English Literature Poetry Coursework- Draft 3 2012

1

Love and death are effective themes when both used together
in poems Discuss.

Love is a complex emotion, full of highs and lows. It can be good, yet sometimes the
compassion can be little more than skin deep and result in circumstances of the most
unfortunate nature. There are a variety of poems that perceive love in this light and
focus on the darker and sadder side of love. It lasts for a while but goes as quickly as it
came. Here I shall be exploring how each explores the themes of love and death and
how they are linked and form good complements to each other and the effect that death
has against love in numerous poems.
Three of these poems include; My Last Duchess, Remember and Sonnet 116 each of
which I will be exploring to establish links and to prove that Love and death are effective
themes when both used together in poems.
Although not all of them are the same situation, each creates a prominent theme of false
and sometimes even doomed, love. Connections between the lives of the poets and the
theme of false love can be established once various facts are taken into consideration,
initially between Christina Rossetti and her poem, Remember. Rossetti was born in
1830 and wrote Remember when she was 32 in 1862. It reflects her life in many ways,
particularly due to her tumultuous love life and problems with poverty.
It is likely that her poem was inspired by her failed relationships. In her teens she
became engaged to James Collinson. This relationship ended in 1850 when he became a
Catholic, as Rossettis family was strictly protestant. Later in life, she fell in love with
Charles Cayley but didnt marry him, once again for religious reasons. She even had a
third suitor whom she refused to marry, John Brett. Christina Rossetti also had a number
of health problems.
When she was fourteen, she suffered a nervous breakdown. This was followed by periods
of depression, amongst other illnesses. These events can be clearly linked to Remember
in numerous places where subtle hints of her chaotic personal life become more
noticeable in the poem, which is primarily about letting go. The poem is very conflicting
between love and death and these good and bad times are reflective of Rossettis life. It
was written during the time she was in love with Charles Cayley and it seems as if she is
telling him to be prepared for anything and also poses the question, does Rossetti
already know that she will call off her engagement?
She is clearly talking to a loved one such as on line 6, [] you tell me of our future that
you planned and as this poem could be perceived as either the result of separation or
death so as a consequence, it could indeed be aimed at Cayley.
In the second poem, we notice the relevance of Sonnet 116 to the life of William
Shakespeare. Born in 1564, Shakespeare is internationally recognised as the greatest
playwright of all time. In 1582 he married Anne Hathaway, the daughter of a farmer. He
had three children, one of whom, Hamnet, died aged eleven. Shakespeares poems were
published prior to his plays and his first play appeared in 1584.
His poem Sonnet 116 is about Shakespeares idea of perfect and idealistic love. Many
people believe his sonnets to be autobiographical, as he wrote 154. Also poetry began to
become of greater importance to Elizabethans in Shakespeares later years, when he
began to write poems and sonnets. The New Websters International Encyclopedia
states that The common theme of the sonnets concerns the destructive effects of time,
the quickness of physical decay, and the loss of beauty, vigour, and love. Although the
poems celebrate life, they do so with a keen sense of death. This is relevant because we
English Literature Poetry Coursework- Draft 3 2012

