Love Song
"A Subaltern's Love Song" is a rhapsodic poem that details the poet's real-life infatuation. Betjeman does not use the military definition of subaltern here, but instead is referring to someone in an inferior position. The author struggles, somewhat happily, against his love interest as she continually bests him at tennis.
In Literature, poems can often be very difficult for one to comprehend and interpret the author’s perspective. Many people grew only being exposed to the basic “Roses are red, violets are blue” form of poetic expression, so anything that fails to employ simple rhythmic phrases can be somewhat aloof to some people. Poetry is one of the most artistic forms of literature because it influences the author to express big thoughts and imaginations in somewhat of an abbreviated writing style, in contrast to essays, short stories, and many more. A Subaltern’s Love Song by John Betjeman is an example of poetry that takes the reader on a journey of music and a love story.
It was not until I actually read through the poem once did I realize that the title “A Subaltern’s Love Song” would actually allude to the character of this poem. The context of this poem is most certainly romantic, and indicative of a love story, however the form of the poem actually has a rhythm to it. I am not exactly certain if the author purposefully paralleled the word “song” in the title with music, but it was something that stuck out to me and was one of the things that did capture my interest in this particular poetic work. Due to the fact that I am a one who enjoys reading love stories, my imagination was most certainly ignited by reading this poem. Another thing that particularly stuck out to me about this poem was the use of ambiguity regarding the soldier and the love interest. The author was successful in my opinion with his use of ambiguity to “raise questions and suggest outcomes.” (Clugston, 2010) All of the aforementioned components of “A Subaltern’s Love Song” allowed
In Literature, poems can often be very difficult for one to comprehend and interpret the author’s perspective. Many people grew only being exposed to the basic “Roses are red, violets are blue” form of poetic expression, so anything that fails to employ simple rhythmic phrases can be somewhat aloof to some people. Poetry is one of the most artistic forms of literature because it influences the author to express big thoughts and imaginations in somewhat of an abbreviated writing style, in contrast to essays, short stories, and many more. A Subaltern’s Love Song by John Betjeman is an example of poetry that takes the reader on a journey of music and a love story.
It was not until I actually read through the poem once did I realize that the title “A Subaltern’s Love Song” would actually allude to the character of this poem. The context of this poem is most certainly romantic, and indicative of a love story, however the form of the poem actually has a rhythm to it. I am not exactly certain if the author purposefully paralleled the word “song” in the title with music, but it was something that stuck out to me and was one of the things that did capture my interest in this particular poetic work. Due to the fact that I am a one who enjoys reading love stories, my imagination was most certainly ignited by reading this poem. Another thing that particularly stuck out to me about this poem was the use of ambiguity regarding the soldier and the love interest. The author was successful in my opinion with his use of ambiguity to “raise questions and suggest outcomes.” (Clugston, 2010) All of the aforementioned components of “A Subaltern’s Love Song” allowed