English

• when we two parted- “half broken-hearted to sever for years“

  • “half”= one sided- suggests he is the only one effected by the relationship. could also suggest he hasn’t fully come to terms with the break up as he’s only half heart broken
  • “sever“= could take a long time to recover the pain. also, they’re love is permanently over and he will never regain his love or her love again
• When we two parted turns and poems to compare it with

  • loss, death (relationship), memory
  • neutral tones
• loves philosophy summary 


  Speaker is talking to a woman, trying to persuade her to romantically be with her. he uses nature to emphasise how everything Is connected
• Loves philosophy context 


  romanticism= the use of nature to emphasise emotions and feelings.
• Loves philosophy themes and poems to compare with

  • nature imagery- winter swans/ sonnet 29
  • desire- porphyria’s love/ farmers bride
• loves philosophy- “the fountains mingle with the river”

  • ”mingle”= intimate reference. personification- joining together and wanting to be close
  • bodies of water grow, showing how the speaker wants their feelings to continue growing
  • bodies of water= could show their love has made his life fuller and opened his mind more, as fountains are self contained and isolate, and rivers are free and expanded and an open body of water
• Porphyrias lover summary 


  A relationship where the speaker wants to feel loved by his lover “porphyria“. when she does love him he wants to preserve it, so he kills her
• Porphyrias lover context 


  “Porphyria” is actually a disease that can result in madness- play on words
• Porphyrias lover themed and poems to compare with-

  • Longing and desire= farmers bride
  • longing= sonnet 29
• loves philosophy: “nothing in the world is single”

  • blunt and direct= his main point- everything has a partner- it’s unnatural to be alone
  • “World”= hyperbole. Used to show how everything in nature has a partner, so he is persuading her to be with him. also shows how it is the greatest thing which emphasises the point
• Porphyrias lover: “porphyria worshipped me”

  • he wants to be loved and have power over her- at this point, he feels that so he kills her to preserve the feeling of being loved
  • “worshipped”= religious connotations- like a god- devoted. he feels powerful
• Porphyria’s lover: “that moment she was mine, mine”

  • repetition= she belongs to him (what he WANTED). Shows crazy and power
• Sonnet 29 summary 


  The speaker is full of longing and desire to be with her lover. They are apart and her thoughts don’t compare to the real him. At the end of the poem they are finally together .
• Sonnet 29 context 


  Brownings father stopped her from being in a relationship so they wrote letters to eachother. It is thought that this poem is one of them letters.
• Sonnet 29 themes and poems to compare with:

  • natural imagery= winter swan/ loves philosophy
  • desire= singh song/ porphyria’s lover/ the farmers bride
• Sonnet 29: ”my thoughts do twine and bud”

  • “thoughts”= physically separated from him- creates longing and desire
  • “twine”= intimate. Can’t stop thinking about him and wants a close connection. doesn’t want to let go and lose him
  • ”bud”= reference to flower bud. Growing feelings for him
  • extended metaphor of the tree represents the lover and the speaker is the vines around it
• Sonnet 29: “I do not think of thee- I am too near thee”

  • cyclical structure= she is no longer thinking about him as shes now with him- progress
  • “-” (caesura)= relieved to finally be with him
  • “too near thee”= better in person that she imagined- more intense
• neutral tones summary 


  A memory of a failing relationship that is coming to an end. Whenever he’s been hurt by love since, he always remembers this day
• Neutral tones context 


  Hardy was known for writing negative and bleak poetry
• Neural tones themes and poems to compare with:

  • nature to reflect troubles= winter swans
  • failed relationships= when we two parted
• Neutral tones: “we stood by a pond that winter day”

  • cyclical structure= begins and ends with the pond to show a lack of moving on and he is still hurt
  • “stood”= verb. Not walking or talking- no progress in their relationship
  • “pond”= still body of water- no movement or excitement in their relationship
  • ”winter day”= pathetic fallacy- cold, bitter, lifeless connotations reflects his views on the relationship and his feelings for his lover
• Neutral tones: “the smile on your mouth was the deadest thing”

  • “deadest”= bitter tone. Oxymoron- a smile shouldn’t be dead, it should bring happiness- shows her lack of feelings for the speaker
• Letters from Yorkshire summary

  A man is writing in his garden, he sees a bird and writes to the narrator. They live different lives. He is outside, she is in the city. The communication (letters) make her feel connected to him and his lifestyle

  • platonic relationship
• Letters from yorkshire themes and poems to compare with:

  • distance= sonnet 29
• Letters for Yorkshire: ” his knuckles singing“

  • his connection to nature- his knuckles feel relief from being outside
  • “knuckles singing”= personification- shows how happy he is to write to her. Close connection (platonic relationship)
• Letters from Yorkshire: “our souls tap our messages across the icy miles”

  • final line of the poem
  • “souls tap”= emotive noun suggesting a deep spiritual connection
  • “messages”= technology or letters connecting them, keeping their platonic relationship alive
  • “icy miles”= negative and speaker dislikes the suggested seperation.
• The farmers bride summary

  The speaker and his wife have been married for 3 years. She is frightened of him (we don’t know why). he feels rejected by her and clearly still desires her. At the end he struggles not to take her by force
• The farmers bride context

  She was a homosexual which wasn’t accepted in society, so she experiences her own longing frustration. She uses this poem to critise society
• The farmers bride theme and poems to compare with:

  • desire= porphyrias lover/ loves philosophy
  • distance= sonnet 29
• Farmers bride: “we chased her flying like a hare”

  • simile= dehumanising her like a wild animal
  • “we”= collective, being hunted like prey by men
  • “chased”= she doesn’t want to be caught- shows she doesn’t like her life and wants to escape it but her husband doesn’t care what she wants so she has no say
• The farmers bride: “her hair, her hair!”

  • desire= fantasising about being with her
  • repetition shows he is losing control= possessive and obsessive and sinister- implies he could force her as he is struggling to resist force
  • ”!” (caesura)= shows how desperate he is to have her
• Winter swans summary 


  A couple who start in a bad place- their relationship is trouble. the swans encourage them to talk and at the end they have made up and are holding hands.
• Winter swans themes and poems to compare with:

  • emotional distance= neutral tones/ sonnet 29
  • loving relationship= singh song
• winter swans: “we skirted the lake, silent and apart”

  • “Skirted”= carefully walking around the lake. Referring to their problems- avoiding their issues
  • “,” (caesura)= shows their separation in the relationship
  • ”silent”= no communication. nothing to say to eachother
  • ”apart”= apart physically and emotionally- little hope for their relationship
• Winter swans: “like a pair of wings settling after fight”

  • final line= development from the start to the end
  • “pair= union- they’re finally together- shows development from the beginning of the poem
• Singh song summary 


  Narrator is British-Indian, so it is a mix of cultures. he is newly married and cant keep his hands of his wife. He is full of love and desire for his wife.
• Singh song context 


  Written phonetically on purpose to embrace the indian culture and dialect
• Singh song themes and poems to compare with:

  • desire- sonnet 29
• Singh song: “made luv like vee rowing through putney”

  • simile= comparing making love to rowing a boat (humorous)- working together in unison to make eachother happy
  • “made luv”= fresh and exciting in their marriage, desire to their intimacy as if it is a priority
• Singh song: “my bride”

  • repeated throughout= suggests he is proud of her and can’t stop thinking about her- emphasises his devotion and love for his wife
  • “my”= sense of pride/ showing her off
  • “Bride”= hints it’s still new and exciting as usually after the wedding the bride would just be referred to as wife