Comparing the Two Poems: When We Two Parted and La Belle Dame Sans Mer
GCSE English coursework: comparison of poems.
There are many similarities and differences between the two poems: "When We Two Parted", written by Lord Bryon, and "La Belle Dames Sans Merci", written by John Keats. I shall be exploring these poems and seeing connections and differences between them, so that I am able to compare them.
The storyline of both poems is based around love, and so they are similar in that respect, however I think the poems bring out different types of emotions. When We Two Parted is melancholy throughout, and is a lament for a lost love. This is different to La Belle Dame Sans Merci, as it is more enchanting and more to do with desire than love. It becomes exotic and bewitching, with the mood of the poem continuously changing. John Keats starts his poem, hoping that the reader will feel sympathetic for the character, and curious to what is wrong with this knight. However, it lifts to a fairytale mood, where the character is filled with lust towards this mysterious woman. It becomes exciting, and Keats creates the exotic mood with words such as "wild" which are contrary to the harmonious appearance that this woman has. He makes this fairy-like charming impression by describing her as "light" and "sweet". It then moves to a threatening, victimized ambiance where by the woman has enchanted him into a spell, and he is trapped. Here Keats uses words such as "pale", "death", "cold" and "horrid" to show how the knight has become the victim of this unpleasant experience. It then ends with the silent mood it started off with, as if the knight is going in an unending circle. This clever ending was designed to surprise the reader, and leave them with a sense of mystery. In When We Two Parted, the reader does not share the experience with the character as they do in La Belle Dame Sans Merci, and so doesn't go through the emotions that the reader is feeling. Lord Byron wrote the poem as if looking back on the experience and the entire poem has
There are many similarities and differences between the two poems: "When We Two Parted", written by Lord Bryon, and "La Belle Dames Sans Merci", written by John Keats. I shall be exploring these poems and seeing connections and differences between them, so that I am able to compare them.
The storyline of both poems is based around love, and so they are similar in that respect, however I think the poems bring out different types of emotions. When We Two Parted is melancholy throughout, and is a lament for a lost love. This is different to La Belle Dame Sans Merci, as it is more enchanting and more to do with desire than love. It becomes exotic and bewitching, with the mood of the poem continuously changing. John Keats starts his poem, hoping that the reader will feel sympathetic for the character, and curious to what is wrong with this knight. However, it lifts to a fairytale mood, where the character is filled with lust towards this mysterious woman. It becomes exciting, and Keats creates the exotic mood with words such as "wild" which are contrary to the harmonious appearance that this woman has. He makes this fairy-like charming impression by describing her as "light" and "sweet". It then moves to a threatening, victimized ambiance where by the woman has enchanted him into a spell, and he is trapped. Here Keats uses words such as "pale", "death", "cold" and "horrid" to show how the knight has become the victim of this unpleasant experience. It then ends with the silent mood it started off with, as if the knight is going in an unending circle. This clever ending was designed to surprise the reader, and leave them with a sense of mystery. In When We Two Parted, the reader does not share the experience with the character as they do in La Belle Dame Sans Merci, and so doesn't go through the emotions that the reader is feeling. Lord Byron wrote the poem as if looking back on the experience and the entire poem has