 Hello, and welcome to our video summarizing all you need to know about the love and relationships poems in the OCR anthology towards a world unknown. My name is Barbara, and in this video I'll summarize each poem, beginning with some context about the poet, before analyzing each poem in much more detail. Do make sure you have your anthology handy, and before you listen to each analysis, read the poem first. In this way you'll get a better grasp of its meaning, so let's get started. Now, in this particular collection, the anthology begins with a song by Helen Maria Williams. Now a little bit about the poet herself. Helen Maria Williams was born in 1759 and she died in 1827. She was an English poet, novelist and translator, and she was a controversial figure at her time. This is because she was a religious dissenter. She was also a supporter of abolitionism, in other words, she was against the slave trade. And also she supported ideas of the French revolutions, which essentially worked on toppling the French monarchy. Helen Maria Williams lived in France for most of her life, and she was portrayed in a poem by William Wordsworth himself in 1787. Now when it comes to the poem itself, she essentially published a two volume poetry collection, and the collection was titled Poems, and the song is featured there. A song has six sections, and each section consists of one stanza with four lines and an A-B-A-B rhyme scheme. The meter is similar to that of an iambic trimeter. Moreover there's great use of punctuation. The poem's central theme is love, and how a particular emotion affects the lyrical voice. Now, to go into more detail on this poem. The first stanza foregrounds the importance of love to the lyrical voice. Throughout the stanzas, the lyrical voice expresses his or her feelings, in other words a narrator's feelings, about something that occurred particularly to them. The poem itself, a song, begins by saying that this lover has no riches and consequently they can't share them with the lyrical voice. The poem itself says, no riches from his scanty store my lover could impart. Notice the alliteration on scanty store. It's also sibilance, and it gives a soft feel to this first part of the stanza. Then the lyrical voice states that this lover gave them something that they value more. The poem states, he gave a boon I valued more, which was his heart. Notice the emphasis made on the last line, and how the lyrical voice accentuates it by using a final dash and creating a pause at the end of the previous line. In the second stanza, the lover is described. The lyrical voice says, his soul sincere his generous worth. More importantly, the narrator is really touched by this generosity and sincerity that the lover has. It's clear in the next two lines that this relationship is extremely passionate and personal for the narrator. When they ask for joy, and the poem states, and when I ask for bliss on this earth, it then further states, I only meant his love. The third stanza centres on the speaker's thoughts about their present situation. The first line starts with, but creating a different tone from the two previous stanzas. The lyrical voice says that they're searching to earn something everywhere in the poem states, but now for me in search of gain from sure to sure he flies. The second part introduces a question that relates to the vision of love that the lyrical voice presents in the previous stanzas. The lyrical voice already mentioned that the love of their lover was far more valuable and more important than any other boon. In this stanza, the lyrical voice asks, why wonder riches to obtain when love is all our prize? The need for riches is questioned again in the vision of love as the ultimate prize is emphasised. Also notice that throughout the stanzas, the crucial statements of the stanzas are made on the last line, always referring to love and how the lyrical voice feels about it. The fourth stanza continues with the same theme and the lyrical voice says that they only need simple things and they don't want more in life than their lover's love. This longing for simplicity is described when they say, the frugal meat, the lowly cot, love is really enough to have the life that the narrator wants. Moreover, this idea is accentuated in the last two lines as the lyrical voice suggests that love is a simple and humble fare that represents the ultimate wealth. In the fifth stanza, however, the tone dramatically shifts. So far, the lyrical voice depicted all the positive aspects of their love and how it was the only necessary thing in their life. However, this stanza presents a negative side of this much-earned love. The lyrical voice mentions the travelling of their lover in the dangerous ocean and how their tears bark vainly flow because of this situation. The lyrical voice constructs a sense of pity that differs from the romantic tone of the previous stanza. This stanza ends with the question that interrogates all the beliefs already expressed about love, to which our poem, our woe, it asks. In the sixth and final stanza, a powerful emotion is presented. The speaker portrays a scene representing a different mood from the first stanzas. This stanza states, the night is dark, the water is deep, yet soft the below's roll. The lyrical voice furthers, rather, on their feeling by saying, every breeze I weep. The last line builds a powerful and dramatic image by comparing a storm with the soul of the lyrical voice. It states, alas, at every breeze I weep, the storm is in my soul. Once again, there's a final dash in the third line to introduce a pause before the final statement. The storm indicates that the lyrical voice has agitation in their heart. The love that the lyrical voice feels has not corresponded and this leads to negativity, unfulfilled passion and frustration. The next poem in this collection is White Star by John Keats. So John Keats was born on London in 1795, and he's the eldest of Thomas and Francis Jennings Keats' four children. Although he died at the age of 25, which is fairly young, he took on the challenges of a wide range of poetic forms from the sonnet to the Spensarian romance to the Miltonic epic. Now, when it comes to the poem itself, it starts, White Star, would I were steadfast as thou art? And this poem by John Keats is a 14-line sonnet. The lines in this poem appear to conform to the traditional Elizabethan or Shakespearean sonnet, and it has a rhyme scheme of A, B, A, B, C, D, C, D, E, F, E, F, G, G. An important thing to note is that the division of the poem is into an octave and an assessed hit, and it's emphasised by a very prominent turn between the sections. The first part of the poem states that the speaker is somewhat interested in being a star, and the second part gives the reader the reason why. In regards to meter for this poem, Keats chose mainly Iambic pentameter, the most common of metric patterns. Keats separates the lines into five sets of two, and the first of these is unstressed and the second stressed. There are only a few moments, however, in which Keats, within the poem, switches to Trochaic pentameter, meaning the first beat is stressed and the second unstressed. Now in the poem itself, let's begin with lines one to four. Now the first two words of this poem inform the reader that the speaker is not addressing a person, but a specifically bright star, and the star is special because it's steadfast, it doesn't move. He's envious of its patience and its eternal station. One can assume he's referring to the North Star, as it's the only one that doesn't move in the sky. The second line is somewhat confusing. Rather than elaborating on why he wants to be a star, Keats' speaker immediately goes back on what he said and says he doesn't want to hang in Lone Splendour. There is some part of being a star that doesn't completely appeal to him. The speaker has no desire to be alone. He needs company. He doesn't want to be stuck in the sky with his eyes eternally watching nature. Otherwise, he would become a patient, sleepless, aromite, or a hermit. This emphasizes the speaker's fear of being alone, and this is in lines one to four. Even all of space and time don't make up for the solitude who would be forced to endure. Now in lines five to eight, the speaker continues on in the next quatering to describe what the star is forced to watch throughout his life. He describes the moving waters on earth that do their tasks with the dedication of priests. The second line adds more detail. Keats uses the word ablution, which refers to ritual cleansing. The waters are cleaning the areas in which human activities take place as a priest, would absolve of believer of their sins. The star might be watching everything that was mentioned in lines five and six, or it might be watching something else, we don't know. It could also be gazing or gently looking, now the new soft fallen mask. It is looking, but not a physical mask that was one might associate with the term, but with a mask of snow upon the mountains and moors. It obscures the land just as a paper mask would obscure a wearer's face. The word more is very impersonal to the land, is very personal rather, to the English landscape. It refers to vast open lands that are often impossible to build on or cultivate. The snow is emphasizing the already lonely faces of the mountains and moors. It adds to the feeling of isolation, something Keats' speaker has been clear about in his desire to avoid. Lines nine for 14, which is the final cestet of the sonnet, shows the reasoning behind Keats' address to the bright star. The first liner in this section begins with the word no. He's negating that he could either commit to being steadfast as the star, or remain in his fluctuating human state. He describes how he can take the best aspects of a star's life in the steadfast and unchangeable parts, and use them to his own advantage. With these new character traits in mind, he means to remain pillowed upon his lover's breast. It becomes clear that Keats' speaker does not have a desire to line over the world. He just wants to stay at his lover's side for as long as he can, perhaps forever. His life will ideally play out with him, awake or forever, in a sweet unrest. Just like the star, his eyes will remain open and his position decided. In the speaker's world, he does not look out over the barren moors and mountains, or over the priest-like waters. Instead, he listens to his lover's tender breaths and lives on forever. The only way he could face death now is if the emotions became too strong and he swooned to death. The next poem in this collection is now by Robert Browning. Now, Robert Browning was born in 1812 and died in 1889, and he was an English poet and playwright. His uses of diction, rhyming symbols, are widely considered to be significant and influential contributions to poetry. After reading her works in corresponding with her for a while, Robert Browning married Elizabeth Barrett and the couple moved to Italy where they had their only child. Browning only received renowned and critical acclaim, however, after the death of his wife. Now, when it comes to the poem itself, Robert Browning's now is a short lyric poem. Despite consisting of 14 lines of roughly equal length, it conforms to neither the Petrarchan nor the Shakespearean sonnet style. The rhyming scheme is rather irregular and although it contains some iambic pentameter, the syllable stresses are not completely consistent. Thus, it can be considered an improvisation on the traditional sonnet and it deals with the theme of love. The theme of ideal love was one that greatly preoccupied the author, Robert Browning, and it can be found in this poem. This lyrical sonnet