comparison: sonnet 43 and valentine

Question 1

how is the theme of love presented in these poems (3x key ideas)

Answer 1

• traditional vs unconventional love
• love is healing, love is painful
• both suggest love is lifechanging/ eternal

Question 2

traditional vs unconventional love quotes for sonnet 43

Answer 2

• I love thee
• I love thee freely, as men strive for Right
• If God choose, I shall love thee better after death

Question 3

traditional vs unconventional analysis for these quotes:
- I love thee
- I love thee freely, as men strive for Right
- If God choose, I shall love thee better after death

Answer 3

• Petrarchan sonnet form which is a typical love poem structure
• Repetition of ‘I love thee’ (typical of traditional Victorian language) throughout the poem reinforces the intensity and constancy of her feelings, as if she is overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of her love. The line ‘I love thee freely, as men strive for Right’ suggests that her love is pure and unrestrained, aligning with traditional ideals of romantic love.
• Wedding vows of ‘if god choose, I shall love thee better after death’- semantic field of religion which is usually associated with love and weddings
• Was devoutly Christian, described her childhood faith as the ‘wild visitors of an enthusiast’

Question 4

traditional vs unconventional love quotes for valentine

Answer 4

• valentine (title)
• not a red rose or a satin heart
• I give you an onion
• cute card
• wedding ring, if you like

Question 5

traditional vs unconventional analysis for these quotes:
- valentine (title)
- not a red rose or a satin heart
- I give you an onion
- cute card
- wedding ring, if you like

Answer 5

• Title ‘Valentine’ establishes a theme of love, makes the reader expect it to be about the traditional expressions of love as is has connotations to valentines day, yet immediately it subverts reader’s expectations and is the antithesis:
• ‘not a red rose or a satin heart’
  Uses a repeated anaphoric line of ‘not a..’ First line critiques conventional love, ‘red rose’ and ‘satin heart’ are stereotypical symbols of love, suggests they lack meaning and are cliché, instead,
• ‘I give you an onion’- matter of fact tone absence of an adjective, suggests she’s not trying to create a façade of love- criticises the ‘perfect’ love advertised for valentines day (was asked to write an original poem for valentines day in 1993 by a radio station), extended metaphor- onions are atypical, multi-layered, natural- completely juxtaposes the artificial unidimensional images from before, as well as ‘cute card’, where the alliteration makes them feel overly sentimental, as if they were only created to become a gimmick and for commercialisation, so by rejecting these superficial tokens of love implies she is rejecting traditions- her love is more complex and meaningful.
• Her use of free verse and irregular stanza lengths reflects the unpredictability and individuality of love, further subverting traditional poetic forms, mimics natural speech- love is less confined by societal norms
• ‘wedding ring’ ‘if you like’ suggests optionality of social expectation of love, getting married
  Writes as part of a postmodern movement, characterised by the deconstruction of ideas

Question 6

love is healing, love is painful quotes for sonnet 43

Answer 6

• ideal grace, right, praise, faith
• I love thee to the depth and breadth and height

Question 7

love is healing, love is painful for these quotes:
- ideal grace, right, praise, faith
- I love thee to the depth and breadth and height

Answer 7

• Semantic field of religion throughout ‘ideal Grace’ ‘Right’ ‘Praise’ ‘faith’- elevates him to a god-like status which is somewhat blasphemous and highlights the intensity of her feelings to him. It also suggests her love is pure and right- as if she is defending it (perhaps against her father who disowned her after her and Robert Barret Browning married). Therefore, by comparing her love as something heavenly, suggests that love has saved her fully- from the ‘depth and breadth and height’, perhaps even healing the pain from her broken relationship with her father too (she found him very controlling).
  Reflects the intensely religious period that the poet wrote in
• ‘I love thee to the depth and breadth and height’
  Emphatic list, loves him in a complete and total way, spatial metaphor
• ‘in my old griefs and with my childhood’s faith’
  Alludes to her ill-faith during her youth, suggesting he ‘saved her’, also suggests that ‘old griefs’ something negative was transformed into something positive by Robert
  Her mother, grandmother and 2 brothers had died in the years before this poem was written, she felt guilty about the death of her 2nd brother as he died whilst visiting her.
  Perhaps her illness lends itself to the passionate appreciation she has of love and her husband- being ill enabled her to see what a privilege love is, hence the intensity of this sonnet

