As shown in the previously completed papers, the poem “A Slumber did My Spirit Seal contains several notions of social, feminity, nature and finally the role of 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 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? Heterosexual relationships have been a subject of many poems over the years. Some of the most renowned poems in literature history are actually odes written by poets to their significant others. I was eager to find out how heterosexual relationships and love are depicted in poetry. How has this representation in poetry changed over time?
Many scholars have studied on this subject in their attempts to find out the standards language used by poets when conveying aspects of love in poems or when talking about heterosexual relationships. Some have furthermore focused on the revolution of this aspect. They have sought to find out how the representation of heterosexual relationships between men and women has changed over time and the factors that have led to some of these changes. Some have suggested that this has been due to a change in the standard definition of love as well as the emergence of new cultural trends such as homosexuality and bisexuality. In accordance with the above discussion, I would need to conduct a comprehensive research to answer the stated question.
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. Since my research is based on analyzing the revolution of heterosexual relationships representation in poetry, I would to explore sources written from different periods. In regards to this, I would explore sources from the times of Shakespeare to this written in the 21st Century. 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. This would be by finding out if they possess distinct characteristics in regards to representation of heterosexual relationships. 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 representation of heterosexual relationships. I would look at what the authors say about the language used by poets over time in regards to matters of love. Do the authors mentioned any change in the representation of love in poetry over time, for example, are there any similarities between a love poem written in the Shakespearian era and one written in the 21st Century?
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. For example, how do the poets from different periods define love? What tone do they adopt for example when talking about persons of the opiate sex? I would at whether there is any trace of similarity in terms of language in love poems from different periods.
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.
