Monday, March 10, 2008

Oh, love poems....

The simplicity of "love poem" is something that I haven't seen in the genre of love poems on a regular basis, but it is something that I really enjoyed when I am faced with it.  There was not a complicated rhyming scheme, nor is there long and drawn out stanzas with flowery, lyrical words used to describe the author's emotions.  You get the same idea, that they are in this magical state, without being sucked into the stereotype.

The way that the poem "How Do I Love Thee" discusses the emotions that are inspired by falling in love are a smooth expression in words.  The rhyming scheme is easy to follow but does not do the obvious matches such as love and above, but instead uses sets like Grace and day's.

In terms of what I think of when I hear the words "love poem" I think that it fits the stereotype.  It is very mushy-gushy, and lyrical in terms of the words chosen to express the emotions that this person is feeling once they find their match in life.  I normally don't gravitate to something like this, but I have always counted this poem as an exception to my distaste for the happy love poem.  I tend to like ones that are questioning their love choice and then things turn out in the end.  You get more of a realistic view of life and how things are in reality, rather than the picture of perfection that being in love can present.

1 comment:

Erinn said...

Charlotte,
I'm happy to see a response on the genre of love poems in general. I agree with your assessment that most love poems are "very mushy-gushy, and lyrical in terms of the words chosen to express the emotions that this person is feeling once they find their match in life." I'm very curious about the "other" kind of love poems that you say you prefer, the kind of poems "that are questioning their love choice..." What poems, specifically, do you see doing that? I hope you bring in one or more of these type of love poems to share with the class!

Finally, this idea of what consitutes a "stereotypical" love poem could be a good idea for one of our upcoming projects. You might think of identifying what this stereotype means and then contrast some poems that do and do not fit this stereotype.