of the first paragraph respectively, Hardy bookends the portrayal of the loving ideal, effectively developing a relaxed, calm atmosphere with the almost lyrical repetition of 'l'. Gleam certain underlying irony in the first of both phrases. The actual fact the 'addicts viewed' is ironic as they 'look[ed]' but do not see. The 'buffs' are considering love however, not seeing what it really is. The 'enthusiasts' do not see the ephermerality of love. They also 'low fat[t]' on love and 'laugh[ed]' in love but do not appreciate that their love is not that unique which it could end, which perhaps, it could result in tragedy. In the 3rd stanza, Hardy uses verbatim to make it more real for the reader as the audience learns at exactly the same time as the persona; around the persona about the tragedy of the 'woman's' love. Hardy also foreshadows the direction of the poem through his name -'Plena Timoris', indicating "a woman full of fear and dread". When the poem starts off of in a peaceful haven, as portrayal of the epitome of bliss, one magic why a female, so deep in love would be full of fear and dread. This hesitation keeps in the reader's brain throughout the stanza, diminishing notions of the charming ideal in the reader's brain. Rita Anyiam St John also makes effective use of the name. She labels the poem 'For Me From You'. This makes the reader wonder precisely what if being given to her and by whom. She then repeats this brand several times through the poem, especially in the third stanza, where she capitalises the lines for total emphasis. When it is finally revealed that it is the role on her behalf from him -if she allows, the reader comprehends the inequality of the matrimony -further facts that love is definitely not area of the formula in the marriage, although her suitor is wanting to cover that by his seductive words. This is augmented by two present ongoing verbs -her suitors words 'come': 'proposing' and 'disposing'. They resonate through the stanza; he's 'proposing' constantly, luring her; while at the same time, 'disposing' constantly - dispensing with this objection which obstacle. A significant technique employed by St John is blast of consciousness. The whole poem appears to be in form of a stream of the consciousness of the persona and the narrator. This very effectively allows the reader to empathise more effectively with the persona and narrator, thus assisting her purpose. There are many metaphors in this poem as well. She compares herself to an object accessible in a 'market stall'. This reduces her dignity to that of an quantifiable subject - nil, arousing pathos in the reader, for the indignity to be bought and sold - for love being bought and sold. Another effective metaphor is that of 'this dark room' where the dark is symbolic of her being at night about whether she should accept the proposal, her being in the dark about 'what' she is 'buying For Me From You'. Alice Walker also uses poetic techniques, although much less extensively. Really the only simile Walker uses is to compare how her dad 'cooked properly' to 'a person/dancing/in a pilates meditation'. This is a well constructed simile, as it not only shows how good he was, but how excited it made him - how liberated it made him. It is also well worded as what 'dance' and 'mediation' are juxtaposed and are incongruous, just like the individual identities of her father -when he was doing what he was passionate about, and when he was 'writing first deposit slips and bank checks'. It may be argued that looking at cooking to dance and yoga yoga is hyperbolic, but, it does astutely identify his love for food preparation and exactly how it liberated him, and displays Walkers love for her dad as the liberated, excited man.
All three poems elicit intellectual and mental reactions from the reader. 'Plena Timoris' being formal and objective elicits an intellectual response from the audience as the audience ponders the meaning provided by Hardy. Emotional responses are drawn from the audience only once Hardy represents how 'a woman' 'drowned herself for the love of any man' and when 'the girl's heart and soul shuddered'. In the first instance, the reader is shocked as the audience learns the harsh realities of the loving ideal and how it can result in tragedy. In the second instance, pathos is aroused in the audience as the reader seems sorry for the persona, who has had to put up with a cruel heartbreak as she comes to realize the transiency of love. Similarly, 'For Me From You' elicits a powerful intellectual response as the reader contemplates love objectively, in the blast of awareness with the persona. The sombre feelings and the detached tone result in too little emotional response from the audience, although the audience sympathises - to some extent - with the issue of the narrator.
In compare, 'Poem At Thirty-Nine' will not elicit much of an intellectual response from the audience, but educes a strong emotional response from him/her. The audience is engulfed by the tone of lament of the narrator and a sense of pathos is aroused in the audience. This is augmented by the explanation of the restrained life the persona's daddy had, tendered by the wonderful personality he revealed as he 'educated' her about 'sharing with the truth' and accentuated by the persona's love on her behalf father, almost up to cathartic moment. There are cathartic occasions in 'Plena Timoris' and 'For Me From You' as well. In 'Plena Timoris', it is when the persona and the reader come to realisation about the transiency of love; the catharsis augments the impact of Hardy's concept on the reader. In the same way, the cathartic minute in 'For Me From You' arises when the persona 'see[s] what I am buying FOR ME PERSONALLY From You' and realises that she is buying herself a role for 'times unlimited and uncountable'. There's a certain similarity in the cathartic occasions of 'For Me From You' and 'Poem At Thirty-Nine' Both arouse an scope of pathos in the audience and both cathartic moments lead the personas to affirm their idea in themselves.
In the end, all three poems agree that while life shapes love, love doesn't form life. While love can come and go, life will keep on; while love might not exactly be a part of life, life is an integral part of everything; and while life may expire, love can last forever. While love may be ephemeral, while love may be insignificant, it can still mix cultural limitations, it can still cross generation limitations, and it occurs in all climes.