provides the perfect frame in which to explore the pleasure of life and love contained within one pure and perfect moment. The poem is meta in what it expresses in content. It mirrors in form. That's to say, in its improvisation on the norms of the standard sonnet, it doesn't have much progression and seems to end more or less where it began. In this way, it reflects the very thing it describes. One ephemeral moment of loving union, which, like now, contains so much in such a small and brief entity. The poem is perfect in its condensation of the purest and most joyful aspects of love and it condenses this in a concise sequence of flowing verses. In fact, the way in which the lines smoothly run into each other, best appreciatable when the poem is read aloud, render it one magnificently formed, isolated representation of ideal love. Now let's begin with lines one, two, three. And in these first three lines, Browning allows us to understand the poem's title. He asks his lover to give him just one moment, one instance of complete ideal love which will render all the rest of the lives utterly insignificant. The poet shows here his awareness that ideal love can only exist for a fleeting moment and thus simply asks his lover to totally commit to the ephemeral now in order to give sincerity and strength to the rest of the lives together. In lines four to six, there's an interesting play in words and we may understand the idea of what the poem says, make perfect the present, to be rendering the current moment flawless. However, we may equally regard it in a grammatical sense. In grammatical terms, the perfect tense indicates a completed action in the past while the present tense, rather, refers to what's happening at the time. In this way, this moment of ideal love will in a powerful swell of emotions, a rupture of rage, seal the past and protect it with an endowment of perfection. All of the details and attributes that make up the love between them is contained within the now, concentrated into one climactic and beautiful moment of ecstasy. Now, in lines seven to 10, the lines, particularly the phrase at last, draw attention to just how powerful this brief achievement of ideal love is. Although short-lived, this ecstatic union of the two has effects that touch not only the present moment, but also reaches all that came before and all that is yet to come. Browning uses more physical language when he describes how his lover will totally surround him, showing how he'll be lost in her, in them and in their love. This is the all-consuming desired effect of love to be so completely positive of the love of the others that all past, present and future doubts are eradicated. The entire lives will thus be endowed with the protection and perfection of the moment. In lines 11 to 12, or rather 11 to 14, Browning wonders how long he can feasibly prolong this utter immersion in the other, which takes him outside of the normal lives. He expresses his desire to live in the moment forever, a contradiction in terms since he would, this would rather, evidently undermine the point and purpose of such an instance. The phrase, just that and no more, can be seen as slightly ironic and highlights the impossibility of the aforementioned wish. Finally, he describes how, when the two lovers reached this moment of ideal love, they grasped its very essence, ecstasies utmost, and he compliments this with the final description of the two bodies meeting in a glorious, corporeal expression of the union and harmony. The next poem in this collection is Love and Friendship by Emily Bronte. Now, Emily Bronte is an English writer of the 19th century, who's most acclaimed for a novel, Wuthering Heights. Like many noteworthy individuals in history, Bronte's fame reached his peak only after she died. She also came from a family of literary creatives, including her sisters, Charlotte and Anne Bronte. Now, when it comes to the poem itself, Love and Friendship, it's a three-stands-of poem that functions as a comparison or a contrast piece between friendship and love. In order to explore both topics, Bronte portrays each of them as a different type of plant, and she explores how both plants react in different situations. Like those plants, she seems to argue, romance and friendship have different reactions as the seasons change, so much so that only one would prevail when things become harsh and unforgiving as the cold of winter. The one that survives, which is friendship, is stressed as the greater of the two concepts. Now, in the first stanza, Bronte begins this exploration of romance and camaraderie by giving the reader concrete images to establish the represented sensations behind each concept. It's important to note that for this poem, the author seems to be referring to only romantic love for that half of the compare or contrast aspect, since a more general idea of love would be connected to friendship. Without that differentiation of types, then the comparison would be invalid because one idea being contrasted would include the other since friends can only share a bond of love. For romantic love, she provides the wild rose briar for its expression. Without question, a rose is a flower often linked to romantic notions, so using that specific flower in this manner is sensible. Add into detail that the flower's wild rather, it delivers a unique twist to this scenario. A wild flower will spring up without deliberate gardening and its limitless quality grants it arrestlessness that tamer plants can't match. In essence, Brontë is giving romance a restless feature that is spontaneous and boundless. For friendship, a holy tree is the selected plant for representation. This choice moves it beyond the realm of a fragile plant and into the territory of a more stable tree, something that's not as easily tainted as flowers on the ground. While a rose could be showcased on a bush that is also stronger than a series of stem flowers along a pathway, the ground and nature of the tree already hints at the settled quality of friendship above and what love can offer. One thing that Brontë does say in favor of love is that while it blooms, the holly is dark. This essentially means that when both are at the peaks, the rose buyer would likely have a more standout quality given its brighter and more beautiful appearance. But as Brontë makes this claim, she turns again to a sentiment that shifts the preferred nature back to friendship by asking, which will bloom most constantly. This is because she's recently expressed sentiment in favor of love, thus she provides the reader with a hint to her answer by beginning that question with a contrasting butt. Based on the very meaning of that contrasting conjunction, friendships would be rather the logical answer. Now in the second stanza, this stanza focuses solely on the wild rose briar which represents romance and the first two lines paint a beautiful and vivid picture of this emotion. According to Brontë, this sensation is sweet in spring and it gives a delightful aroma so that its summer blossoms scent there. Two different senses are used here to show how lovely this emotion is, the taste and smell. And it adds a sense of sight that's sparked by the already presented visual of the rose briar. Over half of the standard senses are being used to create a strong argument to support how lovely romance can be. Now in the last stanza, what has already been discovered through this examination of the previous stanzas in this poem is solidified. And Brontë essentially argues that friendship is better than romantic love. She begins this final statement by first condemning the rose that represents love to scorn, a word that has heated connotations. She's not just telling readers to choose friendship but is encouraging them to ridicule love for its fragility. Not only is she showing a favorite appreciation of friendship, but she's also taking it a step further by openly criticizing the flaw behind romantic love. Once that derogatory stance has been cemented, Brontë moves on to boost the appearance of friendship by telling the reader to deck themselves with the holly that represents friendship. And the reason given for this embracing is that as the months grow colder, the relationship will remain strong. Whereas romantic love crumbles under the weight of harsh circumstances like the holly, friendship will remain strong and lively as the circumstances turn tumultuous. It's for this reason to Brontë that friendship is better than romantic love. The next poem is A Broken Appointment by Thomas Hardy. Now, Thomas Hardy was born in 1840 and he died in 1928. He was an English novelist and poet and he was greatly influenced by Southern England where he was born and raised. His poetry focuses on the mutual or rather musical aspects of language and he pays attention to the different possibilities of sound. He was really influenced by the romantic movement and especially William Wordsworth. And Hardy viewed himself mainly as a poet but he also wrote novels like Far From the Madden Crowd due to the obscure in the May of Castor Bridge. Now, when it comes to the poem itself, A Broken Appointment, it has two stanzas with eight lines each. It has an A-A-B-C-B-C-A-A rhyme scheme and it can be read as a quatering with an A-B-A-B rhyme scheme framed by unequal couplets. The couplets have iambic diameter which is an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable with two metrical feet in each line and the couplet at the beginning of the stanza rhymes with the one at the end. On the other hand, the quatering also has iambic pentameter. The rigid and regular rhyme accentuates the lyrical voice's calmness and resignation towards the situation. There's a sort of circularity within the stanzas as they end with the same line that they begin with. Moreover, the couplets that frame the quaterings also add to the circular feeling. A Broken Appointment depicts a situation in which the lyrical voice laments that his lover didn't turn up to an arranged meeting. Thus, the lyrical voice meditates on the rejection that surrounds love. Now, in the first stanza, the lyrical voice expresses his thoughts and waits for the one who didn't come. The first line starts with a strong statement. You did not come. This powerful beginning focuses on the mention of the person, you and the action that she did in the past that didn't come. This lyrical voice accentuates the fact that he waited for a very long time. The poem states, and this phrase uses long vowels and a dark mood to reflect this. Notice how time is referred to in the phrase, marching time, it's personified. There are also literations in the third and fourth lines, less for loss and than that I thus. Moreover, there are several enjambments in lines three and six with the absence of the loved one, the poem states, yet less for loss of your dear presence there. The lyrical voice has a realisation than that I thus found about the one in which he waited lacking in your make that high compassion which can overbear reluctance for pure loving kindness sake. The final couplet creates a feeling of pity towards the lyrical voice as the syntax emphasizes a sorrow of the lyrical voice. It says, grieve die. This stanza ends with, you did not come, which is a repetition of the first line and it accentuates the emotional effect that the event had on the narrator. Now in the second stanza, the lyrical voice focuses on the consequences that the event had on him. It begins with a strong statement, you love not me. The line is a realisation after the meditation of the first stanza. The lyrical voice has a tone of acceptance as he's sure that his loved one doesn't really love him and loves somebody else as it