Love Poetry Article Review

“Annabel Lee” by Edgar Allen Poe, and “How Do I Love Thee?” by Elizabeth Barret Browning are both poems with love as their main theme. Although both follow many traditions of love poetry, such as form and rhyme, the fact that Poe’s is a narrative poem and Browning’s a lyric poem cause them to read very differently. The question of which is more effective in conveying the theme of love is a difficult one to answer as this is a matter of opinion. However, overall, Poe’s poem gives the reader more to relate to and, therefore, is the more effective.
/> Despite the questionable nature of the narrator in “Annabel Lee,” the poem is definitely about love. It depicts a man who is in love with a woman and will not relinquish that love for anything. Perhaps the most interesting element of this poem is that it does not only speak about the positive sides of love. Instead, it discusses the hazardous sides of such feelings, the way in which love can ensnare a person, torture them, and can make them unhappy and alone. In Poe’s poem, the man is the result of love and of what love has made him; love has wrecked his life. The speaker of “Annabel Lee” is recalling the memory of his lost lover, Annabel Lee. He knew Annabel Lee a long time previously, when the two of them were children, and they fell in love. Annabel then got ill and died, and her relatives put her body in a tomb. The narrator tells the reader that he is still in love with her and won’t stop. He sees her in the world every day and he lies in her tomb with her every night.
Love is a multifaceted feeling in "How do I love thee?" Indeed, the whole poem involves discovering, defining, and recording various ways of loving another person. Whether such varying ways harmonise or contradict each other as they meet is left up to the interpretation of the reader. This poem is far more simple than Poe’s, perhaps because it is a lyric poem rather than a narrative one. The speaker of this poem is attempting to list all of the different ways in which she loves her lover.
Poe uses various poetic techniques in “Annabel Lee,” which is made up of six stanzas. One of the most obvious techniques is rhyme, which he uses heavily. Every other line ends in an ee sound. This results in a melodious, pleasant sound, which is perfect for a love poem.
“How Do I Love Thee?” follows many of the traditions of love poetry. Firstly, it is a sonnet, and sonnets are traditionally always love poems. As with all sonnets, this one has fourteen lines and is written in iambic pentameter. This metre gives it a rhythmic, beautiful feel to it, which is partly why sonnets make good love poems. Furthermore, as iambic pentameter closely resembles everyday dialogue, it produces a comfortable rhythm for most readers. Like Poe, Browning uses rhyme in her poem, following the rhyming scheme of the traditional sonnet.
Although both Poe’s and Browning’s poems work well as love poems, Poe’s is arguably more effective. His use of an unusual narrative demonstrates well the theme of love. Furthermore, the use of narrative may enable more readers to relate to the piece.