Cousin Kate
Poem Essay Title
“Christina Rossetti was born in London, one of four children of Italian parents. Her father was the poet Gabriele Rossetti (1783-1854), professor of Italian at King 's College from 1831. He resigned in 1845 because of blindness. All the four children in the family became writers; Dante Gabriel also gained fame as a painter. Christina was educated at home by her mother, Frances Polidori, a former governess. She shared her parents ' interest in poetry and was portrayed in the paintings and drawings of the Pre-Raphaelites.” Christina was sexually abused by her father, her poem ‘Cousin Kate’ could possibly be a recount of the series of events the occurred, and given that Christina changed some aspects of it. References from: (http://kirjasto.sci.fi/rossetti.htm)
Carol Ann Duffy was born on the 23rd of December 1955; she is an acclaimed poet, playwright and a freelance writer, having garnered several awards on each profession. “She is a former editor of the poetry magazine Ambit and is a regular reviewer and broadcaster. She moved from London to Manchester in 1996 and began to lecture in poetry at Manchester Metropolitan University. Her papers were acquired by the Robert W. Woodruff Library of Emory University in 1999, and in October 2000 she was awarded a grant of £75,000 over a five-year period by the National”. References from: (http://www.contemporarywriters.com/authors/?p=auth104)
The betrayals in both poems were similar due to the fact that the victim’s partner was having an affair with another person. The betrayals were also different in the way that in ‘Cousin Kate’ the victim decided to take a more peaceful approach and her revenge will take place in the form of an unknown heir to the Lord’s wealth, on the other hand, the victim in ‘Human Interest’ “felt this heat burn through” and stabbed his partner. Both poets were women; stereotypically, they would be biased towards a woman’s point of view, as depicted in the poem
“Christina Rossetti was born in London, one of four children of Italian parents. Her father was the poet Gabriele Rossetti (1783-1854), professor of Italian at King 's College from 1831. He resigned in 1845 because of blindness. All the four children in the family became writers; Dante Gabriel also gained fame as a painter. Christina was educated at home by her mother, Frances Polidori, a former governess. She shared her parents ' interest in poetry and was portrayed in the paintings and drawings of the Pre-Raphaelites.” Christina was sexually abused by her father, her poem ‘Cousin Kate’ could possibly be a recount of the series of events the occurred, and given that Christina changed some aspects of it. References from: (http://kirjasto.sci.fi/rossetti.htm)
Carol Ann Duffy was born on the 23rd of December 1955; she is an acclaimed poet, playwright and a freelance writer, having garnered several awards on each profession. “She is a former editor of the poetry magazine Ambit and is a regular reviewer and broadcaster. She moved from London to Manchester in 1996 and began to lecture in poetry at Manchester Metropolitan University. Her papers were acquired by the Robert W. Woodruff Library of Emory University in 1999, and in October 2000 she was awarded a grant of £75,000 over a five-year period by the National”. References from: (http://www.contemporarywriters.com/authors/?p=auth104)
The betrayals in both poems were similar due to the fact that the victim’s partner was having an affair with another person. The betrayals were also different in the way that in ‘Cousin Kate’ the victim decided to take a more peaceful approach and her revenge will take place in the form of an unknown heir to the Lord’s wealth, on the other hand, the victim in ‘Human Interest’ “felt this heat burn through” and stabbed his partner. Both poets were women; stereotypically, they would be biased towards a woman’s point of view, as depicted in the poem
References: from: (http://www.contemporarywriters.com/authors/?p=auth104) The betrayals in both poems were similar due to the fact that the victim’s partner was having an affair with another person. The betrayals were also different in the way that in ‘Cousin Kate’ the victim decided to take a more peaceful approach and her revenge will take place in the form of an unknown heir to the Lord’s wealth, on the other hand, the victim in ‘Human Interest’ “felt this heat burn through” and stabbed his partner. Both poets were women; stereotypically, they would be biased towards a woman’s point of view, as depicted in the poem the women were most affected by the betrayal. Christina Rossetti had experienced being sexually abused, whilst Carol Ann Duffy has not; this means that Christina Rossetti would have been able to give a more emotional and a more realistic account of a sexual betrayal, the same type of betrayal portrayed in both poems. Christina Rossetti’s vocabulary is much more sophisticated compared to Carol Ann Duffy’s street like language; “I would have spit into his face And not have taken his hand” as opposed to “She wasn’t a tart or nothing”. The difference in their vocabulary could be the result of the different era and both poets lived; both poets were born in London but Christina wrote during 19th century whilst Duffy is still writing today, the modern slang is apparent in Duffy’s writing. The narrator in Cousin Kate was portrayed as a cottage maiden, cottage meaning that she was from the countryside, and maiden referring to her virginity. She was “Hardened by sun and air”; a metaphor implying that she works on a farm.