states. And love alone can lend you loyalty. There's a lyrical voice in line two and love alone can lend you loyalty and a repetition on line three. I knew, no and I knew it to accentuate this. The lyrical voice goes back to meditating on his loved one's actions and also there's a lyrical voice in lines four which state, deeds divine. Then the lyrical voice questions themselves again. They ask, was it not worth a little hour or more to add yet this. Once you, a woman came to soothe a time torn man even though it be, you love not me. The deeds divine would be to soothe a time torn man. In this phrase, notice how the lyrical voice represents himself as a time torn man. The tone shifts at the end of this and it says, you love not me. Once again, the first line of the stanza is repeated at the end, providing a real circular feel. But in this case, the end is a question rather than a statement. There's a tone of resignation here and it changes as the rhythm of the poem is altered a little bit because of the use of punctuation and the lyrical voice is still meditating on the broken appointment between them and their loved one. The next poem in this collection is Find the Fet by Charlotte Mew. Now Charlotte Mew was born in 1869. She was an English poet and her works extended over the Victorian and the early modernist era. Charlotte Mew was the eldest daughter of a family of seven children and she experienced a series of traumatic issues during her childhood that, later, became central themes in her poetry and prose. These include death, loneliness, disillusionment, mental illness, among others. In 1912, the nation published perhaps the most famous poem, The Farmer's Bride, a poem that made her gain some literary reputation at the time. She was praised by lots of her contemporaries including Thomas Hardy himself. However, sadly, Charlotte Mew committed suicide in a nursing home where she was staying since her sister had died and she died in 1928. Now, when it comes to the poem itself, Find the Fet, which is French for the end of the party, it has three stanzas with four lines each. It has an A-B, A-B rhyme scheme, but the rhythm throughout the poem varies as it alternates in each stanza. The closest meter to that of Find the Fet is Iambic Pentatur Trameter. Charlotte Mew creates significant images which are emphasized for the use of lexical repetitions. The word and is frequently repeated and there's great use of punctuation marks. In French, the word fun means end and the word effect means party or a celebration. Thus, Find the Fet depicts the end of a social occasion or refers to another person, another guest as a you. It's a love poem that depicts the depths and the sorries of thwarted love. Now, in the first stanza, the lyrical voice starts, the first line by referring to someone in particular. She refers to a sweet heart. Notice the emphasis on this word as the poet puts a comma directly after it. Then the lyrical voice refers to a particular event for such a day. According to what the lyrical voice is describing, this event has already ended and one mustn't grudge the score. This means that there's a need to accept this closure and focus on the other side of the situation. The punctuation in this line enables a different rhythm that emphasizes the message and prepares the reader for the last line. The lyrical voice finishes the stanza by stating, it's good night at the door. The ending accentuates the fact that such a day ended and there's nothing to do about it. The tone in this stanza is quite uncertain as it could be read in two different ways, either a melancholic voice which remembers the past in a mournful way or a sarcastic voice that challenges the person that they are referring to with the word sweet heart. The second stanza describes a memory. Now, the lyrical voice repeats the words good night and in this second stanza, they're accentuated by saying good dreams to you. This other person that the lyrical voice refers to is now more explicit and it's mentioned under you as you. Then the lyrical voice describes another past event by evoking another person's memory. Do you remember? The lyrical voice appears to be describing a child's children's tale because it refers to a picture book where children were lost in the woods and birds came down and covered them with leaves. This pastoral image in the memory suggests the past moment where both the lyrical voice and this other person were happy, but now at that moment has come to an end. The turning of the stanza changes and the lyrical voice is far more melancholic and hopeless. This final stanza, the third stanza, describes the lyrical voice's voice present. The lyrical voice says that in order to continue living these good times, they're described in the previous stanza. They should have slept. However, there's a dash that breaks this continuity and establishes a current and real situation. The lyrical voice depicts their sorrow by saying, oh, what a lonely head. This differs greatly from the image described in the previous stanza about the children and the bird. Furthermore, the lyrical voice furthers their solitude and they end the poem by saying, with just the shadow of a waving bow in the moonlight over your bed. This ultimately shows that everything has ended and now the lyrical voice has nothing but themselves and what they see at the bed at night. The next poem in this collection is A Sorrow of True Love by Edward Thomas. Now, Philip Edward Thomas who was born in 1878 and died in 1917 was a British poet, essayist and novelist. He's commonly considered a war poet, although few of his poems actually deal directly with his war experiences and his Korean poetry only came after he'd been successful writer and literary critic. In 1915, he enlisted in the British Army to fight in the First World War and, unfortunately, was killed in action during the Battle of Arras in 1917 soon after he'd arrived in France. Now, when it comes to the poem itself, The Sorrow of True Love, it's a one stanza work with a rhyme scheme that pairs successional lines, one that uses fanciful languages and figurative ideas to paint a specific image of love. Though Thomas begins by expressing an opinion on love that leans towards negative in consequence to the pain of losing the person for whom the love exists, the later lines in the poem make it clear that the overall opinion in the work is that deeper unhappiness is known through a life that never knows strong and powerful love. According to Thomas, while love does indeed come with grief and pain, that pain does not compare to the suffering in a life that passes without the embracement of love in its deepest form. Now, beginning with lines one to two. These lines dive into the hardships of true love without revealing any of the motion's pleasant qualities. There's no backstory of happy times before this loss, but rather a quick examination behind the great sorrow from this parting element of the relationship. We find a relationship that essentially has broken. This is a very interesting approach given that the theme of the poem will later be revealed as contemporary that a loveless life is a worse circumstance than the brief brought on by losing someone loved. But they affect us strong since it focuses the reader directly on the idea of loss. Thomas isn't comparing happiness with happiness after all. He's comparing loss with loss and placing the pain of true love parting into the introductory elements. And this draws attention directly to the pain that's so vast and empty that it, as the poem states, blackens a bright tomorrow. Now, in lines three to five, only after the theme of loss is cemented in the reader's mind, does Thomas move away from the bleakness of the scenario to express comfort and happiness that can be linked to having true love. In his estimation, even losing someone loved can be considered joys since there is hope of seeing them again, the poem states, above the storm and in the heavens. In addition to past memories of happiness and affection that are linked to a person lost, once tainted with grief and blinded by dispersed tears, but there's also hope in the knowledge that the one who supported will be part of the future. Thinking bank of the good times or forward to the post-life reunion would be a comfort against the despair, once strong enough to keep certain joys in the heart in spite of the mourning. In this notion, the happiness of love is too great for sadness to overthrow. Now, nine, six to seven, there's a shift in focus, from those who've experienced true love to those who have yet to know something so strong. To Thomas, these people enjoy a great sorrow since less love has been known of them, and that sorrow is because they have no understanding of the grand emotion. The circumstances made even more distress into Thomas since those who have yet to know that affection are actually in a position to think that they fare better than those who have experienced love. Specifically, Thomas states that those who don't know significant love can mistake a lack of despair for hope. People who don't love or love very little can assume that they're safe from the kind of heartache that comes with losing love as if escaping that group is hope and goodness. However, Thomas disagrees with that idea, calling the rationalization a mistake. To him, forsaking that heartache is not hope that he references earlier that hope can come in the midst of grief for someone who has loved. Again then, Thomas shows that loving someone is better than being safe from losing love since only those who love have access to hope. In lines 89, within these lines, there's more evidence given that those who don't love significantly are in a much more miserable condition than someone who must lose a person they care for, though this pair of lines express a difference between the two categories of people. For those who've never experienced love, their lives are but a frozen drizzle, as the poem states, in contrast to those who love and are familiar with the tempest of the perfect scope of summer. There's a definite variation between the two groups in that those with love enjoy a series of elements, they enjoy storms and perfection alike. This concept expresses a variety of contrasting feelings and experiences that love brings while they showcase the passion and energy and they reveal a vivacity so strong that it can be argued it expresses life to its fullest. On the other hand, those who don't love do not see that variation. Instead, they live in cold existence, void of the warmth and affection that never changes. This is perpetual unto Thomas living in such a state is far more mournful than encountering the highs and lows of life's possibilities and losing the person most loved. Now in lines 10 to 12, the drizzle perpetual, which is referenced in the previous lines, finishes in thought by being labeled as drops that come from remorse and pity for. What this concept adds to the circumstances is the idea that the person who's never known love is crying perpetual tear drops for two reasons, remorse and pity. The remorse can be linked to regrets that a life has been lived that never had an encounter with love and the pity is also a connectable factor since the person might pity their own life because they never knew love. It's unclear if these are actual tears being shed or representation of internal mourning. However, whatever the circumstance, the sorrow that will link you forever because what remained out of grasp, which is true love, can never find a place in this person's life at this point. The reason for this end of opportunity again isn't clarified. Perhaps the person who's never known love is at the end of life and will