An analysis of Poems: Wilfred Owen’s Greater Love Essay Example
An analysis of Poems: Wilfred Owen’s Greater Love Essay Example

An analysis of Poems: Wilfred Owen’s Greater Love Essay Example

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  • Pages: 5 (1352 words)
  • Published: January 12, 2017
  • Type: Article
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Greater Love is a realistic poem written by Wilfred Owen in which he explores the subject of love. In particular, Owen shows an admiration of brotherly love – or rather soldiers love – that he exemplifies with the use of horrendous terms like “pure”, “fierce”, “exquisite” in his emphasis of the suffering experienced and sacrifices made by these soldiers to their countrymen. The country men fail to realize this sacrificial love thus “touch them not” since they are inexperienced and lack exposure. Owen glorifies the soldiers’ love as “greater” in relation to erotic love.

In fact, it is like the Agape love that the Christ showed to sinners; soldiers lost their lives for the sake of an ignorant society. This brotherly love, unlike erotic love, was characterized by sufferings where soldiers “stained stones�

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� and were “knife-skewed”. These sacrifices and conflict made the soldiers love more real and “greater”; in fact erotic love is “shame to their love pure”. This is ironical due to the fact that erotic love is more “dear” and gentle unlike the soldiers’ love that is achieved through killing, fighting and violence.

To the society, the soldiers’ love is gruesome and ugly. However, Owen does not fall shot of condemning the countrymen’s ignorance on the significance of the soldier’s love to them. Note that erotic love only elicits hopes for return and pleasure. In comparison of these two kinds of love William uses attraction, physical connection, sounds, and sincerity aspects to show their differences. Erotic love is shown as temporary, weak and feminine whilst brotherly love is depicted as everlasting and strong. If even readers read the poe

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and feel the soldiers’ love, they will never understand it.

Poetry by Marianne Moore Poetry is Marianne Moore’s poem in that she explores the shortcomings of poetry. Moore “dislike…this fiddle”, meaning she believes that great poetry is about enjoying every bit of it both physically and spiritually. This poet has had various incarnations of poetry, including the four-lines short and the thirty-eight lines long poems. Moore believes that when poetry becomes too abstract, the self destruction is inevitable. That is the reader fails to enjoy it due to the agonizing task the reader has to undertake analyzing the poem.

Moore’s poetry is clear and allows the reader the feel of experiencing the subject matter. The speaker further illustrates lack of genuineness as another point of shortcoming of poetry. She insists that it should merge both reality and imagination. For instance, good poetry should have the capacity to give readers “imaginary toads with real toads in them. ” Moore describes nature scientifically but also considers it to be a place of mystery and beauty; however, the use of weird animal behavior in third stanza to show what human cannot comprehend underscores that attitude.

In addition to nature, modern poetry is also explored as a theme in this poem. The poem relies on syllabic construction where all lines have same number syllables. However, as a whole the poem has rough syllabic pattern. It is ironical that though the poet speaks of “unintelligible” and “derivative” aspects of poetry her poem, poetry proves the value of poetry. Love on the Farm by D. H. Lawrence Love on the Farm is a poem by D. H. Lawrence

about love. He looks at the relationship between death and sex and views modern romance as erotic.

Moreover, the speakers tone is declined towards femininity thus empowering the female gender with sexuality, a thing that was unheard of in the past - in fact it was associated with obscenity. Lawrence depicts nature as a sexual entity; that it has more sexuality than human beings. This is shown by the use of the flower and moth images, and the female bird boasting of its red throat, which is erotic. The moth acts as a bee. This reveals that nature is more sexual than we imagine since our religious backdrops does not allow.

It is a shore shadow of the ending. Among School Children by William Butler Yeats Among School Children is a poem that reveals the emptiness in William Yeats for living a life that has no significant results. He is destined and lives for the moment with no ability to rise from his past. Spiritually his destiny is the same and although he tries to look beyond he fails to move forward. Yeats suggests that old age frightens most when accompanied by an unfulfilled expectation where he is frustrated with his inability to have the woman he wanted.

Moreover, in the schoolroom, Yeats does not see the students for what they are, but rather looks at the past. This poem describes aging as an awful process of dissolution and decay that is inevitable. The speaker goes to the extent of wondering about a mother who is beholding her son; he speculates whether the mother thought of the eventual breakdown and decay of

old age would alter things for her in any way, “did she but see that shape…with sixty or more winters on its head…a compensation for the pang of his birth.

That is, whether a mother would consider the anxieties and joys of life, motherhood or birth to be worth after realities of life process dawned on her W. B. Yeats attempts to recapture youth by the idea of being born, and poses question for the child’s looks as well as how children would age, and what children would grow into. In general, despite the fact that “Among Schoolchildren” imagery revolves about youths, it is about the aging process. A prayer for my daughter by William Butler Yeats A prayer for my daughter is a 1919 pray-like poem written by William Yeats.

The poem explores the speaker’s ideas about his daughter. Yeats reflects his wish for his daughter’s future. The speaker poem shows the humans are decisive as well as their dreaming in the “sea-wind scream upon the tower”, and in “under the arches of the bridge. ” The speaker is extensively concerned about her daughter and prays moderately for her beauty because too much beauty might make her to loose her “natural kindness” and consequently the opportunity to have “heart-revealing intimacy. ” The poem revolves around his daughter.

He wants his daughter to be wise and virtuous. His daughter’s image is used to depict the ideal woman. He asserts that a woman ought to be like “a flourishing hidden tree” and that “innocence” is good for women. Yeats makes use of Onomatopoeia, repetition (self-appeasing, self-delighting), alliteration (gloom great, live like) and assonance

(walked and prayed) throughout the poem. Moreover, the poet makes use of metaphor –custom is used for the spreading laurel tree), personification, simile, juxtaposition and imagery.

The second Coming by William Butler Yeats The Second Coming is a poem authored by William Butler Yeats in nineteen twenty. Through the use of religious symbolism Yeats illustrates his anguish over the obvious decline of the ruling class in Europe as well as his believe in approaching of the terminal point. The poem explains that young people have abandoned the standards taught by their parents and grand parents and instead embraced the new literature, art, music other literature of present.

This is explained by the wheeling bird that continues to gyre further away metaphor. The sphinx image strengthens the idea of reconnection between this broken links. Furthermore, the sphinx illustrates the spiritual masters’ character of gazing blankly while they deliver “the message” to their followers. “The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity”, spells out the disconnection between intellectuals or the best (the head people) and the worst.

The poem uses imagery extensively juxtaposing the sphinx (cat) and birds’ images. The many birds further strengthen the broken image. However, the cat is a single image representing the power in the process of integrating human intellect with that of animal; the cat is mightier. Moreover the cat shows independence. The poem represents a riddle. Initially, the broken link of falcon and falconer is shown Yeats poses questions, which although there hints to their answer he does not clearly state them.

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