Poetry - Love and Relationships

Question 1

Neutral Tones:

‘a grin of bitterness’

Answer 1

Oxymoron

He knew her so well that he knows the smile was fake

Question 2

Neutral Tones:

‘they had fallen from an ash, and were grey’

Answer 2

‘Ash’ - type of tree, metaphor for deadness
Caesura
Nothing alive left of repetition
‘Gray’ - no colour, no joy anymore
Cyclical structure - comes back to same idea at end of poem
Pathetic fallacy
Semantic field of loss

Question 3

Neutral Tones:

‘We stood by a pond’

Answer 3

‘We’ - inclusive pronoun

‘stood’ - past tense, not continuous to show relationship is over

Question 4

When We Two Parted:

‘in silence and tears’

Answer 4

Cyclical structure - he’s not over her
Quiet and awkward
She’s in silence, he’s in tears

Question 5

When We Two Parted:

‘a knell in mine ear’

Answer 5

Metaphor
Alarm bells ringing, warning
Death knell, relationship is over
Constant reminder

Question 6

When We Two Parted:

‘long, long shall I rue thee’

Answer 6

Caesura - slows pace
Repetition - emphasis
‘Rue’ - regret, he’s not over her

Question 7

Similarities between ‘When We Two Parted’ and ‘Neutral Tones’

Answer 7

Remembrance - ‘the smile on you mouth’ (NT); ‘after long years’ (WWTP)

Cyclical structure - ‘a pond edged with grayish leaves’ (NT); ‘in silence and tears’ (WWTP)

Question 8

Differences between ‘When We Two Parted’ and ‘Neutral Tones’

Answer 8

Secrecy - ‘eyes that rove’ (NT); ‘they knew not I knew thee’ (WWTP)

Setting/pathetic fallacy - ‘by a pond’ (NT); ‘in secret we met’ (WWTP)

Breakup - ‘words played between us to and fro’ (NT), ‘half broken-hearted’ (WWTP)

Question 9

The Farmer’s Bride:

‘I chose a maid’

Answer 9

‘I’ - personal pronoun
He picked her and has dominance
‘maid’ - belittling

Question 10

The Farmer’s Bride:

‘We chased her, flying like a hare’

Answer 10

Simile
‘Hare’ - semantic field of dehumanisation
Described as an animal
Predator and prey

Question 11

The Farmer’s Bride:

‘like a little frightened fay’

Answer 11

Simile
Alliteration
‘Fay’ - childish

Question 12

Porphyria’s Lover:

‘give herself to me for ever.’

Answer 12

‘Me’ - personal pronoun
Declarative
Losing virginity
End stopped line - final, the end
‘For ever’ - irreversible

Question 13

Porphyria’s Lover

‘propped her head up as before, only this time my shoulder bore her head’

Answer 13

‘My’ - personal possessive

Change in dominance

Question 14

Porphyria’s Lover:

‘I am quite sure she felt no pain’

Answer 14

Declarative
Repetition to reassure himself
Casual, having a conversation with us
Ironic concern

Question 15

Porphyria’s Lover:

‘murmuring how she loved me’

Answer 15

‘She’ - singular pronoun
‘Murmuring’ - intimate, secretive
She has dominance

Question 16

Porphyria’s Lover:

‘She shut the cold out’ and ‘made… all the cottage warm’

Answer 16

‘She’ - active, dominant
Metaphor - also warms his soul
She is a beacon of light and warmth

Question 17

Similarities between ‘The Farmer’s Bride’ and ‘Porphyria’s Lover’f

Answer 17

About failed relationships

Told from a male point of view: (FB) ‘I chose a maid’, (PL) ‘She sat down by my side’

Male dominance: (FB) ‘we caught her… and turned the key upon her fast’, (PL) ‘Give herself to me for ever,’

Question 18

Differences between ‘The Farmer’s Bride’ and ‘Porphyria’s Lover’

Answer 18

Love: (FB) ‘she turned afraid’ didn’t love him, (PL) ‘murmuring how she loved me’

Narrative perspective: (FB) ‘hardly heard her speak at all’ not trying to hide the fact their relationship isn’t normal, (PL) ‘happy and proud’ trying to pretend