2

can relate to this pattern and how much they complement each other and it is clear that
Shakespeare understood this theory as Sonnet 116 shows.
A poem by Sir Henry Wotton which was not only written at the time when Shakespeare
was alive but also accounts death and love as partners called Upon The Death Of Sir
Albert Mortons Wife, a very short poem, states that He first deceased; she for a little
tried To live without him, liked it not, and died. This poem is very succinct and is found
in an anthology of love poems, yet it is the instructions for after death. This means that
even though the poem revolves around death, it again proves that the partnership
between love, death and the effects they have upon each other are very strong and is
similar to Sonnet 116 it glorifies ideal love, the wife of Sir Albert Morton in this case
could not bear the thought of living without her husband and died. So this is also an
interpretation of ideal love, whereupon someone would give their life for the sake of love.
Finally one can deduce links between Robert Browning and My Last Duchess. Browning
was born on May 7
th
1812, the same year as Spencer Perceval, the British prime minister,
was assassinated. His father was a bank clerk, but also worked as an artist and collected
books and pictures, this factor in his life may have inspired Browning to write a poem
based mainly around a portrait, as will be explained in more detail later in this essay. He
had a very privileged background as his father was well-read and in 1828, Robert
Browning enrolled in the University of London.
However, he did not stay there long because he wanted to learn at his own pace and his
passion for poetry from a young age had taken by storm. In 1846 he married Elizabeth
Barrett, who also wrote poetry. C.D. Merriman states that The marriage was against her
[Elizabeth] fathers wishes partly because he was so protective of Elizabeth and, since
her teens she had suffered a lung ailment and treated as an invalid. This is probably
because Elizabeths father was concerned that his daughter would not be treated well
and he wanted for her to be happy, but indeed they were and Browning loved his wife
very much, which did not inspire his poems which were quite the opposite and
depressing.
In 1849, the same year a collection of Brownings poems were published; they had a
son named Robert Browning. He went on to write many dramatic monologues however
at the time, they were considered mostly a failure. Browning outlived his wife by twenty
eight years and finally died in 1889 on the same day as his final volume of verse was
published.
The next area that I will be focussing on is the theme that surrounds these poems and
how it bears a relevance to the complementation of love and death as paradoxical
themes. As I have already briefly explained, each poem has the same key topic, an
underlying message and significance to the lives and times of the poets. Therefore, here
I will explore deeper these inferences and see how they are promoted within each of the
poems.
In Remember, love and death are provided each in turn as contrasting themes. Rossetti
is speaking to a loved one who is dying about their future. A characteristic similar to this
theme is found similarly in Maybe by Ronald Langereis where the sense of the last
loving before death is portrayed with reversed roles and a person on their death bed
speaking to their lover; "Maybe Ill weep before I die; Lying by you, my love, and cry;
Feeling your heart beat close to mine; Probing your eyes for the last time The first line
of Remember reads; Remember me when I am gone away, this provides the
implication of a forthcoming death whilst showing obvious compassion towards someone,
however this is followed on the second line by the phrase silent land, relating to death
and on line three, the phrase hold me by the hand is used to emphasize love and make
English Literature Poetry Coursework- Draft 3 2012

3

an obvious divide between the two recurring themes. This division pattern in Remember
is continuous through the majority of the poem and Christina Rossetti has written it as if
she keeps changing her mind as to which she wants, which is confirmed at the end of
the poem when a decision is made. This is typical of the sonnet form and is commonly
found over the 14 lines.
In Sonnet 116, Shakespeare describes his idea of real love. The first four lines show
Shakespeares appreciation of love that is strong or everlasting and he states; [love]
alters when it alteration finds. This means that ideal love will only change if it can find
something to cause a change, namely it will not falter and will stay strong. Another
example of this is when he declares love an ever-fixd mark. In line 8,Whose worths
unknown, although his height be taken, Shakespeare suggests that although we can
measure love to a certain point, it will not necessarily be understood.
The theme of death does come into the poem however it is relatively subtle and has little
effect on the theme of love. For example, from line 11 onwards, Shakespeare explains
that ideal love doesnt change until death, but bears it out even to the edge of doom so
hints at the prospect of death. Yet, on the final two lines he announces that if his
interpretation of ideal love can be proven to be wrong then he will take back whats been
said and declares that no-one could ever have been loved. False love and doomed love
can also be recognised as sub-categories of love and death as themes, one of which
Shakespeare basically states at the end of Sonnet 116, find me false love.
Finally, the theme in My Last Duchess is once again that of doomed love, which is how
these three poems are linked. The poem is about the Duke of Ferrara (Ferrara is a place
in Northern Italy) who is speaking about his dead wife, the duchess of whom he has a
portrait. Several lines in the poem portray women as being objects and we also notice
that the Duke is very possessive of his late wife.
For example, on line 9, he adds a parenthesis, "[]since none puts by, The curtain I
have drawn for you, but I", this basically means that he is the only one who can control
when the painting is in view and he can draw the curtain in order to display it. We also
notice the Dukes love of control as the poem progresses. Cummings Study Guides state
He expected her to be beautiful to look at, but little more. But the duchess was human;
she had faults. This outlines this underlying theme of property and the attitudes to
women at the time the poem was set and perhaps this also suggests that because the
women werent as perfect as men expected them to be, the love faltered and they
became objects. In this case literally, a portrait on a wall.
As previously explained, Robert Brownings wife also wrote poetry, one example of
which also incorporates death as a contradictory theme to love. The poem is called How
Do I Love Thee? and begins with counting the ways one can be loved but the very last
line ends with I shall but love thee better after death. This is not only a contradiction to
the easy tones of the poem but also is a declaration of love after death which is perhaps
why these two themes, love and death, work so well together.
The title of My Last Duchess also uses the word last which suggests that this wasnt
the first wife the writer had had which also confirms that the love was skin deep. We
know also that this poem is the most obvious in the sense of doomed love as we notice
the manner in which
These three poems have various things in common such as, their vagueness and idle
prospective on doomed love which makes them similar in that all three poems are
longing for everlasting and true love. For example, in My Last Duchess, the Duke is
searching for the perfect wife, in Remember Christina Rossettis character wants to
always be lover and in Sonnet 116 Shakespeare is idolising love.
English Literature Poetry Coursework- Draft 3 2012

