Poets Frequently Use Their Poems to Portray How Precious and Important Land Can Be to the Individual. Compare and Contrast 2 Poems-'Aurora Leigh' and 'Home Thoughts from Abroad'
‘Aurora Leigh’ by Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Home-thoughts, from Abroad’ by Robert Browning both portray the land they love and prize and show how important it is to the individual, in different ways.
The former poem, written in 1856, during the Victorian feminist era, where Barrett Browning takes on the persona of Aurora Leigh (although slightly auto-biographical) as a dramatic monologue, tells a story about different views about the world and nature.
It is very clear by the way she speaks, that nature brings Aurora to life as if she is a small child. At the beginning she seems to be in a love/hate relationship as she is quarrelling with Romney but as soon as she hears ‘the thrushes’ sing, it ‘shook my pulses’ which shows how much nature excites her and gives her new found vitality. It also shows how easily nature can change her mood from being serious; to suddenly excited and childish as it goes on to say about ‘voluble ecstasy’- an energy of life. Also, she ‘palpitated’ when she saw the ‘white butterflies’ which both mean that her excitement is profound, thus showing that Barrett Browning used Aurora to portray how important and precious the land is to her.
Throughout the self-referential poem, there is a vast amount of naivety, where Aurora fails to see what is happening around her as she is so enchanted by nature. The poem suggests that she is educated as it says, ‘We read’ and ‘scholars’ which shows that she sees herself as a clever, intelligent woman, when she is actually letting nature over-rule every part of her life, showing that she is different to how she sees herself and how she comes across. It also links with feminism, as it was normally the men who learnt how to read and were educated.
Towards the end of the extract, there is polysynderton and exclamation marks which show her exhilaration. It also shows the major contrast between Aurora and Romney: ‘Who says there’s nothing for the poor and vile/Save poverty and wickedness?
The former poem, written in 1856, during the Victorian feminist era, where Barrett Browning takes on the persona of Aurora Leigh (although slightly auto-biographical) as a dramatic monologue, tells a story about different views about the world and nature.
It is very clear by the way she speaks, that nature brings Aurora to life as if she is a small child. At the beginning she seems to be in a love/hate relationship as she is quarrelling with Romney but as soon as she hears ‘the thrushes’ sing, it ‘shook my pulses’ which shows how much nature excites her and gives her new found vitality. It also shows how easily nature can change her mood from being serious; to suddenly excited and childish as it goes on to say about ‘voluble ecstasy’- an energy of life. Also, she ‘palpitated’ when she saw the ‘white butterflies’ which both mean that her excitement is profound, thus showing that Barrett Browning used Aurora to portray how important and precious the land is to her.
Throughout the self-referential poem, there is a vast amount of naivety, where Aurora fails to see what is happening around her as she is so enchanted by nature. The poem suggests that she is educated as it says, ‘We read’ and ‘scholars’ which shows that she sees herself as a clever, intelligent woman, when she is actually letting nature over-rule every part of her life, showing that she is different to how she sees herself and how she comes across. It also links with feminism, as it was normally the men who learnt how to read and were educated.
Towards the end of the extract, there is polysynderton and exclamation marks which show her exhilaration. It also shows the major contrast between Aurora and Romney: ‘Who says there’s nothing for the poor and vile/Save poverty and wickedness?