have no other chance to try a hand at their emotion. Regardless, the one who knew true love and had a hope of reunion in heaven, this person is forever in sorrow and frozen drizzle, like love no longer shines their way to thaw the frigid situation. The loveless person is removed eternally from any hope of the vivid happiness that comes with true love. This essentially means that the coldness of life must linger before because love never came by to offer the warmth of affection and care. Like a freezing person wanting a fire that is impossible, this person can never find a place in comfort and happiness against the constant loneliness they've experienced. While certain elements go on addressing this poem, the theme remains strong. Loving true, even in grief, is better than sparing oneself grief by surrendering a chance at love. The next poem is an Orondal Tomb by Philip Larkin. Now, Philip Larkin was born in 1922 and he passed away in 1985 and he's a revered English poet. He was born in Coventry but spent the last 30 years of his life in Hull where he worked as a librarian. He also worked in the Library at Queen's University Belfast and this poem appeared in his anthology, The Whitsun Weddings. Now, there are seven six-line stanzas with an A, B, B, C, A, C rhyme scheme. In most part, the poem is written in Iambic at a trameter rhythm which is four stresses per eight beat. However, he shakes this up in places with certain words being reversed so that they are tracheic with emphasis on the final syllable. And this poem offers a marble effigy of a couple in a cathedral and it's much taken by the fact that they're shown holding hands, a gesture that the perceiver finds greatly affecting. Now, in the first stanza, it shows the family unit immortalised in stone with the added detail of the little dogs under their feet an inclusion that the poet finds absurd. It was, however, quite common to have animals such as dogs or lions included as part of a sculpture. Dogs are a symbol of loyalty so will often feature the memorials of the great and the good. The fact that the figures are now blurred shows how the passage of time has faded the identity. We wonder if in line three when he writes the proper habits vaguely shown if he's referring to the generic portrayal of the dress in which the sculptor chooses to depict them wearing so that Earl and his armour and the lady in her stiff pleated skirt or whether the adjective vague refers to the erosion of detail over the century. In the second stanza, the poet comments on how he could have moved on without taking much interest since the pre-baroque style is spare and unremarkable. Until he's struck by the unexpected intimacy of the image of the Earl holding his wife's hand. The use of the oxymoron sharp tender shock captures his sense of surprise and the repetition of the SH sound emphasises this. In the third stanza, after his initial surprise it doesn't take long for Larkin's trademark cynicism to re-emerge. He suggests that such faithfulness and reality would have been unlikely. Despite this having been the period of chivalry, men were not necessarily true or honest to their wives. In this male-dominated patriarchal society this was by no means a given. Marriages among the aristocracy were often more than not astute business arrangements as opposed to romantic unions. He suggests that this detail may have been entirely the work of a sculptor's romantic imagination or as he rather eloquently puts it in the poem, sweet commissioned grace. The lovely sibilant S sound in this phrase certainly adds the notion of benevolence. There's a tone change in the fourth stanza which suggests that though time has passed it's not necessarily for the better. The use of enjumpment in the first three lines of the fourth stanza signals the speed at which society has changed. History has been forgotten or has certainly not progressed in the way that the poet would have liked since the uneducated may come and pass through observing the couple but they remain unaware of any historical significance. This is evident in the final line of the stanza when he writes to look not read. In the fifth stanza this idea continues and this is through Larkin's use of enjumpment. The list of images then employed to capture this passage of time are put together with tremendous skill. The long vowel sounds in the combined abstinence and sibilance in the line in the following stanza persisted linked through lengths and breaths of time. This shows how sometimes it feels that time moves really slowly. This idea is reinforced by the caesura after snow fell undated. The beautiful use of the word thronged is effectively captures the image of the light filtering through the window. Again he injects life into the scene with an unusual metaphor a bright litter of birdsong. This pairing of sight and sound combines to help us fill the scene perhaps adding a certain levity to the following reference to bone riddled ground. People live and die as the seasons continue to change and in the final lines though there's a more positive image of people coming on a pilgrimage to the skithedral to bear witness to what's gone before. Now in the sixth and seven stanzas enjumpment is used once again to draw attention to the passing of time. The word in the word washing Larkin employs the first line of stanza six and it's significant as it comes after the words the endless altered people came at the end of the fifth stanza. This reference to water suggests the certainty of tides the ongoing ebb and flow of life. People come as if in endless dream but this couple are destined to remain still reduced to the memorial in Marble and whatever people wish to interpret from it. They are as the poet points out hopeless in the hollow of an unamoral age the actual lives on this earth where a mere scrap of history is unsubstantial as a trough of smoke in so slow suspended skeins. The reader is forced to reflect on this ephemeral image by the stretched out sibilants and assonance of the Valsounds. Now the next poem is Laugh After Love by Derek Walcott. First published at the age of 14 Derek Walcott is a poet, playwright and painter who's been awarded the Nobel Prize and the Queen's Medal for poetry. Through the strength of his work his status in the writing world is still relevant decades after his writing debut. Mostly a 20th century writer Walcott passed away in 2017 leaving behind a number of written works to his credit. Now in the poem Laugh After Love it's made up of four stanzas and it's prevented in the form of a person offering advice to someone who's distressed. Within those four stanzas readers can infer that the distress comes from a bad relationship that's either ended or should end and the person hearing this advice is still suffering from the sadness of the experience. Regardless Walcott assures this person this you that not only will things get better but the overall state of things will improve in the wake of this relationship. The reason for this seems to be the main theme of the poem as the speaker insists again and again that what this person has become doesn't actually represent what they truly are but one day their true self will return. On that day they'll be happy again since only in embracing who they are can they be fully content. Now in the first stanza the structural design of this stanza is very free in that even the basic rules of grammar are not limiting Walcott's presentation. Specifically the use of commas is lacking almost as if Walcott has thrown them in where he feels his desire to and without regard for what the grammar rules are. The consequences include non-essential clauses lacking needed commas such as with elation which only has the comma leading into it. But the lack of commas becomes a bigger issue in the final two lines since the result of not placing the comma before the last line before and each is a run-on sentence. Certainly this analysis is not meant as a pre-reading exercise but this lack of structure says something about the meaning of the poem. There's a free theme to Walcott's work and having the liberty to build his sentences without regulations expresses this freedom not until later does the reader encounter why the poem is about a kind of liberty but basic details of the situation are presented in the first stanza. Throughout the opening lines the reader can infer that whatever is destined to occur in this future looking work the person it will happen to will approve it since it will spark elation and most notably whatever causes elation will be the product of the person who experiences it. This simple idea is brought to light through what reads as a complex narrative of having a person arrive at their own door and smile. Since a person can't literally have this happen when where the exactness greets them the reader is encouraged to step into a more metaphorical concept for the lines. If the reader applies that deeper meaning to the lines understanding is that there will be a future moment when this person comes to know and appreciate who they are and embrace their own worth which will be a satisfying experience for them. In the second stanza we encounter lines that don't obey grammatical rules such as dialogue that is not grammatically treated like dialogue and the single word yourself that's divided into two pieces yourself. This word separation is of particular interest since it has a representation of this person having been broken into two parts the part that will return one day and the part that is as the situation calls them to be. In any event this strategy speaks the freeing element that is at work in Walcott's poem by showcasing how freeing it can be to come and know and appreciate yourself. Beyond this already established method of highlighting freedom though this stanza provides a reader with a sense of what's occurred before this interaction between the speaker and the person address. In particular the stanza tells this person to give back the heart to itself which implies that they offered their love to someone who didn't appreciate it. Should the person who is a recipient of the love have cared for it and treated well there would be no cause to repossess it since it would have been under good guardianship. Additionally Walcott provides clues as to why the heart needed to be repossess in mentioning that the introduction of this person to their own being will be an introduction to the stranger who's loved them. For someone to become a stranger to their own person something has to be separate from them from their priorities and ideas. Logically after all if a person maintains a sense of self on a day to day basis there's little room to lose track of that self along the way. What this hints in connection with the idea of repossessing the heart is that another person the one who'd been the recipient of the heart has so grandly torn down who the person being addressed is that this you is now a stranger in their own eyes. In the third stanza this stanza solidifies the notion that the person addressed has handed over a great deal of self to a third party since the self that will resurface is one who's been ignored for another. What was the theory beforehand then becomes a concrete detail of work particularly when later in the stanza love letters as a reference to as things that need to be taken down. What this then lets the reader know is that the relationship that stole this person's sense of identity was a romantic love that has not either ended or is on the brink of ending possibly as a decision that this you will make. The end of this relationship is a great thing for this person and one day they won't weapon this about the romance with sadness rather they'll