Love In Poetry

15 Pages 3708 Words

ul can reach, when feeling out of sight

The language of this abstract image portrays love to be inconfinable. This is emphasized by “when feeling out of sight” as the image of the love is portrayed as being further that can actually be seen which accentuates the boundless image of love. The poetic voices’ “soul” adds to the this image as a soul is not an object which can be contained within the body as it knows no bounds, and so the portrayal of love can be viewed as eternal. This image also depicts the magnitude of love as the language of “depth and breadth and height” shows how vast the love the poetic voice feels.
The structure is a vital tool to the poet when portraying love and relationships in the poem. The poem itself is written in iambic pentameter and it is this structural point that enforces “depth” and “breadth” and “height” to be verbally stressed. This enforces the idea of the endless boundaries and the magnitude of love and relationships have within this poem. The accentuation of these words highlights them within the line making them key words and stand apart from it. This enforces the portrayal of love and relationships within the poem. Another structural point is the use enjambment; this can highlight many aspects of love and relationships, which are trying to be conveyed. The enjambments of:

I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.

adds to the portrayal of love knowing no limits at both enjambments. The lack of punctuation also serves a structural purpose. The lack of punctuation of “ I love thee to the depth and breadth and height” reiterates the boundless image of love, as the punctuation cannot disrupt the line and so is elongated.

Enjambment is also used to portray a different aspect of love being described within the poem. The enjambment of:

I love thee to the level of ...