As shown in the previously completed papers, the poem “A Slumber did My Spirit seal contains several aspects of social, feminism, nature and finally the culture industry. The relationship of this piece of poem with the mentioned aspects was explored. However, there are still other elements related to this poem that can be subject to more research in order to understand the poem even better. One specific area of research is how this poem fits with the modern institutional structure of the relationship between man and woman, that is love. From the poem, it emerged that the poet was in a mourning mood as he was constantly talking about a particular subject (referred to as “she”) who he was obviously in love with. This poem consequently provokes several questions in the mind of the reader, for example, how is the relationship between males and females depicted in poetry? How do poets decide the language to use in poems exploring love? Are love poems always theoretical and fictional or are there elements within the poem that reveal that the poet is talking from personal experience? These are just some of the questions that I asked myself as I analyzed this poem. This asking of these questions was accentuated by the mystery surrounding the poet’s “mystery lady” given that he never even mentioned her name. Was the lack of mentioning the name evidence that the author was talking about a real person and did not want to reveal her identity to the public?
Many scholars have studied on this subject in their attempts to find out if there is a standard language used by poets when conveying aspects of love in poems. Some have claimed that a love poem will in many instances be a direct reflection of the poet’s love life (Fletcher, 34). Others such as Dove claim that poets are particularly very careful when writing poems that convey aspects of love since the poems themselves may be read by the poet’s real life spouses and an offensive word or phrase can cause serious problems to the poet in real life (23).
In accordance with the above discussion, I would need to conduct a comprehensive research to answer the stated questions.
There is a stupendous amount of love related poems recorded in books and other works of literature over the years. Therefore, trying to analyze all these poems would not only be unachievable but would in actual sense be ridiculous. Consequently, I would need to select a manageable amount of data, in regards to the poems to be analyzed. This also relates and other literature sources. In relation to poems, working with around 50 love related poems would indeed be manageable. I would also use about 10 book and journal article resources to find out more about the topic at hand. I believe that this amount of resources would be enough to enable me to collect an appropriate amount of data that would help in answering my questions about love in poetry.
Since this is, study is literature based; most of my research would involve textual analysis. By textual analysis, I mean an analysis of various poems that are related to my subject of study as well as books, magazines, journal articles, the internet as well as other relevant resources that discuss this subject or topic. These sources would mainly involve poetry analysis, particularly focusing on love poetry. I would first try to conduct an online search for poems. I would then try to explore the found poems and try to figure out if they are indeed applicable to my research. I would also use the internet to conduct an initial search for books, articles and journals that touch on my subject. Things have become so digitized these days and it is possible to read such content online. However, I would also make a visit to my local library particularly the literature section to find content that is related to my research topic. It is after identifying the source materials that I would then sit down to begin a comprehensive analysis process.
In regards to the analysis, I would do several things. First, I would read the mentioned sources to find out what the authors say about the portrayal of love in poetry. I would look at what the authors say about the language used by poets, what they say about the attitude, mood and tone of love poems and what are the things to look out for to find out if the poet is, for example, talking from personal experience. After this, I would then conduct a comprehensive textual analysis of the poems selected. I would look at them keenly to seek if there is any identifiable standard in the poem, particularly in regards to matters of love. I would at whether there is any trace of similarity in terms of language. I would also look for any elements that can reveal that the poet is talking from personal experience.
After doing this, I believe that I would be able to come up with a comprehensive report of my research topic.
Works Cited
Dove, R. The Penguin anthology of twentieth-century American poetry. New York: Penguin Books, 2011. Print.
Fletcher, J B. The religion of beauty in woman: And other essays on platonic love in poetry and society. New York: Haskell House, 1966. Print.