feel happiness once they return to who they truly were with a lesson of the importance of being true to their identity. After all this person's self is the one who knows them by heart and has been there throughout the person's life despite being ignored. This notion shows understanding and commitment and joy will come when this person embraces who they are once again. The full stanza continues the idea that things can be taken down in the wake of this bad relationship such as photographs and desperate notes basically walk hot is telling the person to cleanse from all aspects of the poor experience to prepare for the moment of re-knowing themselves and the idea that this approach as best reference once more the description of these notes. They're desperate and though walk hot doesn't say whose desperation is penned there the prospect of it belonging to the person addressed is genuine. Nothing good has been said about this relationship for the you here in this advice so assuming that this is a traditional or rather additional negative aspect for this you is a safe prospect. After telling this person several things to leave behind in the stanza and the previous one walk hot gives via common splice into the advice of peel your own image from the mirror. On his first experience the statement can feel like a contrast in turn of events since the speaker is said over and over that this person's self is what they can depend on and what can make them happy. Remember though in prior lines walk hot is referencing the reintroduction of this whole person not just one image this one image is likely the mirror reflection of this person as a grieve over the relationship that's so heartbreaking. If this is a case walk hot is instructing this person to get past this grief this moment that's reflected in the mirror and think on other things that are more connected to who they are. Rather than sulking then the you in question should focus on their own self their own life and hold to the goodness that exists outside of this relationship for comfort. Essentially walk hot is saying to look past even the immediate grief of the breakup in favor of reflecting on the good personal things and so doing this person can start walking toward a better life and one day they'll find the way back to knowing who the world once again. In that moment when they will greet their own self arriving at their own door in their own mirror they'll find true happiness something that cannot exist without embracing who they are. The next poem in this collection is Morning Song by Sylvia Plath. Now Sylvia Plath was a 20th century American poet whose works often mirror the sadness she felt in life. In fact one of the most notable aspects of a poetry is linked to the full on concepts that plagued her life and this qualities reflected in the struggle of the mother in Morning Song and this struggle that she experiences while progressing into a more maternal frame of mind. Throughout her life Plath wrestled with depression and she eventually committed suicide when she was only 30 years old. Now when it comes to the poem itself Morning Song it's written in six stanzas and it details the experience of a mother being introduced to the emotions and circumstances of parenting and it does so in a manner that expresses a rather gradual process. Rather than the mother feeling instantly a deep rooted attachment to the newborn child Plath depicts a mother who sees the child as more of an object than a person through a very standoff mentality but eventually that mother softens to the child to think in a more tender way. This process is depicted through someone growing into their role as a parent by the use of concrete ideas as comparative tools and simplistic languages. Now to begin with the first and second stanzas while these two stanzas paint the scene for a new born child and the dots who are present at the birth it does so in a unique way. The reader learns that the baby cried and after the midwife slapped the footsaults and that the people in attendance voiced their reactions for their arrival but beyond these relatively typical factors of a baby being born there are the less standard details that surface within the chosen vernacular. For instance in the first line of the poem the baby is compared to a fat gold watch. This is a really unusual description that connect to a child and it can confuse the reader. This process is based on time. From waiting for the baby for the baby to watching the child grow the concept of utilising a time relative item like a watch makes sense. Even the poem itself is based on the notion that the mother needs time to develop form-eternal feelings so beginning the stanzas with that concrete connection is effective. The adjectives using these stanzas to describe the watch are also telling since it's labelled as fat which is used by people to indicate to that baby has rounded cheeks and a healthy appearance. In addition the narrator calls the watch gold which can be taken as a subtle indication that the child has of great value to the mother despite the mother not feeling quite as maternal as she will in later verses. While the emotions might take time to reveal themselves that clearly exists somewhere under the surface. Regardless of the gold indication though the clear aspects of the current relationship between the mother and child are represented through the language that does not exclude to exude rather too much human emotion. The child's cry is linked to the inanimate elements and the baby is just like a statue in a draughty museum as the adults stand round blankly as walls after the bath birth. There's little to no humanity or deep expression found in those sentiments and this is a vernacular portrait of the lack of instinct the mother feels towards the child in these early moments. She rarely she clearly cares as evidenced by the gold but not in a vivid manner rather she's beholden the child in a way that's as rigid and concrete as the statue she's noted the child to be like. Now in the third third and fourth stanzas the initial declaration that the narrator's no more the baby's mother states precisely how the mother feels in regard to the child after the birth. Despite the value that's placed in the child when noted as gold the appreciation that the mother feels at this moment is comparable to the admiration a person might have for an artistic piece like the noted statue. However there's little personal attachment involved though the continuation of that thought in the second line of the third stanza does indicate that the narrator sees herself on some level in the child. Otherwise a mirror that reflects would not have been an effective metaphor. That bit of herself that the narrator notices however is tainted with a distance and lack of depth of emotion she feels towards the child like a cloud that distills images. The tone of the mother takes a harsher turn in the first line of the fourth stanza when she refers to the baby's moth breath. Since it feels like a complaint that the mother is making about having to care for the child what was noted as a distance tattoo is now being treated like a nuisance by the mother. Just as quickly as the notion surfaces though the wording takes another drastic turn by connecting that moth breath to flat pink roses. Pink roses are tied to tender emotions hence this is an indication that the mother is beginning to feel more maternal towards the child but still the process is gradual. This gradual quality is hinted in detail that the roses are flat pink which would give the impression that the color is not overly vivid but just hinted as if the feelings are only starting to provide the relationship any color. Another concept that shows the mother is developing a stronger bond with the child is the idea that she's no longer standing around blankly rather she's become involved with the child's care specifically waking to listen for the child's moth breath. Not only then is she near enough to the child to hear that breath but she's also making a point to be attentive to the child's needs. It's a step but a gradual one since the child currently seems like a far see in the mother's air. No doubt the word see would be a calming sound but the distance of it being far represents the distance the mother feels towards the child. In the fix that in six stanzas the reader can witness the mother becoming more interactive with the child as she stumbles from bed to care for the baby and she does so with both a heavy notion and one that's natural and reflected in the floral quality. This mention of heavy and floral is a contrasting pairing that reflects the mother's blossoming instincts and her lingering separation and the notion that she tends to the child while in a Victorian nightgown is relevant as well. What the reader can infer from this idea is that the narrator is stepping into her maternal role but she's also holding to more luxurious and self-indulgent concepts. It is progress but it happens while she maintains her own confidence status. Another hint that the mother is progressing is that she switches her labels in regard to the child from things that are inanimate like a statue to something that's actually alive like a cat. She has yet to grant a human label to this child but venturing into the territory of living reveals that her maternal instincts are developing however they haven't solidified. Another indication of this same quality is that while the baby's cry is earlier referred to as part of the elements it's now noted as a musical sound as the poem states a handful of notes. Additionally these notes are said to have more of a lively quality than the statue since the narrator labels them as clear vowels that rise like balloons. They're no longer distilled like the mirror reflection from a previous stanza instead they become clear as to be distinct and understandable and also cause a rising well of emotion with the mother that's noted in the balloon's visual. Now that she's thought of the baby in a more expressive way than a statue her maternal instincts can lift higher and these instincts are rising but here in this final stanza they keep lifting like balloons. The reader can't know if the instincts will continue to blossom until after the poem concludes. However the notion that they've going throughout the poem is evident as a narrator adjusts to motherhood. Diving into feelings of that process it seems is the purpose of this poem. Now the next poem is Long Distance Two by Tony Harrison. Now Tony Harrison is the English author of a number of poems and plays that he's penned in the 20th and 21st centuries. He's won multiple awards in recognition for his writing and he's additionally written lyrics hinting his varied abilities at manipulating words and measures and he currently lives in England. Now the poem itself Long Distance Two is a four-stander poem that deals with the irrational manifestations that grief can take. In his work Harrison relates the nonsensical approaches of the father and his child as a groove of the passing of at least one person and in both scenarios their mourning surfaces through actions are connected to the deceased in ways that simply don't make sense. Both the father and the child realise that these methods of coping can be seen as abnormal yet they continue with the same patterns of behaviours that manage the heartbreaks. In all this is a work that represents the idiosyncrasies of grief and it showcases them in such a relatable manner that the reader can arrive at what could be a shocking conclusion that there's nothing abnormal about treating grief in a nonsensible or abnormal way. Rather grief is a reaction to something barely understandable and