4

Each poem has its own individual tone which makes it unique. My Last Duchess is a
dramatic monologue; it has a very relaxed manner and is almost conversational even
though the Duke is talking to himself. However, as the poem progresses his tone
becomes more arrogant and selfish as if he is angry at his dead wife.
Remember is quite a gently written poem. It is very delicate and thoughtful. Rossetti
switches back and forth over what she wants to happen once she is dead, remember her
or not? This provides a poem that very much changes its mind over the duration of the
poem.
Finally Sonnet 116 is carefully written and as a typical sonnet, is very metaphorical and
illusive. It is also quite contradictory in tone, which begs the reader various questions,
for example on line 2, love is not love.
The structure of each poem differs; My Last Duchess is a monologue, Sonnet 116, a
typical Shakespearean sonnet and Remember, an Italian sonnet. Sonnet 116 is made
up of three quatrains and a couplet, My Last Duchess is composed of twenty eight
rhyming couplets in iambic pentameter and Remember is made up of an octave and
sestet i.e. the typical 14 lines found in a sonnet. Each also uses a variety of poetic
devices to add to the effect. Sonnet 116 uses enjambment to make the poem flow,
metaphors such as [love] is the star to every wandering bark on line 7 and
personification, for example [love] looks on tempests.
There are also examples of repetition such as love on line 3. My Last Duchess also
uses personification because Browning has written there she stands [the Duchess]
when in fact it is a reference to the painting. There are not however any obvious signs of
alternative poetic devices as the poem consists of the Duke talking to the painting as if
she were alive. To make the poem more conversational Browning uses enjambment for
pretty much the whole poem and hyphenation to break it up like a monologue-as if the
Duke is thinking about what hes saying, for example on line 22.
Finally, some poetic devices are also used in Remember. Repetition is used on the first
two lines, where away is repeated twice within a short time, this can also be connected
to line 5 where day is also repeated. There are also points of contradiction, to add to
the thoughtful prospective and beg questions to the reader such as turn to go and
stay on line 4 and also counsel and pray on line 8. Rossetti uses very little
enjambment which makes the speech feel more rehearsed.
In the next section of my essay, I will be exploring the rhyming patterns and rhythms of
each poem. My Last Duchess follows the rhyme scheme AABB, this is a very common
pattern but it is also very effective. It is also referred to as rhyming couplets because
each word comes as a couple. For example Thats my last Duchess painted on the wall.
Looking as if she were alive, I call in which the words wall and call rhyme. The
rhythm is iambic pentameter whereupon an unstressed beat/syllable is followed by a
stressed one.
Sonnet 116 has a much more complicated pattern to it. The rhyme scheme is
ABABCDCDEFEFGG. Shakespeare also uses half-rhyme, where the words do not quite
rhyme but have similar sounds, for example come and doom and also proved and
loved. It seems to mainly be written in iambic pentameter as each line has exactly 10
syllables, unstressed and stressed. Like Remember it also has 14 lines.
Remember has the rhyme scheme ABBACDE such as land and hand, which can be
found in many Petrarchan sonnets (derivative from 14
th
century Italy). Christina Rossetti
also uses silent land as a euphemism for death.
All three poems share a similar mood, which quite a sad one because each harbour
death and love together. These are surprisingly very complimenting and create a
English Literature Poetry Coursework- Draft 3 2012

