porphyrias lover

• “That moment she was mine, mine, fair, / Perfectly pure and good”

  • Repetition of “mine, mine”: Suggests possessiveness and obsession
  • Alliteration – “perfectly pure”: Emphasises his idealised, almost delusional view of her. He romanticises her, ignoring her autonomy.
  • Irony: He describes her as “pure and good” at the very moment he’s about to kill her, creating a chilling contrast between love and violence
• “When glided in Porphyria; straight / She shut the cold out”

  • verb “glided” suggests that Porphyria moves gracefully and almost supernaturally, creating an ethereal and idealised image of her. It places her in a position of power and control
  • “Shut the cold out”: This is literal (she physically warms the cottage) but also symbolic — she brings comfort, warmth, and love
  • Contrast: Later, the speaker becomes the one to take control — killing her to “preserve” the moment
• “Blushed bright beneath my burning kiss”

  • Alliteration – : The repeated ‘b’ sounds create a soft, intimate rhythm, but also a sinister intensity, hinting at the speaker’s emotional and physical obsession.
  • “Blushed”: Traditionally associated with modesty, love, or arousal, but here it’s deeply disturbing — she blushes after death, showing the speaker’s delusion
  • “Burning kiss”: Suggests passion, but also has connotations of violence and destruction — his love is so intense it’s overpowering and harmful
  • Psychological insight: The line reflects the speaker’s madness, as he reads signs of life and love into a dead body,
• "God has not said a word!"

  • use of an exclamation mark reveals the speaker’s justification and relief — he sees no divine punishment for the murder, which he interprets as approval.
  • Religious reference: Invoking God adds a moral dimension. The speaker implies that since God has stayed silent, his actions must be righteous or at least unpunished.
  • irony: The lack of divine intervention is not confirmation of innocence, but rather an ominous silence.
• form

  Dramatic monologue:

  • The poem is a first-person narrative spoken by a disturbed, obsessive lover.
  • allows the reader deep insight into the speaker’s thoughts, revealing his delusion and madness
  • Unreliable narrator:
  • Because the speaker presents only his own perspective, we must read between the lines to see the reality of his actions
• rhyme scheme

  • Rhyme scheme: ABABB throughout (a consistent 5-line stanza structure).This tight rhyme scheme reflects the speaker’s mental control, but also his obsessive and claustrophobic mindset.
  • Meter: Largely iambic tetrameter The steady, rhythmic beat mirrors the calm, rational tone he uses — even while describing insane acts, which makes them even more disturbing
• structure

  Single, continuous stanza :

  • Reflects the speaker’s unbroken flow of thought — obsessive, rambling, and without pause.
  • The lack of stanzas may also represent the trapped, inescapable fate of Porphyria
  • volta: The shift happens at “That moment she was mine, mine” — it marks the transition from passive longing to violent action.
  • Beginning: The storm outside reflects the speaker’s emotional turmoil.