Love and Friendship

• Frame for analysis

  • Subject Matter
  • Tone
  • Organisation
  • Style
  • Final Achievement
• Themes

  • Love -> "...wild rose-briar"
  • Friendship -> "...like a holly tree"
  • Seasons -> "...sweet in spring"
• What quote shows the volta of the poem?

  "And who will call the wild briar fair?"
• What is the main subject matter of the poem?

  Bronte compares love and friendship by emphasising love's fleeting excitement and transient nature, opposing that of friendship's evergreen.
• In what form has Bronte written the poem?

  Three quatrains.
• State the rhyme scheme and it's structural importance

  It follows the 'abcb' scheme in the 1st and 2nd stanza

  In the 1st and 3rd lines, it half-rhymes 'spring' and 'again'

  Final stanza uses full rhymes and clear 'abab' scheme

  This mirrors changes in romantic love starting from new and unusual to then fading into consistency and routine.
• "Which will bloom most constantly"
• "It's summer blossoms scent the air"
• "Then scorn the silly rose-wreath now"
• "He still may leave thy garland green"
• context points

  • Bronte lived in the countryside
  • shy and reclusive nature and known as 'weird'
  • often spent time in the hills
  • explores aspects of humanity and nature in her work
• language

  • monosyllabic words
  • sibilance
  • personified 'he' at the end alluding to a human friend
  • superficially straight-forward structure and vocab offering depth with other literary techniques
• What is a key feature of the poem?

  It's use of an extended metaphor of nature throughout