dealing with it in ways that are not logical is somehow fitting in common. Now when it comes to the first stanza Harrison dives into the heart of the matter and that is death. Specifically the narrator's mother has passed away and after two years the narrator's father still behaved in part as if she were alive and well. For instance he made sure her slippers were heated as well as her side of the bed and he even went as far as to renew her transport pass. These details hint at a level of denial from the father as if he couldn't accept that his wife was gone and the tactics he employed to keep with the delusion are fairly large. He's not just keeping her picture he's treating her home and the life she left behind as though she'd simply stepped back into them. As it happens the method the father took to keep his wife near were directly tied to concepts that can be linked to losing someone that tend to see to work heat into his grooving through hot water bottles and gas can represent a person's feeling of cold emptiness upon losing someone close to them and the continued effort to insert heat into the midst of that groove can speak volumes in regards to the father's desperateness to throw out the coldness of his mourning. The void his wife has left behind is deep and frigid and he needed relief by any means. In addition keeping her transport pass active shows a connection to traveling a concept that relates a journey that occurs after life. Particularly if the father hoped that the wife was able to return to him in some form this transport detail reflects not only the general traveling idea but also his effort to make sure she was capable of making the troop. Sure she would need the transport to do these things but it can also be viewed as a metaphor. Now in the second stanza what was described as the father's tactics to maintain his delusion begin being treated with more ridicule. Whilst in the first stanza Harrison treats the details as simply given facts here the narration shifts into explaining whether actions were actually inconvenient. People permitted were not permitted rather to just drop in because the father needed time to clear away the mother's things and look alone. This speaks of a level of embarrassment that could be tied to his grief but it's just as likely that the father knows his grieving mechanisms aren't logical. There's no reason why his wife's shoes would be need to be warmed but he continued with the process anyway. This idea validates the sanity of the father even if the reader by this point had started to doubt it. Granted he dealt with this grief in a non-traditional way but he was mentally stable enough to know that he must hide his idiosyncrasies from the public eye. Others would never have understood. They would have probably ridiculed and so by grieving his habits his grieving habits rather remain hidden. The narrator however shows evidence in this stanza that they side with their father on the stance since the father's clearing away of her things is spoken of in a way that makes it seem unnecessary. To the narrator hiding evidence of the father's grief was treated in this scenario as though the poem states he was still raw love and as still his raw love was such a crime. The delivery of the wording indicates that such a belief was wrong since the line begins with as if which hints an imagined presumed state. Had Harrison chosen to say because this word choice would have been evidence that the narrator carried the belief that the father's grieving tactics were wrong. It seems then that the son or daughter of this father was watching the grief and could see the nonsensical approach. Perhaps deeper this understanding showed a shared comprehension of the grief meaning that only the father and child truly grasped the pain of the mother's passing. In the third stanza everything is taken that has been expressed about the father and his grief and it seems like it's all tossed aside. Even though the narrator knew about the father's methods of dealing with this grief and even hinted that they did not believe in this tactics was such a crime the beginning of the line of this section could be an indication that the father was actively trying to hide his mourning techniques from the narrator. The further as far this stanza could risk the disbelief of the narrator treading on his delusions. On closer inspection though something very different can be uncovered in the beginning of this stanza particularly the notion that can be inferred that the narrator told the father that he did not hold the same belief that she'd return but the father refused to accept that disbelief because he couldn't risk it. The other detail that's almost contradicted within this stanza it's the father's sanity. Already it was established that his cleaning up before company arrived showed he was mentally present but in this third stanza he seemed devoured by his delusions that his wife hadn't died rather she'd just popped out to get the tea and very soon he'd hear her keys scrape in the last o'clock from her return. Again though reconciliation between the stanzas ideas can be found and being told that the father couldn't risk the disbelief. He knew these things were not true and that's why he had to veer away from the disbelief. Knowing that the disbelief was valid would end lead to ending his mourning practices because there'd be no sense in them. The father knew his fantasies were not true just as he was not ready to let them go and that the delusions were as rusted as a lock with age and mistreatment he simply had to hang on to them longer. In essence this is not the tale of a man who's crazy from grief it's a tale of a man who is aware deep down that his wife was not coming home but embracing the notion that would have felt worse than living like the opposite was true. Now in the fourth stanza the perspective shifts mimicked in the rhyme scheme shifting from ABAB to OBBA and there's a change to the present tense so that the narrator is now referencing his own beliefs and grief rather than relaying the story of his fathers. Still though the idea behind holding the details of a person who has been taken by death is treated in the same way. There's no sense to the narrator in carrying on like the person is still alive or capable of returning to the narrator life ends with death and that's all. The person now being grieved as it happened seemed to be the father that was grieving earlier in that the narrator says the both haven't gone shopping. Considering the only two people referenced by the narrator in this poem specifically are his mother and father it's a safe assumption that these two are the ones that create the both element being grieved. Seemingly the dad has died and the narrator is now grieving that loss as well. Even knowing that there's no use in holding on to nonsensical grieving habits the narrator has taken the time to write the name on his new black black leather phone book and he still calls them. One could argue that this is a tendency that could occur out of habit but given the precursor that the narrator knows his parents haven't gone shopping it's almost as if it's a deliberate practice otherwise there'd be no need to qualify his beliefs before addressing the tendency since it would have been an honest mistake. As this stands the narrator saying he realizes there's no sense to his action but he keeps calling anyway. Like his father his grief is not manifesting in ways that make sense and also like his father he knows that his actions are illogical. Most of all though like his father he keeps grieving in the same way holding on to those little details of what remains when it comes to those passed on even though there's no rational argument that can validate the practice. Overall this poem addresses the lack of logic that lies behind grief through these two accounts. Morning seeing we need to Harrison does not have to be rational it just needs to be. The next poem in this collection is I wouldn't thank you for a Valentine by Liz Lockhead. Now Liz Lockhead is a 20th century poet from Scotland and she's explored playwriting as well. Her experience in the artistic world is not limited to these pursuits however as she's also been involved in television and also taught art and she currently lives in Glasgow. Now the poem I wouldn't thank you for a Valentine is what would appear to be a series of criticisms in regard to methods of expressing infection on Valentine's Day in that she journeys through things she would seemingly not appreciate. A careful examination of the word chose in this poem though creates a playful atmosphere that's too dominant to overlook and that amusement in presentation follows the poem nearly from start to finish. As the poem is so clouded in that bantering feel the genuineness of most of her declarations is brought down to a running joke that concludes when she notes that she would not provide thank you for these gestures but would instead melt. Essentially Lockhead has created a four stanza work of an almost satirical nature in that the informality and casualness reveal that her complaints are ingest and that she would in fact appreciate gestures. Now the first stanza begins by setting the bar for the rest of the poem and what sounds like what's a stubborn or spiteful regard of the typical gestures of love like red roses or satin hearts. In fact the first two lines are potentially the strongest statements regarding the idea since the speaker seems to set her standard without hesitation. No questions are asked. The speaker tells a certain someone that the valentine will not gain a thank you nor shall you sleep waiting on the postman to deliver the gift. A deeper inspection into the vernacular occurring in the stanza however reveals a less sincere quality to the seemingly harsh attitude. Specifically the speaker references a stick sickly saccharine quality connected to the satin hearts and that most of the comic imagery provides a humorous element to the verse. The very description of that saccharine uses alliteration and the rhyming of back-to-back syllables both of which contribute of playful edge to the phrasing. By line three of this poem the reader has encountered evidence that the aggressive tone is not sincere. Further elements of that stanza of this stanza with that in mind can take on a romantic connotation since the reader can assume that the speaker has been playful for instance the poem states. I'd not bother to swither over who sent them. While it could mean she does not care who sent them it can also suddenly mean that she does not wonder who sent them because she already knows. That understanding of knowledge adds solidity to the relationship in question and boots the level of romanticism happening within these lines. Still as if she's striving towards a punchline she ends the stanza with the repeated notion that Valentine would not earn a thank you. Now in the second stanza the stanza takes a playful edge to a new level by bringing in grammatical errors and confusing word choices that move the tone from a formal scolding to joking banter. This trait is especially apparent into these two lines. I can I be bothered deciphering it? I'm up to here with a more. Using the word canny in place of cannot and here instead of here shows that little effort is going into building grammatically accurate portrayals of her feelings. Clearly the states the concept to an informal status since a person likely wouldn't choose such word choices in a formal setting. Recall after all that none of these errors surface in the first stanza hinting that these issues are not accidents in the part of someone who doesn't know how to tend to words rather it seems to be a