anthology poems

• When we two parted

  In silence and tears,

  Half broken-hearted

  To sever for years
• • he silence expressed in the poem suggests many hidden emotions that are not openly shared, either because the separation was not mutual or because there was a secret or forbidden aspect to the relationship
  • The image of being “half broken-hearted” conveys Byron's sentiment that a part of him has been lost or irreparably damaged due to the separation
  • The term “sever” evokes a sense of violence and emphasises the emotional trauma resulting from their separation
• Pale grew thy cheek and cold,

  Colder thy kiss;

  Truly that hour foretold

  Sorrow to this

  • The woman's fading love and passion for him is indicated through symbols of death, specifically paleness and coldness
  • These symbols serve as a metaphor for her dying emotions towards him
  • Looking back on the past, the speaker comes to the realisation that the downfall of their relationship was foreshadowed by their partner's cold behaviour towards them
  • It is now clear that their relationship was doomed from that moment onwards
• The speaker: 'The dew of the morning

  Sunk chill on my brow—

  It felt like the warning

  Of what I feel now.'
• If I should meet thee

     After long years,

  How should I greet thee? -

     With silence and tears.”

  • The poem’s conclusion sees the speaker turning his attention to the future and he questions how he would react if he were to see the subject of the poem again
  • Eventually, he concludes that he would be left feeling speechless and tearful
  • The repetition of the phrase “silence and tears” used earlier in the poem to describe their initial parting, is used to emphasise that the speaker’s pain would remain just as strong, highlighting the lasting emotional impact of their separation
• The fountains mingle with the river

   And the rivers with the Ocean,

  • Shelley’s poem begins with typical Romantic imagery relating to the natural world
  • Shelley shows nature as harmonious
• “The winds of Heaven mix for ever

    With a sweet emotion;” 

  •  Shelley links nature and emotion, creating a sensual mood
  • The lines introduce religious imagery to strengthen his philosophical debate
• Nothing in the world is single;

   All things by a law divine

  In one spirit meet and mingle

  • These lines link to the title of the poem, Love’s Philosophy, as Shelley’s speaker asserts a simple message that love is governed by a sacred law of nature
  • Shelley alludes to Romantic ideas of the spiritual nature of love

  Line 8
• See the mountains kiss high heaven

    And the waves clasp one another


   Shelley’s speaker directs the listener to see nature linked to intimate, physical love
• And the sunlight clasps the earth

   And the moonbeams kiss the sea:”

  Translation

  • he speaker describes powerful contrasting imagery to show the natural connection between day and night 
  • Shelley connects the sensual imagery of nature with love to show love’s simple and natural nature
• “I listened with heart fit to break.

  When glided in Porphyria; straight

  She shut the cold out and the storm,”

  • Here, the speaker suggests painful emotions, reflected by the dark storm outside
  • However, the arrival of his lover seems to bring relief as she closes the door on the storm 
  • It is worth noting that Porphyria is a disease which brings hallucinations
  • The reference to her “gliding” creates a supernatural quality to her character which could indicate a vision or sense of jealous madness
• Murmuring how she loved me — she

   Too weak, for all her heart's endeavour,

  To set its struggling passion free

  From pride, and vainer ties dissever,

  And give herself to me for ever.”

  • The speaker is aware of Porphyria’s passion and desire for him
  • The speaker’s emotions begin to get the better of him as he begins to consider her weaknesses (her lack of commitment to him) which he sees as vain
  • This presents his jealousy as stronger than his love for her
• Use of the word "worshipped"


  Presents the extreme desire and imbalance within the relationship which grows as he decides what to do about it
• He confirms that he takes pleasure in his control of her
• Browning hints at the speaker's sense of pride, suggesting his narcissism rather than feelings of love for her
• The speaker is rational in the midst of her seduction, shifting the power back to the speaker and alluding to the disharmony of their relationship
• In one long yellow string I wound

  Three times her little throat around,”

  • The calm and deliberate tone here presents the control and power of the speaker
  • The speaker emphasises her small stature to present her physical vulnerability and shock readers at his abuse of power
• “And strangled her. No pain felt she;

   I am quite sure she felt no pain.”

  • Browning begins to present an unstable narrator to emphasise the speaker’s madness and delusion evoked by jealous love
  • The speaker justifies his actions by repeating she is not hurt
• As a shut bud that holds a bee,

   I warily oped her lids: again

   Laughed the blue eyes without a stain.”

  • The speaker again shows his cruel madness as he pretends she is alive
  • He describes his actions as natural and loving, although the image is violent
  • Browning connects passion with death and danger, presenting complex and destructive relationship
• And thus we sit together now,

   And all night long we have not stirred,

   And yet God has not said a word

  • The speaker’s insanity is clear as the poem ends, showing desire and jealousy leading to tragedy
  • Browning’s speaker ends the poem suggesting, arrogantly, that he has got away with murder: his blasphemous statement suggests God accepts his actions
• hree summers since I chose a maid,

  Too young maybe—but more’s to do

  At harvest-time than bide and woo

  • Mew’s speaker adopts a matter-of-fact tone to describe his marriage
  • He suggests his work as a farmer is more important than his bride or their relationship
  • Here, Mew, illustrates how the relationship is not based on love; the bride is there to serve a function
  • Mew foreshadows its doomed fate by suggesting the relationship is imbalanced and forced
• Like the shut of a winter’s day

  Her smile went out, and ’twadn’t a woman—

  More like a little frightened fay.”

  • These lines show the farmer’s deep reflections on his bride’s emotions
  • He seems aware of her fear, yet reluctant or unable to act upon it
  • Mew’s farmer speaks in a colloquial dialect, suggesting perhaps his simple nature and a lack of social sophistication
• All in a shiver and a scare

  We caught her, fetched her home at last

  And turned the key upon her, fast.”

  • Mew’s poem takes a sinister tone as readers see the violent action of the villager and the farmer toward the frightened girl
  • He seems relieved to have her home and less concerned with the assault on her or her own wishes
  • Mew questions societal values regarding gender roles and marital codes of conduct: the farmer narrates this aggression as if it is normal