Interpreting Poetry Porphyria’s Lover - 1410 Words

Poetry is a condensed form of literature that expresses vast meanings and feelings. This means that when analyzing poetry many aspects such as the literal meaning, poetic elements, and the metaphorical meaning should be considered. Although, not every reader is going to analyze a poem with the same ideology, a general understanding of poetic elements and the literal meaning presented throughout the poem should be similar. Professor Sutton, an English teacher at the University of Kansas, utilized his students to help interpret the works of Robert Browning. When they started to interpret the work of the â€Å"Porphyria’s Lover† the students found that there was no message presented in this poem, but realized by looking through the article that†¦show more content†¦At one point, however, the speaker digresses, and here the rhymes change not in the pattern, but from masculine to feminine (Sutton). While a masculine rhyme scheme stresses the final syllable of the w ords, a feminine rhyme scheme stresses the penultimate syllable of the words. â€Å"Murmuring how she loved me-she too weak, for all her hearts endeavor, to set its struggling passion free from pride, and vainer ties dissever, and give herself to me forever† (Browning). â€Å"In lines 21-25, the tempo accelerates with the addition of a light syllable at the end of a line, making the utterance sound full of energy and vehemence† (Sutton). By understanding the rhyme scheme a reader can better understand the voice in which the author truly is speaking. Yet, the largest aspect that Professor Sutton attributes to readers comprehension of this poem is the comprehension of events in the story. If a reader interoperates this story metaphorically a few themes arise. The first and most prominent one would be the power struggle that is taking place between the speaker and his lover. However, a reader could also say that this story is the narrative of a crazed madman. Professor Sutton says â€Å"It is our tendency to become so concerned with structure and imagery that we seem to forget that a poem represents some-ones utterance† (Sutton). A reader becomes consumed with identifying the metaphorical meanings andShow MoreRelated Porphyria’s Lover : Browning’s Portrait of a Madman Essay1892 Words   |  8 PagesPorphyria’s Lover : Browning’s Portrait of a Madman Robert Browning’s Porphyria’s Lover contains the methodical ramblings of a lunatic; it is a madman’s monologue that reveals the dark side of human nature. Power and passion coalesce to form the strangulation of the beautiful and innocent Porphyria, and at the same time strangle the reader’s ability to comprehend what is occurring and why it is occurring. The murder’s monologue depicts a heinous crime. The simple fact that the monologue isRead More The Flea by John Donne and To His Coy Mistress by Andrew Marvell6621 Words   |  27 Pageshis argument stronger. In the second stanza the argument appears to be going the poets way oh stay, three lives in oneflea spare, where we almost yea more than married are but the mistress counters this argument with wit and repartee of her lover by squashing the insect Cruel and sudden,hast thou since Purpled thy nail, in blood of innocence? Then he implores her to stay and I feel he produces a series of clever arguments premised, not in a reasonableness of sex, but in the morality of