Sonnet’s from the portugese analysis of all poems assignment

In M. E. , the word also had a sense of “ a woman’s private parts. ” ‘ hair’ : An allusion to Homer’s Iliad. Epic which begins with Athena pulling Achilles by the hair. Divine intervention by the Gods. EBB could see Borrowing’s love for her as divine intervention. Her allusion to Homer’s epic subtly suggests that there is something heroic and brave about this romantic engagement. The gender dynamic of this allusion should not be overlooked. At the opening of the Iliad Achilles and Agamemnon are contending over who will get to keep a captive female in his tent-an odd and interesting allusion for the beginning of feminine love sonnets.

In Barrett Browning; s revision of this scene, the desiring female speaker assumes the position of epic hero. Pulled away from destructive, seductive thoughts of death, she engages with the emotional risks of love when the conditions seem to glorify her as much as her beloved; thus the speaker is both the subject and object of love, revising without entirely reversing the Perchance tradition in which the woman is a silent object of admiration. This allusion to homer’s epic, as well as the heroic sonnet form, subtly suggests that there is something brave and heroic about this romantic engagement.

Usurps masculine conventions-she’s no longer silent but eloquent Uses her structure to infer movement from stasis to an opening up of emotions Cleverly invokes sexuality and desire in a strict patriarchal society Transforms ritual of identity-sonnet is about (values debate about identity within context of conformity) She is aware of her limitations and cleverly challenges them throughout her poetry She is reserved and reticent about embracing love due to her societal constraints: patriarchal power Elizabeth Barrett Browning Sonnet 13 Theme: The dominant idea and tone of this sonnet seems to be uncertainty – uncertainty bout whether the poet/persona can trust her lover and whether she can control the intensity of her own feelings. This poem is about EBB being unable to speak or admit her love to Robert Browning, however, she paradoxically creates a work of art to declares her love. She declares herself as a poet maker which will then be her gift to Robert. She isn’t ready to admit love yet. She will declare it when she is ready. The female voice instead of the traditional male voice.

Unlike the traditional depiction of a woman in Patriarchs poetry-she is not silent. She poses and answers the heterocyclic question, ‘ And wilt though have me fashion into speech/the love I bear thee, finding words enough… ‘ She adopts the Patrician sonnet style. She has control over her own silence, questioning the validity of words and hence the sonnet form itself. Paradox-this poem is about her not being able to communicate yet she communicates with Robert Browning through this poem. She does not introduce a Volta in lines 8 or 9 which shows her determination to express her uncertainty about revealing her feelings to Robber Browning. The sonnet.

The pronouns change from male thou’ and thee’ to female to ‘ I’ and ‘ myself…. Me’ to neutral this’. This could reveal the process in which she constructs a hybrid gender for herself which allows her to escape patriarchal constraints and usurp masculine conventions (see below). The drama is that this is a woman speaking as a lover to a lover, about the nature of love poetry. The emphasis is on the nature of Woman-love’ and the paradox is that her traditional ‘ silence’ has become powerful eloquence. Part of the challenge is that EBB works with cross dressing and paradoxes about hybrid gender , as in her poems o George Sand, that ‘ large-brained woman and large-hearted man’.

While she usurps masculine conventions, authority and eloquence she also insists that she retains a tragic identity as the always ‘ union’ and enduring woman, the lover who cannot admit love, and in that way suffers love that in turn leads to sadness. Intellectualism and paradox are certainly part of her strategy and essential to the emotional power of the sonnet. Elizabeth Barrett Browning Sonnet 14 In this poem EBB has accepted her suitor’s love, but now makes demands regarding the nature of that love. She urges her lover to love her not for any particular reason, but simply because he loves her “ for love’s sake only’. She argues that if there is a particular reason for loving someone, then a change in circumstances can remove the reason and destroy the love.

This bird is heard very frequently in spring in England, and many people get sick of its monotonous calling. She suggests that while people might get sick of hearing the cuckoo, it should be welcomed because spring Anton come without it. In the same way, she cannot experience love without him ‘ Remember, never to the hill and plain/ Valley & wood, without her cuckoo-strain. ‘ Hills were the first manifestation of the creation of the world, standing high enough to be set away from primeval chaos, but lacking the majestic size of mountains. Biblical allusion Isaiah 40: 4 ‘ Every valley shall be raised, and every mountain and hill made low, the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain.

This suggests how everything will be complete and perfect when he repeats his love for her. Plains-symbol of space and boundless earth. Horizontal and opposed to the vertical hill. Valley-symbolic complement of a mountain. Egg yin (valley) and yang (Mountain). Commonly a symbol of fertility and life. Valley is also a Biblical allusion to Psalm 23: even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me (lots of sexual connotations here! ) Wood- Symbolizes superhuman wisdom and knowledge. The carpenter uses tools symbolic of the divine power of bringing order out of chaos.