Why is love in poetry oftentimes portrayed in a dramatic and highly metaphoric manner when in reality the emotions are much more concrete and potentially messier than the perfection described?
The most appealing poem to me is Head, heart by Davis because of its unique structure and idea. It takes this concept of the consistent battle between logic and emotion, especially in the usually messy circumstances of relationship and love, and the author poeticizes it into this almost conversation and personification which makes it very relatable. The poem I would ask my peers about would be The Nymph’s Reply by Raleigh, does the poem truly want to reply to Marlowe’s work or is it just mimicry of the love. Finally, comparing the love poems, there are some obvious similarities, sharing the use of dramatics and often employing highly visual literally elements such as metaphors and imagery. However, they differ slightly on what they perceive love to be and expression in which it should be presented.
Taking into consideration the theme of Head, Heart, what the author’s ultimate attitudes towards falling in love?
The poem is focused on some manner of heartbreak or unrequited love, as the third line mentions “You will lose the ones you love. They will all go” (Davis, 2015). It seems that the author is skeptical of love, emphasizing its dangers if it is lost. The heartache places a person’s emotional state into turmoil, and despite the rationale of it all may make sense, we end up continue missing the individual, which then affects our mental state. Therefore, this state ends up hurting both the heart and the “head.”
Comparison of the poems One Perfect Rose by Parker and The Passionate Shepherd to His Love by Marlowe
It is interesting to compare the poems One Perfect Rose by Parker and The Passionate Shepherd to His Love by Marlowe. Marlowe’s poem provides a romantic notion of a lover calling to his love to spend her life with him as they would enjoy the pleasures of life together and he would care for her. Meanwhile, Parker’s poem provides a stark contrast of undercutting highly romantic notions with cynical materialism. Ironically, the promises that the shepherd makes for his love in Marlowe’s work such as “And I will make thee beds of roses” and “a gown made of the finest wool” would probably be more appealing to the narrator of Parker’s poem who sees a single rose as almost a pathetic expression of love, “A single flow’r he sent me, since we met.” However, when contrasted it becomes evident how drastically differently people see both the purpose of love as well as its expression. For some, a single rose may mean the world, while others promise ‘the world’ but may not receive anything in return. This difference and irony in a way can be seen in many different ways across romantic poems.