The atmospheres of Sonnet 43 Essay Example for Free

The lines of praise 43 EssayLoves many contradicting forms are portrayed in two dramatically different sonnets, praise 43 and Sonnet 29. Though both poems are written in Petrarchan sonnet form, Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Edna St. Vincent Millay chronicle two contrasting marriages and their distinct attitudes towards sleep together. Millays pessimistic Sonnet 29 depicts unrequited love as a passive force causing her disillusionment. On the other hand, Sonnet 43 attempts to quantify Brownings endless and divine love for her spouse, Robert Browning. Through their respective poems, the writers convey outpours of emotion and how their personal experiences with love have changed both their lives. Common themes explored in the two poems consist of marriage, love and loyalty. Elements of the poems that enable this include their atmospheres, diction, tones and various poetic techniques.The atmospheres of Sonnet 43 and Sonnet 29 allude to Browning and Millays outlooks on their re spective marriages. Sonnet 29 exposes a womans grief for her deteriorating marriage and her husband, who no longer looks with love on me (the poet). Readers are overwhelmed by an anger-filled, threatening opening atmosphere in which the poet imposes on them to pity me not for the light of day thatno longer walks the sky. Millays despair is seen through the metaphor of her happiness and aspect as a diminished light, repressed by the turmoil of her relationship. A sense of helpless sympathy is thus evoked by the melancholic, authoritarian imagery and bitterly ironic diction.In contrast to Sonnet 29, Elizabeth Barrett Browning begins with a grand portrayal of her love using numerous hyperboles, thus creating a majestic atmosphere. The poet loves her husband to the depth and breadth and height my soul can reachfor the ends of Being and ideal Grace. Enjambment is employed to represent the constant flow of love in Brownings marriage. However, the sonnet concludes with a darkly ambiguou s atmosphere that contrasts greatly to its optimistic introduction.The poet confesses that she shall but love thee (Robert Browning) demote after death. In addition to its implications of Brownings eternal love, this reference to her marriage vows also has forbidding connotations of marriage causing her ultimate death. Consequently, it whitethorn be seen that the poets marriage and reliance on her husband is detrimental to her fragile character. From being bitterly resentful to miserably conscious of a love that is no more, Millays emotions are depicted by the developing atmosphere of Sonnet 29. Similarly, Sonnet 43 alludes to Brownings inner thoughts beyond the divinity and grandeur of her marriage through the dismal change in its atmosphere.Religious diction is applied in Sonnet 43 where Browning expresses a spiritual bond that transcends her religion and beliefs. Her pious worship for her husband has replaced a love for her lost saints, as illustrated by the reverential tone ex tending through the sonnet. Furthermore, it is the poets marriage that compels her to persevere, guiding her when she is feeling out of sight. From the ends of Being and ideal Grace to the contradicting subtleness of everydays most quiet need, Brownings compassion is as unwavering as it is strong.When its is revealed that she loves her husband with the passion put to use in her old griefs, readers are given implications of the poets possibly troubled past, which becomes irrelevant in the face of her marriage. Moreover, Brownings love appears to defy the acts of God, as she claims to love her husband better after death. This sense of an immortal love is further compounded by the repetition of I love thee, creating a constant flow in the sonnet and freehanded it an intimate, personal touch.Contrastingly, Sonnet 29 directly confronts Millays husband using spiteful diction to convey her deep resentment for the state of her marriage. Rather than reciting, I love thee like Browning in he r Sonnet 43, Millay repeats, Pity me not for the grievances in her marriage, thus evoking sympathy from readers. In compare to Brownings hypothesis of love being an eternal, resilient force, Millay describes a relationship that is susceptible to external forces that surround it. As the year goes by, the beauties of her marriage have been overcome by a mans desirehushed so soon. Her husbands waning loyalty and fickleness is exposed by the comparison of their relationship to an ebbing tide that goes out to sea and never returns. Such negative diction alludes to the passive nature of Millays unrequited love as opposed to Brownings prosperous, active affection for her husband.