Question 8

love is healing, love is painful quotes for valentine

Answer 8

• it will blind you with tears like a lover
• will make your reflection a wobbling photo of grief
• platinum loops shrink to a wedding ring

Question 9

love is healing, love is painful analysis for these quotes:
- it will blind you with tears like a lover
- will make your reflection a wobbling photo of grief
- platinum loops shrink to a wedding ring

Answer 9

• ‘it will blind you with tears like a lover’
  Warning, love can make you weak and vulnerable, simile- love can often be a sad experience, almost suggests the persona is speaking from experience, ‘blind’ suggests that love is inhibiting and restrictive, ‘like a lover’ suggests that love is inherently painful, with ‘lover’ remaining ambiguous
• ‘will make your reflection a wobbling photo of grief’
  Emphasises point above, negative language- juxtaposes traditional valentine’s day messages and love poetry, almost a loss of personality as ‘reflection’ turns into personification of ‘grief’, feelings take on a tangible form through ‘photo’
• ‘platinum loops shrink to a wedding ring’ lethal’
  ‘platinum’- strong, ‘shrink’- restrictive, perhaps even almost suffocation due to the relationship (long term, marriage)- both negative connotations- trapped, ‘lethal’ is emphatic of this, alone on an end-stopped line, shows love can be dangerous, hurt and even kill, almost justifying why she uses the symbol of an ‘onion’ as it has many layers highlighting the complexity of love.

Question 10

both suggest love is lifechanging/ eternal quotes for sonnet 43

Answer 10

• i love thee
• counts the ways
• i shall but love thee better after death

Question 11

both suggest love is lifechanging/ eternal analysis for these quotes:
- i love thee
- counts the ways
- i shall but love thee better after death
- sun and candlelight

Answer 11

• Petrarchan sonnet form, doesn’t follow rules of rhyme suggesting love cannot be defined- different for all, avoids perfection, no volta suggests her love is unchanging/ never ending
• Repetition of ‘I love thee’ highlights her devotion and the intensity she feels, it is as if she cannot quite believe she got so lucky- it has completely and utterly changed her life. She ‘counts the ways’ suggesting the amount of love must be very large and that it is all she can think about- they exchanged 574 letters in 20 months. Perhaps she felt that her letters would always be representative of their love, her sonnets were very personal and she didn’t intend for them to be published until her husband persuaded her to, she published them under the impression that they were translations ‘Sonnets from the Portuguese’
• ‘I shall but love thee better after death’
  Subversion of traditional wedding vows (‘till death do us part’) suggests her love will last longer than she does, and that she doesn’t see an end to it, where the comparative adjective ‘better’ suggests that their love is not bound by life’s limitations and instead will flourish even beyond the grave, it can’t be restricted.
• ‘sun and candlelight’
  Images of day and night, suggests she loves him with unwavering intensity

Question 12

both suggest love is lifechanging/ eternal quotes for valentine

Answer 12

• its fierce kiss will stay on your lops, possessive and faithful as we are for as long as we are
• cling to your fingers, cling to your knife

Question 13

both suggest love is lifechanging/ eternal analysis for these quotes:
- its fierce kiss will stay on your lops, possessive and faithful as we are for as long as we are
- cling to your fingers, cling to your knife

Answer 13

• Powerful adjective ‘fierce’ connotes with aggression and domineering, when coupled with ‘kiss’ suggests passion but also danger- love has a lasting effect (for good or for bad), ominous tone, negative subversion of wedding vows, oxymoron of ‘possessive and faithful’, contrasting ideas of controlling, restrictive, loyal and supportive, suggests love appears in various forms
• Emphasised by repetition of ‘cling’, suggests inescapability- love can be possessive and suffocating. Creates a powerful, disturbing ambiguous final image, especially one of a ‘knife’- love has the power to wound physically and emotionally, also emphasises permanent effects of love- with ‘knife’ perhaps demonstrating the changed outlook on the world the person has after love, they don’t see normal objects in the same way, ‘cling’ also suggests a tone of desperation