5

distinctive contrast in the mood of the poem as each line progresses. These
developments can be monitored such as in Remember by Christina Rossetti. This poem
begins solemnly and the manner becomes more anxious as the piece progresses and
there is the realisation of a forthcoming death.
Sonnet 116 has a sense of deterioration about it as Shakespeares idea of real love
becomes more and more scarce, which can be linked to the development of My Last
Duchess whereupon the development of the play is also saddening when the Duke
speaks of his wifes death and suggests that he may have been involved, rather
notoriously, in her death.
To conclude, although each poem is unique in its own right conclusions can be drawn
to establish a variety of similarities between them. Each poet has somehow been
inspired by life events which had led them to write very successful poetry. Three of
them, Rossetti, Shakespeare and Browning each have noticed the effect of using themes
that provide paradoxical complements to each other death and love, whether it be
doomed, false or true, and the human beauty of love as the emotion which joins
everyone together hand in hand no matter what circumstances may arise, even at
death.

Bibliography
(1964). English Love Poems. In J. Betjeman, & G. Taylor (Eds.). Berkshire, Great Britain:
Cox & Wyman Ltd.
Shakespeare's Life. (2012). Retrieved June 30, 2012, from British Library:
http://www.bl.uk/treasures/shakespeare/life.html
William Shakespeare. (2012). Retrieved June 30, 2012, from Stratford-Upon-Avon:
http://www.stratford-upon-avon.co.uk/soawshst.htm
Andrews, H. (1997-2012). Christina Rossetti. Retrieved June 30, 2012, from Poets.org:
http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/716
Andrews, H. (1997-2012). Robert Browning. Retrieved June 30, 2012, from Poets.org:
http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/182
BBC History. (n.d.). Retrieved June 30, 2012, from BBC:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/shakespeare_william.shtml
Bennett, E. (2012). "Remember" by Christina Rossetti. Retrieved August 4, 2012, from
EDU Blogs: http://hero051.edublogs.org/remember-by-christina-rossetti/
Browning, E. B. (1989). Happy Endings. In J. Curry (Ed.), In Love (p. 113). Methuen
Children's Books.
D.Harkavy, M. (1998). William Shakespeare. In The New Webster's International
Encyclopedia (p. 986). Florida, USA: Trident Press International.
Editors, S. (2012, August 14). Robert Browning's Poetry. Retrieved September 1, 2012,
from Spark Notes LLC 2002:
http://www.sparknotes.com/poetry/browning/section3.rhtml
Everett, G. (2004, November 25). Biographical Materials about Christina Rossetti.
Retrieved June 30, 2012, from Victorian Web:
http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/crossetti/index.html
Everett, G. (2007, May 7). Robert Browning-Biography. Retrieved June 30, 2012, from
Victorian Web: http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/rb/rbbio.html
Freitas, P. (2012, August 4). William Shakespeare. Retrieved August 7, 2012, from
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_shakespeare
English Literature Poetry Coursework- Draft 3 2012

6

Langereis, R. (1998, September 23). Love And Death. Retrieved October 14, 2012, from
http://www.angelfire.com/yt/lagedor/love.death.html
Liukkonen, P. (2008). Christina (Georgina) Rossetti (1830-1894) - Pseydonym Ellen
Alleyne . Retrieved June 30, 2012, from Books and Writers:
http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/rossetti.htm
Mabillard, A. (2000). An Analysis of Shakespeare's 116. Retrieved August 7, 2012, from
Shakespeare Online: http://www.shakespeare-online.com/sonnets/116detail.html
Merriman, C. (2006). Robert Browning. Retrieved June 30, 2012, from The Literature
Network: http://www.online-literature.com/robert-browning/
Rosen, M. (2001). Shakespeare: His Work & His World. London: Walker Books Ltd.
unknown. (n.d.). My Last Duchess. Retrieved September 1, 2012, from Cummings Study
Guides: http://cummingsstudyguides.net/Guides3/MyLast.html