Comparative Analysis of Love portrayed in two Poems

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Running head: COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF LOVE PORTRAYED IN TWO POEMS 1 Comparative Analysis of Love portrayed in two Poems Student Name Institution of affiliation Course Code: Course Name Professor Due Date

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF LOVE PORTRAYED IN TWO POEMS 2 Comparative Analysis of Love in two Poems Do you ever wonder what it would be like to have a strong love that changes how you perceive the world around you? William Shakespeare and Elizabeth Barrett Browning explored this concept throughout their poetry. It is never more evident than in their respective sonnets, Sonnet 18 and Sonnet 43 from Sonnets from the Portuguese. Both poets use vivid imagery and language to describe the beauty and power of love. Still, comparing their two works reveals how two poets can communicate the same sentiment in two very different ways. This essay explores how William Shakespeare and Elizabeth Barrett Browning use their poetic devices to convey their messages of love. The theme that unifies Sonnet 18 by William Shakespeare and Sonnets from Portuguese 43 is the power of love and its ability to transcend time. Both sonnets speak of the beauty and longevity of love, with Shakespeare's sonnet focusing on the strength of poetry to immortalize the beloved and Elizabeth Barrett Browning's poem focusing on the power of love to remain constant through time. Sonnet 18 by William Shakespeare and Sonnet 43 by the Portuguese explore the concept of love and adoration, but they do so in very different ways. In Sonnet 18, Shakespeare paints a beautiful portrait of his beloved, praising their beauty and declaring his love for them. He compares his beloved to a summer's day to highlight their radiance and beauty. In Sonnet 43 from Portuguese, Elizabeth Barrett Browning's speaker is in love with her beloved, and she expresses her deep love for him in beautiful language. She speaks of their spiritual connection, expressing the desire to be with him forever. The two sonnets share some similarities concerning their themes and language. They both use strong imagery and metaphors to express their love and admiration. Shakespeare uses the words: "lovely," "shines," "more temperate," "heart," and "summer's lease hath all too short a

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF LOVE PORTRAYED IN TWO POEMS 3 date." These all represent his physical attraction to the lady he writes about in the poem. He uses this imagery to paint a picture of her beauty in his mind. The Portuguese poet uses the language: "I love thee to the level of every day's" and the phrase " Smiles, tears, of all my life; and, if God chooses, I shall but love thee better after death." This imagery represents the beauty of the woman's soul that he is writing about in the sonnet. Both poets use the imagery of beauty to describe their love for their lovers, as the language of these lines is very romantic. Sonnet 18 by William Shakespeare and the sonnets from Portuguese 43 are written in iambic pentameter, meaning they are composed of lines of ten syllables that alternate between an unstressed syllable and a stressed syllable. Each line comprises five pairs of syllables (pentameter), and the poem's rhythm is an iambic meter, where a stressed syllable follows an unstressed syllable. For example, Sonnet 18 first verse is "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?" with ten syllables - 5 unstressed and five stressed. Similarly, the Portuguese Sonnet 43's first verse is "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways," which is also written in iambic pentameter. Both poems contain a volta at the end. The volta in Sonnet 18 occurs in the final two lines, where the speaker shifts from talking about the beauty of a beloved to eternity. He states that his beloved's beauty will never die since it will be preserved in the poem and live on forever. The volta in Sonnets from Portuguese 43 occurs in the final two lines, where the speaker shifts from her inner struggles to the peace and happiness that comes from trusting in God's will. She states that she will accept whatever comes her way and put her faith in God's plan. Both sonnets express the poet's desire for the beloved to live on in memory after death by using imagery and metaphors to describe the beloved's beauty and how it will be immortalized in the poet's

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COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF LOVE PORTRAYED IN TWO POEMS 4 memory. In Sonnet 18, the poet compares his beloved to a summer day and claims that her beauty will be remembered even when summer is gone. In Sonnets from Portuguese 43, the poet compares her beauty to a star and claims it will shine forever in the night sky. Both poems convey that the poet's love for the beloved will live on even after death. Sonnet 18 by William Shakespeare and Sonnets from Portuguese 43 contain allusions to the natural world through imagery, metaphors, and similes. In Sonnet 18, Shakespeare compares the beauty of the beloved to a "summer's day" and "buds," while in Sonnets from Portuguese 43, the beloved is likened to the "sun." Both authors also use the natural world to explore beauty, love, and eternity themes. Another similarity is that both poems emphasize the power of love timelessly and universally. Shakespeare's sonnet uses metaphors and personification to describe the power of love, comparing it to the beauty of the summer season and the endurance of time. Sonnets from Portuguese 43 use vivid imagery and poetic language to describe the power of love, comparing it to stars in the night sky that are bright and beautiful and to a flame that is eternal and unyielding. Both works emphasize the power of love to transcend time and defy the ravages of life. However, the two sonnets differ in their approaches to the same concept. Shakespeare takes a more direct approach in his poem and is more pragmatic, praising his beloved's beauty and acknowledging that his emotions will ultimately fade over time. Browning takes a more romantic and spiritual direction, expressing a deep and spiritual connection with her beloved. Furthermore, Browning speaks of her beloved in terms of eternity. Sonnet 18 by William Shakespeare is an English poem written as a traditional sonnet. The meter is iambic pentameter, and the rhyme scheme is ABAB CDCD EFEF GG. The poem is written as a love poem and is

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF LOVE PORTRAYED IN TWO POEMS 5 focused on the beauty of the subject of the poem. However, a sonnet from Portuguese 43 is a Portuguese poem written as a sonnet in alexandrines, using an ABBA CDDC EFFE GHGH rhyme scheme. Sonnet 18 by William Shakespeare focuses on the speaker's love for a person he describes with natural allusions. In contrast, the sonnet from Portuguese 43 by Elizabeth Barrett Browning is a tribute to her lover. She compares him to a star and a sun, saying that his love is brighter than both, and ends the sonnet by declaring her undying love for him. Shakespeare's Sonnet 18 starts by praising the speaker's beloved's beauty, noting that they are more lovely and temperate than a summer's day. The speaker explains that their beauty will never fade, as their love will live forever in the poem's lines. Sonnet from Portuguese 43 focuses on the speaker's undying love for their beloved and their willingness to endure any hardship to be with them. The poem ends with a plea for the beloved to accept the speaker's love, as the speaker will not survive without them. In conclusion, Sonnet 18 by William Shakespeare and Sonnet Portuguese 43 by Elizabeth Browning share a similar theme of everlasting love. However, the two sonnets differ in the way they portray their themes. Whereas Shakespeare's sonnet uses abstract concepts of eternity, Browning's sonnet uses the imagery of the sun and stars to evoke a feeling of eternal love. Both sonnets are beautiful in their own right, but their different writing styles make them unique. Ultimately, the two sonnets demonstrate the power of love to last for eternity, no matter how it is expressed. References

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF LOVE PORTRAYED IN TWO POEMS 6 Shakespeare, W. (1997). Sonnet 18. Seven Centuries of Poetry in English . Browning, E. B. (1944). Sonnets from the Portuguese 43.

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