I will compare three different poems: "My Box" by Gillian Clarke, "Valentine" by Carol Ann Duffy, and "Shall I compare Thee. ... ?" (Sonnet 18) by William Shakespeare. In my essay I will discuss the language, imagery, style, rhythm, and many other aspects used to construct each of the poems. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The modern poem “My Box” written by Gillian Clarke, in essence, is about the gift of a box from a man to a woman. The first line "my box is made of golden oak, my lover's gift to me." Clarke introduces the characters, the lover and the narrator. 'He fitted hinges, a brass lock and a shiny key. This verse has a sort of naivety because it is composed of monosyllables, furthermore, when read it seems like a word is missing between 'brilliant and 'key'. This may be intended to emphasize the writer's youth at this point in the poem. "He made it on winter nights, sanded, oiled and planed, engraved inside a heavy brass lid, a golden tree." Due to the emphasis of "and" in its repetition four times within the first stanza, this shows that the man had obviously spent a lot of time on the box. In the second stanza, the poet goes on to describe what the woman did with the box. "In my box are twelve black books in which I wrote how we sanded, oiled and planed, planted a garden, built a wall, saw jays and golden crests, rare red kites, found wild seasickness, dug a well, picked apples, words and days and planted a golden tree. This stanza is written as a list informing the reader of what they have done as a couple memories written in books, perhaps a diary. This also shows how short life is because his entire life as a couple is written in just twelve books. Each of the things in the list seems to be metaphors for what normally happens within a relationship. For example, "build a wall" would be; perhaps they had bought their own house. 'Planting a golden tree would mean life; old and mature, because it faces the death. «I keep my box on an open shelf. Its key is in the lock, this means that the box is accessible to anyone who wants to read it. Therefore black books must be read by people so that they know how much devotion and love couples have for each other. is directed at her husband, and "Their is perhaps directed at the children to allow them to relive their memories once they die." “How everything is done slowly,” probably refers to the relationship and how it took a long time it's time to make it real. 'How slowly things created me, a tree, a lover, words, a box, books and a golden tree. She's saying how all these things made her a person. 'A tree represents a possible family tree, which has stability in its life. 'A lover signifies the good and bad experiences that couples generally have. "Words are what you say to people and how they affect you and them. In the last stanza it also says that 'words were gathered.' 'A box represents her whole life with her partner and her experiences 'The books are the twelve books he wrote in which his memories are shown. The golden tree is the core of the poem, it is a metaphor of love and how it was nurtured by a seed, deals with experiences. good and bad and how it blossoms into something beautiful. Throughout the poem,it seems that the poet intentionally shows the woman aging. At the beginning of the poem, Clarke writes as if the woman is young in the relationship. In the second verse it is as if the woman had married and had children. So the last stanza is like the end of the woman's life, but certainly not the end of the relationship because she believes that her experiences will live on through the books. I feel that the poet is trying to portray that life is short but memories will always outlast them. "Valentine", a contemporary poem written by Carol Ann Duffy, is a poem that uses an extended metaphor about giving an onion to her lover. The poem opens with the negative line: "Not a red rose or a heart of satin." From this first line of the poem, readers know that the poem will be negative because it begins with "no." The first line is not part of a stanza so I feel the poet did this for emphasis and effect. The poem begins by telling you what it isn't and then what it is. I'll give you an onion. Duffy is deliberately original here in giving an onion, as an onion is not usually associated with a love poem, so it immediately grabs the reader's attention. «It's a moon wrapped in brown paper. It promises light like the careful undressing of love. He uses the moon as a metaphor, as this is a contrast, as opposed to the onion, as it is a typical representation of love. Duffy begins the second verse with a single phrase "Here." This almost feels forced and once again grabs the readers attention because it has one syllable, and when read, a breath is taken before and after, creating a dramatic pause. «He will blind you with tears like a lover. It will turn your reflection into a shaky photo of pain. Everyone knows that onions make you cry when not handled properly, and Duffy likens the expected consequence of handling an onion to the fragile structure of love. Again Duffy uses a single line to emphasize the meaning and mood. «I'm trying to be honest. It's almost as if Duffy is responding to an unenthusiastic comment from her lover by declaring its authenticity and truth. Below this line is another single one, “Not a pretty card or a kissogram.” Duffy once again uses a negative technique to start the serve. This phrase once again states that an onion is not a typical meaningless gift. In the next verse, Duffy repeats the phrase once again, "I'll give you an onion." This is repeated to ensure the reader can see what the underlying message is. Also to remind readers how irregular the gift is. 