deliberate choice in the part of the narrator to build a mused atmosphere. From that line the speaker dives into the commercial quality of the holiday which could be viewed as a method of taking the argument of not giving a thank you to societal level. If that were the case bringing in this element of the topic would feel like solidifying her stance on not providing that thank you because she would be referring to a larger scale concept as a solid rationalization for why she wouldn't appreciate the gestures. As it stands though the playful edge has already been noted so presenting the information is not to actually prove her point but to jokingly support the ingenuine notion at work. Her continued insistence that she will not thank the giver for the gestures increases in playful tone as she declares the same informal manner that it wouldn't take more than singing telegrams to impress her. The wording is so casual that the reader could picture these words being uttered through smiling lips and with the speaker's chin held high in fake haughtiness. The vision is joking through and through and even though she ends the stanza as well with the notion that the thank you is not coming the bantering nature of the stanza assures that something other than negativity is approaching. Now when it comes to the third stanza the stanza deals with the notion of getting a Valentine's present in a manner that's too informal to be strong sincere argument particularly when the speaker describes the ad that was soppy by giving pet names and cute language for the possible message. The wording is so far fetched and informal that it builds the informal and ingenuine nature of the speaker's complaints. This can be viewed from a basic perspective of logic in that if a person was sincerely scolding or warning someone about something that scolder would not want to have the person being scolded smiling if the message was intended as a harsh criticism of methods. If the complaint were genuine and deep it would reasonably be dealt with in a manner that's sterner to get the point across. However in the line after this fozy bear fiasco there's presented the first element of the poem's phrasing that feels like it might be genuine since the speaker is no longer simply claiming that a thank you would not come or that more needs to be done to get her attention. Rather she directly states she would detest the notion. It's possible that this is an actual line she's drawing on in the scenario and if such is the case this action can be viewed as the baseline with which a significant other should work. All of the other things she's joked about but since this one merits a specific comment of such negative fashion perhaps she's sneaking in a genuine she's sneaking in rather a genuine guideline for a significant other to follow. If this is a valid hypothesis the reader also has their own baseline because they can now see how the speaker handles details in what truly merits warning. Since this is the only concept that's been labeled worthy of detest the reader is free to assume that none of the other factors brought into the discussion are honest criticisms. Now in the fourth stanza this stanza delivers the anticipated punchline. It states that she'd melt instead of say thank you. If that logic is applied to the poem as a whole all of the things that are noticed as not able to earn gratitude from her word and truth merit more than a thank you. She's never meant that she wouldn't appreciate them except perhaps that she would detest them maybe but Ashji she's hinting that their effect on her would be much deeper than a simple thank you instead should be overcome and she would simply melt. The argument could be made that this notion of melting only applies to everything that follows a large declaration of what she would not appreciate. With that in mind the only things that would cause her to melt would be the plain the flimsy clothing and the postcard. Given how many informal tactics are used early in the poem though this theory loses merit such effort has been made by the speaker to create the casual playful environment so it stands to reason that most of her earlier criticisms are not genuine. Also recall that the thank you that would never come has been consistently brought back to memory so the sudden change of the notion has a structural connection to every stanza that came before it. Every time the speaker has declared that she would not provide a thank you it feels like it has led to this moment making this an applicable detail to every stanza that has referenced that idea. The overall atmosphere of the poem then is a playful delivery of what could be taken as an authentic criticism of Valentine elements but that playfulness is the very reason that the reader can infer that the stanzas of criticism are a running joke that only run its course when the reader comes to the conclusion detail that the gestures would meld the speaker. With that declaration the reader can now assume that the appreciation for most of the gestures would be deeper than a simple thank you. Now the next poem is In Paris With You by James Fenton. Now James Fenton is an English author and poet and he's previously added as an Oxford professor of poetry which is a prestigious on the teaching are one of the most famous and respected universities. He also works as a literary critic writing for noble publications such as The Guardian, Independent Newspapers and he's also won the favourite Memorial Prize. Now the poem itself In Paris With You is ostensibly about a person who we presume has recently split from the lover and is enjoying a fling in Paris. It's clear that the person wants to live in the present and, as the poem states, live for the moment. Perhaps this is escapism for the narrator or a way of reclaiming the life after what one might assume was a messy breakup. The narrator doesn't talk about the sadness of the lost relationship but they still do so in a fairly light-hearted tone. It seems like they're trying to move on with their life and in the refrain I'm in Paris with you and this is the way of reminding themselves that they've moved on. Now when it comes to the first answer straight away we see the use of rhyme which not only gives the poem an attractive rhythm but helps put across the humour. From this opening line one might assume that the poem is going to be a somber affair however this isn't the case. He uses colloquial language for example I've had an airfall. Clearly this person is not in a place where they're interested in love. This lets credence to the idea that the person has recently probably been through a breakup. The next two lines could come across as little melodramatic but the playful misspelling of marooned in order to force the rhyme to gives the lines a glibness that helps us feel sorry for the character and we reason that yes he's hurt and he is hamming up his feelings but in a playful way. The last line of the stanza but I'm in Paris with you is repeated several times and it acts as a refrain. We question could this be the narrator trying to convince themselves that they're over the former lover? Are they constantly reminding themselves that they're moving on? Now in the second stanza it could be construed that the narrator is addressing the concerns of the person that they are with. It's clear the narrator has been through the ringer. He is seemingly trying to reassure the partner that they're not taking advantage of him. It's in this stanza that it's revealed that the narrator is in fact on the rebound which is basically trying to get over a previous break up by being with other people. There's a quirky choice of words as the narrator uses the word bound to denote their location but this has sexual connotations of being tied up. Once while we see the refrain about being in Paris with you at the end of the stanza. Now in the third stanza this stanza is slightly longer than the others. There are no periods or breaks in the stanza and it moves at a break-neck pace. This imitates a narrator's emotions perhaps being a little bit sheepish and awkward which is unsurprising seeing as in this stanza he's effectively requesting that the blow off the sight they're seeing in order to presumably end the day having sex. Now in the fourth stanza it's notable that the narrator refers to doing this and that which one would assume is a euphemism for sex but then says to what and whom we question if he's referring to himself as a what or rather to his partner. In that case is he therefore dehumanizing someone? Perhaps this could be down to an element of guilt. There's further evidence to support this self-discovery as the narrator adds learning what I am. This once again is an interesting choice of the words as the narrator doesn't know who they are but what they are. In the fifth stanza we see the narrator repeat the line don't talk to me of love and then they repeat this refrain. This gives the opening line a reflective quality and can be seen to signify a slight change in the poem's timeline. The stanza also offers an interesting contrast to the previous stanza which offers a list of glamorous locations Paris has to offer from the Louvre to the Champs-lese and that compares in this stanza to cracked ceilings and flaky paint. In this stanza the phrase I'm in Paris almost acts as a euphemism for being an ecstasy. The narrator lists the things that bring him about to that state including the partner's eyes, mouth and all point south once again a euphemism. Now the next poem is Warming Her Pearls by Caroline Duffy. So Caroline Duffy is one of the UK's current leading poets and she's a poet laureate and one of the foremost voices in contemporary poet. She's from Glasgow and she currently lives in Manchester. Now the poem itself Warming Her Pearls is a central poem in which a servant girl reveals her love for her mistress as she describes Warming Her Pearls throughout the day in order that they can be warm for a mistress to wear that evening. Apparently this was a common practice in Edwardian and Victorian England because the luster of pearls was seemingly improved by body heat. It was after hearing this piece of trivia from a friend that Duffy felt inspired to write this poem. The poem is a dramatic monologue where we're privy to the private thoughts of a servant girl and she ruminates longingly about the lady for whom she works. It's set out in six stanzas of four lines each. Most signs contain 10 syllables although there are some which are 11 or 12. This could suggest an overflowing of emotions from the servant as she dreams of her mistress. There is no rhyme scheme. Now in the first stanza the intimacy of the relationship between the servant girl and her mistress is evident in the first line next to my own skin her pearls. It's impossible to read those words quickly. We feel how the girl savours the feeling of the necklace against her own skin and the use of the possessive pronouns placed together seem to load this act with meaning. We get an immediate sense of the physical closeness between these women although they're divided by class the daily life zone intertwined by the intimate gestures that they share. In the second stanza we then read of the daily occupations of the lady. She has weighty decisions to take while she rests in the yellow room which count night she asks. The capitalisation of the rooms so the yellow room suggests that there are many rooms in the house perhaps there's also a blue room perhaps or a red room. Certainly there's wealth and prestige because she's contemplating silk or tefeta which are luxurious fabrics. The image of the mistress that she fans herself while her servant works willingly could be seen as sensual. Does