Jane Shore's This One

The poem Audit is about a married couple that has suffered at the hands of time. After however many years, the pair have fallen apart. The two were at one point both very much in love, and although the man still loves his wife or at the very least feels affection towards her, she no longer feels that their relationship is profitable or enjoyable. The only hope to save the relationship is for the man to change his disagreeable behavior. The major themes of this poem are love – but not in the ‘love conquers all’ view that is often present in poems, plays, and novels, quite the opposite. In fact, if anything, love can be compared to a business in this context. In addition, this poem contains a bounty of literary devices and poetic forms that contribute to the themes and purpose of the poem.

Charlotte Mew explores the theme of lack of intimacy during the course of her poem, The Farmers Bride. Various techniques are used to represent the stilted relationship the speaker and his ‘maid’ succumb to. Likewise, The Manhunt, written by Simon Armitage uses various metaphors and semantic fields of war and anguish to illustrate the speaker’s yearning to ‘feel the hurt’ her partner is experiencing and take the pain away. Although, the ambiguous ending doesn’t satisfy this.

In Charlotte Mew’s ‘The Farmer’s Bride’ and Simon Armitage’s ‘The Manhunt’, difficult relationships are presented by speakers who are dealing with an emotionally closed partner. Both poems explore how relationships are affected by mental health issues.

In the United States, an all-too-frequent occurrence unfortunately is divorce. I feel that this is a sad thing. Billy Collins tackles this delicate issue masterfully in his poem “Divorce,” an eighteen-word, four-line poem that catches the tone of many splits while using simple things like utensils and tables to make examples of a couple’s situation, using metaphors, imagery, nostalgia, and irony.

The good author will leave the reader with a powerful message without straight out telling them while at the same time using very little words in portraying this message. Molly Giles’ author of “The Poets Husband” and Pamela Painter author of “The New Year” have done a wonderful job of providing a strong micro-short story. The authors use a lot of symbolism and strong short sentences that lead to an understanding of an unhappy relationship due to mistreatment. Although both stories end differently they both leave the reader to connect with the characters about feeling forgotten. Whether they have ever been in a relationship where they stayed even though they were unhappy or the reader has ever been in a relationship where they themselves have cheated and have been broken up with but continues to feel for what they could have had and through away for a quick fling. It is important to keep in mind both angles of a failing relationship and when reading both of these micro-short stories the reader will feel surprisingly more sympathetic and educated in that

“I couldn't joke about the person who'd saved me from facing absolute heartbreak at home, who fed my family boxes of sweets,who ran to me worried that I was hurt if I asked for him. A month ago, I had looked at the TV and seen a stiff, distant, boring person-someone I couldn't imagine anyone loving. While he wasn't anything close to the person I did love, he was worthy of having someone to love in his life.”

The thunder rolls, and the lightning strikes, another love grows cold. Their whole world, over. We are lead to believe that their love compares to a dying ember. The husband leaves his wife. It’s unexpected. The wife cries, she isn’t ready to let go of their love. He packs a bag with enough necessities that he needs in order to start a new life. The wife tries to act like she’s glad it’s over,

We live in a society that has increasingly stomped on love, depicting it as cruel, superficial and full of complications. Nowadays it is easy for people to claim that they are in love, even when their actions say otherwise, and it is just as easy to claim that they are not when they really are. Real love is difficult to find and keeping it alive is even harder, especially when one must overcome their own anxieties and uncertainties. This is the main theme present in Russell Banks’ short story “Sarah Cole: A Type of Love Story,” as well as in “The Fireman’s Wife,” written by Richard Bausch. These narratives, although similar in some aspects, are completely different types of love stories.

The most prominent quality of Elizabeth Bishop’s, “One Art,” remains the concise organization and rhyme scheme of the poem, which amazingly keeps the audience informed at all times what the theme. Her choice of a villanelle constantly reminds the audience that “the art of losing” always seem easy until one loses something so much more than an inanimate object and at the point, it does become a “disaster.” Written in 1976, the poem is very modern and uses an impeccable rhyme scheme, diction, and imagery to convey the hints of misery and frantic the speaker feels.

Love can be quite a difficult topic to write about, expressing one’s intimate and innermost emotions requires a great level of dedication and honesty. If done correctly, the outcome is truly stunning. John Donne’s “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning” and Katherine Philips’s “To Mrs. M.A. at Parting” are two masterpieces of this genre. These poems depict the concept of true love so meticulously that the reader cannot help but envy the relationships presented. Perhaps the reason that these works are so effective is due to the fact that they are incredibly similar to each other. Although some differences are present when it comes to structure and gender concerns, the poems share the same theme of love on a spiritual level and show many parallels in meaning.

The reason it hurts so much to separate is because our souls are connected. ~Nicholas Sparks, The Notebook I wish he knew that I can't survive without him. I wish he knew that I'll always miss him. Hope this would stop him from leaving. I wish he felt my grief in a world without him. I wish he felt my anguish. Hope this would stop us parting. I miss him, his love, his smile, his support. I miss being near him. I miss being adored by him. I miss being cared. I wish those broken promises to complete. I'm doomed, lost, perplexed. I'm sinking in this achromatic world. Won't you rescue me? I agonize you won't. I really wish I'd started my life backwards with old age striking me in the beginning. Fathom life with handling diseases. Meet you on a

This contrasts sharply with the poetic devices used to emphasise the extent of the violence on the women in ‘A kind of love some say’, ‘Hard impact. Then swollen lids’. This shows us the impact of the love and the relationship is weighing her down. Love here is shown as a burden, which needs to be thrown away, ‘Of lost romance, but hurt’.

I remember that it hurt, looking at her hurt. A beautiful line, no doubt, but I mustn’t take credit. I remember seeing her at her best. I remember telling myself that she would get better. I remember seeing what she would post on Facebook and pretending that I thought she wasn’t slowly killing herself. I remember seeing the blades sitting on her desk and throwing them in the trashcan and acting like they didn’t hold any significance, only to repeat the process the next weekend. I remember hearing her stories about falling out of that damned tree and telling myself, “Oh yeah. Those scars could totally be scrapes from the tree bark.” I remember ignoring the brokenness of her smile. I remember not doing anything about it, and I remember foolishly telling myself that it was all in my head.

In Dave Margoshes’ free verse poem, “Note to Self” published on June 30, 2015 in the online literary journal, The Rusty Toque, the speaker is writing down their daily to-do list. Margoshes allows the reader to delve into a piece that combines intimacy with the bluntness of the simple language used. The varied word choice and syntax describe the character behind the writer of the list. In combination, the use of repetition emphasizes key elements in the relationship with the lover. Finally, the structure is used to contrast specific details revealed with vague ideas presented. Using these devices, Margoshes creates an image of how this individual lacks sensitivity and understanding of the sanctity of a relationship by turning it into just another thing-to-do.

We are born into this world with a need to attach to other humans. Loneliness is something we try combat and we every go as far as to surround ourselves with mindless people just to flee the solitude. With attachment comes love, an exposed wounds to the elements. Undying care is projected on to family or friends or lovers. The fear of loneliness paired with the loss of love can cause one to want the world to cease. In W. H. Auden’s Stop All the Clocks, Cut Off the Telephone paints a picture of requested seclusion.