Passionate Shepherd free essay sample

Comparison Essay: The Passionate Shepherd, Song, My Papas Waltz Love and Hate: Does True Love Conquer All? In recent discussions of love and hate, a controversial issue has been presented: can true love conquer all adversity? On one hand, some argue that love has its limitation. From this perspective, many will claim that familial love cannot conquer a violent home with a violent father. On the other hand, however, others argue that love can conquer any obstacle that appears in a relationship, whether material or natural.In the words of one of this view’s main proponents, â€Å"Come live with me and be my love, and we will all the pleasures prove that valleys, groves, hills, and fields, woods, or steepy mountain yields (Marlowe 777). † According to this view, love is enough to move mountains. In sum, this issue is whether love can conquer all adversity or if love has its limitations that cannot be overcome. My own view is that no matter what type of love, romantic or familial, love can conquer anything.Though I concede that there will always be struggles in the way of loving another person, I still maintain that in the end love will overcome. Although some may object that my views are too idealistic, I reply that love in and of itself is extremely idealistic. What force, when all is said and done, is stronger than love? In the Passionate Shepherd, the speaker offers his lover a multitude of delights to persuade her love in his favor. At the very beginning of the poem he states his intention that we will all the pleasures prove (Marlowe 777) creating a basis upon which all his promises are centered.These intentions are masked in the speakers persuasive nature as he seduces his love with romantic images of Melodious birds singing madrigals (Marlowe 777). It can also be observed that all the gifts which represent the speakers love are all fabricated from nature, such as A cap of flowers, and a kirtle, embroidered all with leaves of myrtle (Marlowe 777). Due to the fact that all substances of nature eventually die, this could imply that as the gifts will die so will his love for her. â€Å"Song† by C.Day Lewis is a more practical and honest view of a love offering. The dream-like qualities of â€Å"The Passionate Shepard† are replaced with more realistic expectations. When the author speaks of an evening by the sour canals, well hope to hear some madrigals (Lewis 779) he knows that because of the pollution they will more likely hear the songs of seagulls, boats, horns, and obscenities. Although both poems express romantic love, the speaker in Song does not try to impress his love with grandeur like the Shepherd. He does not proclaim the gifts he can give her but emphasizes that his love is displayed through the hardships he endures. The speaker in this poem simply offers his honesty. He promises that thou shalt read of summer frocks (Lewis 779). This demonstrates that the speaker offers what he can, and does not fabricate stories about the way things will be. In 1993, Helen Fisher said, â€Å"Pair-bonding is a trademark of the human animal. † She specifically spoke about love from an evolutionary perspective.Adult bonds of love, like those expressed in â€Å"Song† and â€Å"The Passionate Shepherd,† are most satisfying and enduring when marked by a similarity of interests and value, a sharing of emotional and material support, and intimate self-disclosure. None of these components are expressed in either poem about love except for the material aspects. Romantic love can be expressed by couples showering one another with affection. Other couples raise their voices yet also seldom praise one another. Both styles can last. But in the end, does true love conquers all? (Myers 217)Like the speaker in The Passionate Shepherd the speaker in â€Å"Song†, will all the pleasures prove (Lewis 779). † The difference being that the speaker from Song offers it only on the chance that employment may afford it (Lewis 779) Whereas the speaker in The Passionate Shepherd promises to make A gown of the finest wool (Marlowe 777). When the speaker in â€Å"Song† says Care on thy maidens brow shall put / A wreath of wrinkles, and thy foot / Be shod with pain: not silken dress / But toil shall tire thy loveliness (Lewis 779) he gives an indirect compliment to her beauty while emphasizing that love requires work. Despite the absence of material objects, he still tries to be romantic. In â€Å"My Papas Waltz† Theodore Roethke describes an episode in his childhood. In this, what seems to be regular, occurrence his drunken father comes home for the night reeking of alcohol and begins dancing with him. Roethke describes his fathers hands as being battered on one knuckle and extremely soiled. They romped until the pans slid from the kitchen shelf (Roethke 800). † This made his mother so upset that she could do nothing but frown. Finally, his father waltzed him on to bed. My Papa’s Waltz† offers an example of a different kind of love than the romantic love of Song and The Passionate Shepard: familial love. The child’s love and respect for his father is illustrated in the things he overlooks just to be able to carry out the dance. Although â€Å"The whiskey your [his father’s] breath could make a small boy dizzy (Roethke 800)† the â€Å"child hung on like death (Roethke 800). † The speaker also overlooks the pain of his ear scraping against a belt buckle at every â€Å"missed step† of his drunken father just to continue his waltz.Roethke also indirectly implies his respect for his father by stating that his hand is, â€Å"caked hard with dirt (Roethke 800). † This is representative of his father having had a hard day at work. In â€Å"Those Winter Sundays† by Robert Hayden, the poet relinquishes on a regular occurrence in his childhood, similarly to â€Å"My Father’s Waltz. † On Sunday mornings, just as any other morning, his father rises early and puts on his clothes in the cold darkness. He then goes out in the cold and splits fire wood with which he uses to start a fire in the house.After the entire house is warm he calls the rest of his family out of bed. He does not get any thanks for doing this, but that does not seem to matter. Robert Hayden uses a different approach to imply his familial love and respect for his father. He uses an example of a regular occasion that he did not pay much attention to when he was a child but now that he is an adult he looks back on it with the utmost respect. Just as any other day his father gets up bright and early on Sunday mornings. He puts on his clothes in the cold darkness and goes outside to split firewood.