the mistress experience these erotic thoughts too and is thus fanning herself to call her feelings? We wonder this as we read the poem. Duffy also gives us a sensual image of the servant that she works my slow heat entering each power as the poem states. There's something animalistic about this as though she's marking the necklace with her warmth her heat and her scent. The girl admits that she's happy to work willingly such is her desire to please. The next line slack on my neck her rope suggests that the mistress has quite literally a hold on the servant and she's in the position of power but the servant is also so enthralled by her that she wants to do her bidding. In the third stanza the servant is open about her admiration and fixation. The opening short sentence she's beautiful shows in fact that the servant is in love with the lady. When she's out dancing with tall men her servant dreams that she will be distracted by her own scent upon the pearls. She wants her mistress to be puzzled by her faint and persistent smell. This clever use of oxymoron shows the lingering quality of the musk which infuses the pearls. Just as a servant spends time fantasizing about her mistress she wants this feeling to be mutual. The strength of her attraction is mirrored by her scent which is evident despite the French perfume. The reader does feel sorry for the servant girl who's relegated to her attic bed while the mistress is out dancing dressed in her finery. The metaphor used at the end of this stanza to describe the pearls as her milky scent milky stones gives them another distinctly feminine earthly quality. It makes them appear more porous as though they would easily absorb her heat and warmth. Now in the fourth stanza the readers wonder how firm the strokes from a rabbit's foot must be if they cause such a blush on the firm skin of her shoulders. She uses a simile like an indolent sigh which suggests a sigh of pleasure. The experience is obviously a sensual one for the servant and we're not wholly convinced that this isn't for her mistress too. It's now though we get the first indications of the servant's frustration. She wants to give voice to her passion but can't. There's something undeniably sensual in this image of her red lips caught in the looking glass. They part but she stops herself disclosing how she feels. Now in the fifth and sixth stanzas the fifth stanza opens the two word sentence full moon and the image of a full moon is synonymous with sexuality and femininity. The mistress is delivered back to the ground house in her carriage and we imagine her servant listening as the door slams and imagining her every move. There's again a sense of ritual as she takes the jaws off and returns them to the case. There's also the sense that the connection is lost. While the servant dreams of her she replaces the pearls and snaps the case shut signifying their relationship is nothing more than that of a typical mistress and servant. The lips is in line two in line one of the next stanzas show how she savers every image in her head as her mistresses strobes before. The poem states slipping naked into bed the way she always does. The use of enjambement here shows the girl relishing these images before the lips is bringing a more wistful tone as she keenly feels her solitude. She's alone without even the comfort of her pearls which her cooling downstairs. She's trapped in the torment of unrequited love. Now the next poem in this collection is dusting the phone by Jackie K. So Jackie K was born to a Scottish mother and Nigerian father in Edinburgh in 1961 however she was adopted as a baby by Helen and John K. The family lives in Glasgow and John at the time worked full time for the Communist Party of Great Britain and Helen was a Scottish secretary of the campaign for nuclear disarmament. The poet Jackie K has drawn on her unconventional upbringing in her poetry and described it with humor and great affection in her autobiography. Now when it comes to the poem itself dusting the phone it's a free verse poem and that's written as a monologue for a woman yearning for a single phone call from the man she loves. The poem explores how person thought process can be so disturbed as a result of obsessing over one thing. It also discusses the importance of being honest with yourself and admitting your deepest thoughts and desires to yourself so that you can find a way to move forward with your life. Now on the first stanza it presents a character who seems to be obsessing over her relationship. The title alone gives the reader the context of this poem. The character is obviously waiting for a phone call that means a lot to her. The first line sets the tone of the poem by informing the reader that this character spends her time lost in her thoughts and mostly focuses on negatives instead of positives. The character is evidently speaking to herself throughout this entire poem thinking up reasons why her phone isn't ringing. The second line tells the reader she's quite aware of the fact that it's not healthy for her to be making up scenarios in her head of the worst possible reason she's not getting the call she's so desperately waiting for. The reader also becomes aware that this is about a romantic relationship as the character confesses to being in love. The third line goes on to tell the reader that she does actually have good things happening in her life that she could focus on but she's choosing to focus on the thing that's consuming her, a pending phone call. In the second stanza it begins with the words the phone rings, perhaps a play on the minds of the reader who begin to share the waiting game for the phone call with the speaker. However, this is still thoughts in the character exposing that the phone ringing could literally mean many things especially disastrous things. The placement of the word sirens between two full stops stresses how intense this thought is for her. She can literally hear the sirens in her head assuming that when the phone call eventually rings it'll be bad news. Line 5 flips to the other side as she begins to think about the situation in which the phone doesn't ring at all which would turn out to be its own form of disaster and again she hears sirens. Line 6 continues with her thoughts as she expresses her concerns that if this caller is unable to call then nobody would call her and she'll never know what happened. Through these lines it's obvious that the character is disturbed and so the thoughts in her head are jumping to every conclusion possible in order to find a thought that may pacify her racing brain and heart. The third stanza looks as if it's centered on the hopes she once had for her future. She claims the future's long gloved hand implying elegance and suggesting that one can never really tell where it's headed. She then quickly moves on to calling it an empty cup to emphasize the unpredictability of life and what it could hold but also say that she sees her future being an empty cup. Where she had dreamt of a marriage in a house full of children those rooms and ideas were left like an empty cup because the closest she got was a partner being with her once a week. She's calling him a stranger here because she's stressing the fact that she feels she doesn't know him anymore seeing that he doesn't call. This stanza ends with her saying forget tomorrow since she's no control over where her thoughts are jumping. She doesn't want to think about her broken dreams and so is just forgetting what she wanted for her future and it seems like it's the easiest solution for her. Now the first of the fourth stanza displays how obsessive this character is about her situation. Still speaking to herself she taunts herself by telling herself that even though she says no to mention of love she tries but it just doesn't work. In 9-11 she confesses to herself that she's assaulted the postman in hopes of communication in the form of a letter or even a delivery of flowers. She continues to acknowledge that she replays her time together in the head reliving the moments by reading into every move she can remember. This stanza is important because it touches on the idea that in order to get over and pass a difficult situation in life one must be honest with him or herself as to realize exactly what the situation is that's causing the problem and one must assess exactly how emotionally invested they are in case they can develop the strategy to compose and rebuild themselves after they eventually let it all go. Now in the fifth stanza it begins with the character reminding herself that she's still waiting on the phone. Line 14 begins with a fragment of her thoughts. It states silver service which is basically a method of serving food and it's mentioned here to convey the reality of the character's situation. She's not just sitting there waiting for a call in her head but her actions also show that she's desperately waiting for the call. She claims her prepared meals polished dishes dressed as if expecting for his arrival. Who knows exactly how many times. Her entire existence appears to be hanging on the idea that he will call. He'll come back to her. Line 15 is fundamentally a plea trying to tempt a significant other by announcing that she will pour herself into doing extra for him in return for his call. This stanza truly presents the desperation and longing that the character is indulged in. Now the sixth stanza starts quite fittingly with the word infuriatingly. The reader's quite aware of the fact that the character's infuriated by her situation. Instead of being upset at the man who's not calling she's infuriated at the phone. She claims that it tricks her. She receives calls from wrong numbers and boring people. It appears people or others appear boring to her because they don't have anything to say that could interest her. She just wants one thing and the one thing alone for her significant other to reach out to her. Line 17 moves forward by having her acknowledge that she longs to hear his voice and she can only hear it when she lies in bed alone missing his presence. The seventh stanza is very important because the character is coming to a conclusion. She admits she's trapped in the obsession of waiting for his call. She's so trapped that she feels as though she can't even move. Her design longing for him is constant and it stays passionate. She describes the situation as awful and her mind jumps to the thought that all she has is one single picture of him. Her attention quickly shifts back to the phone which she curses at to ring and she wants to threaten it within all routes. But what consequence could she really give an inanimate object? The desperation of her yearning and pining is so powerful in this stanza that the reader can't help but hope with her that the phone will ring. If it doesn't ring the reader just like the character in the poem will never get closure. Now in the final stanza the eighth stanza is just a single line. This not only concludes the poem but also the reader's access to the mind and thoughts of the character in the poem. I don't know what is the line that the poem ends with and it signifies that the character doesn't know what she can do to make that phone ring with a call she's desperately waiting for and also that now the reader doesn't know what will become of the girl who waits and waits dusting the phone in hopes of contact from the one she loves. So that's all. If you enjoyed this video do subscribe and give our channel a thumbs up. Also visit our website www.firstrate tutors.com There you'll find useful original guides model answers written at an A grade level and exam papers that you can use to practice. Thank you so much for listening.