'His fierce kiss will remain on your lips, possessive and faithful as we are, for as long as we are. Duffy is saying that the onion is so strong and so spicy that it will have a lingering flavor. He compares it not just to a kiss but to their entire relationship. Duffy begins his last verse with a single phrase “Take it.” This gives the impression that it is an order; it also makes the reader aware. The next line that follows: “Her platinum rings shrink to a wedding ring, if you will.” This describes the characteristics of an onion that as you get closer to the center of the onion, the intensity increases and what you are left with are rings that look like a wedding ring. This shows that as one gets closer to the center of a relationship, marriage becomes an option. "If you want." The next line again uses the technique and effect of a single phrase, "Lethal." This is quite obscure because the meaning of lethal in the dictionary is "to cause death", either Duffy wants readers to think that marriage will eventually lead to death or divorce, or she wrote this sarcastically to the lover, perhaps he thinks marriage is meaningless and she is writing is mocking. «His perfumeit will stick to your fingers, it will stick to your knife. She is stating that love has such a possessive hold on her, that it clings to her. The irregularity of the poem in all aspects, especially the pattern, I feel adds to the theme of the poem that love has problems and is not just perfect and regular. This poem can be interpreted in many different ways, but my personal interpretation is that it is partially sarcastic. My understanding of the poem is that perhaps her partner left her and yet she still had such strong feelings towards her. Maybe he didn't want to get married or left her because he was too obsessive. The mention of the knife finally brings out his feelings of pain and hatred. The poem has such an aggressive and violent vibe, so I think she is really passionate about the relationship or fanatical about him. The last poem I will talk about is the pre-19th century poem 'Shall I compare you... .?' by William Shakespeare.The form of the poem is a sonnet.This is made evident by the single verse consisting of 14 lines.This is also a love poem which expresses a particular idea, which in this case is mutability profound with beauty that changes and decays. The first line opens the poem with a rhetorical question that makes a comparison to a summer's day. In the second line it is then answered that this beautiful woman to whom the speaker addresses is indeed very ". more lovely" than "a summer's day". The poem contrasts greatly with "Valentino" as it is written in a happy and very positive tone with the purpose, in my opinion, to reflect and entertain. Throughout the poem there is a strong iambic pentametric rhythm and a very obvious alternating rhyme sequence, consisting of three quatrains and a rhyming couplet. In addition to this, Shakespeare uses many other techniques to help the reader understand love and meaning within the text . Alliteration is used on more than one occasion, such as "faire from faire" in line seven. Special techniques like this help the poem flow smoothly. Personification is also used wisely throughout the poem to help create images and images in your mind; such as, “too hot shines the eye of heaven” in line 5. Additionally, Shakespeare seems to use hyperbole in his writing, which adds to the strong sense of love that is present throughout the poem. The poem is written primarily using comparative language. Because it is written in the first person, it is also very personal and emotional, adding to the romantic atmosphere. This sonnet is also very flattering to anyone who is read as it describes her as immortal by saying, “Nor shall death boast that wondereth not in his shadow.” - line 11. Although this poem is generally about love for someone another and the atmosphere around this Old English writing is very romantic, I feel that it has a much deeper meaning. This is mainly due to the last line; “So long life this, and this gives you life.” This concludes the poem by stating the power of writing and how it is a memory that will never die. The rest of the poem just says how much this woman is greater than a summer's day because she has no flaws, such as "strong winds", but I feel like this slightly contrasting ending leaves people thinking about love in a new way and inspired. way.There are some similarities between the three poems. For starters, they're obviously all love poems. Every poem, in fact, shows love for one's companions. The tone of each poem is very different, however. In “My Box” the tone is a warm, autumnal feeling that is portrayed through warm-sounding words like “golden oak” and “heartheart.” “Valentine” has quite an aggressive vibe. This is due to all the single line sentences and sentences.