How Do Composers Use Poetic Techniques to Reinforce the Theme of ‘Journeys’ in Their Poetry?
How do composers use poetic techniques to reinforce the theme of ‘journeys’ in their poetry?
There are many different techniques that a poet can use to emphasize the theme of journeys in their work. When many of us think of journeys, we think of a person physically moving from one place to another. However, a journey does not only have to be physical, it can be emotional as well. Throughout the poems that were provided to us in class, the poets have chosen various ways to portray journeys. In order to explore the different techniques that poets use, I have chosen three poems; ‘Meeting at Night’ by Robert Browning, ‘La Belle Dame Sans Merci’ by John Keats and ‘The Journey of Magi’ by TS Eliot.
When read literally, the poem ‘Meeting at Night’ has the most obvious example of a journey, that being a person travelling to a destination. In this poem, the poet is outlining his journey from a boat, across beaches and fields to finally be reunited with his love. The poet Robert Browning uses all types of imagery in this poem to describe the scene around him while on his journey. Visual imagery is used almost the whole way throughout the poem, for example “The grey sea and the long black land” (line 1) and “And blue spurt of a lighted match” (line 10). The use of visual imagery allows us to get a better understanding of his surroundings and the extent of his journey. The extent of his journey becomes especially apparent when he says “Three fields to cross till a farm appears” because usually we associate fields with quite a large area.
Throughout the poem there is a lot of alliteration, making it sink in more when read, this makes us more involved in the story and allows us to think about it to a greater extent, an example of this is “long black land” (line 1) and “pushing prow” (line 5). Personification is used to add more feeling to the poem, and lets the reader see more of an emotional side, “In fiery ringlets from their sleep” (line 5). In this particular
There are many different techniques that a poet can use to emphasize the theme of journeys in their work. When many of us think of journeys, we think of a person physically moving from one place to another. However, a journey does not only have to be physical, it can be emotional as well. Throughout the poems that were provided to us in class, the poets have chosen various ways to portray journeys. In order to explore the different techniques that poets use, I have chosen three poems; ‘Meeting at Night’ by Robert Browning, ‘La Belle Dame Sans Merci’ by John Keats and ‘The Journey of Magi’ by TS Eliot.
When read literally, the poem ‘Meeting at Night’ has the most obvious example of a journey, that being a person travelling to a destination. In this poem, the poet is outlining his journey from a boat, across beaches and fields to finally be reunited with his love. The poet Robert Browning uses all types of imagery in this poem to describe the scene around him while on his journey. Visual imagery is used almost the whole way throughout the poem, for example “The grey sea and the long black land” (line 1) and “And blue spurt of a lighted match” (line 10). The use of visual imagery allows us to get a better understanding of his surroundings and the extent of his journey. The extent of his journey becomes especially apparent when he says “Three fields to cross till a farm appears” because usually we associate fields with quite a large area.
Throughout the poem there is a lot of alliteration, making it sink in more when read, this makes us more involved in the story and allows us to think about it to a greater extent, an example of this is “long black land” (line 1) and “pushing prow” (line 5). Personification is used to add more feeling to the poem, and lets the reader see more of an emotional side, “In fiery ringlets from their sleep” (line 5). In this particular