The Meaning Through Words

Poetry can be analyzed many different ways.   Using language devices can be used to help figure out what the poet is trying to say.   You can also get different emotional feelings through the different types of words the poet uses.   These devices will be used to analyze two different poems. These poems are “To His Coy Mistress”, by Andrew Marvell, and “London”, by William Blake.   The time period of each poem is different; “To His Coy Mistress” was written in 1681 and “London” was written in 1794.   Looking at the publishing years of these poems, it is clear that the poems are written over one hundred years apart from each other.   The same analyzing techniques can be used to interpret the poems theme or meaning even with this large gap in time between each of the publishing’s.   After a short summarization of each poem the diction will be studied, checking for rhyme scheme and examining words that control the mood and/or the tone of the poem.   Metaphors and similes will be pointed out and compared, and Symbolism will be analyzed and interpreted.   The theme and meaning will be summarized using the conclusions derived from each of these poetic devices.   In the end it will be easy to see how the poems “To His Coy Mistress”, by Andrew Marvell, and “London”, by William Blake, can be analyzed focusing on diction, metaphors, similes, and the symbolism each poet uses to figure out the theme and meaning.
“London”, by William Blake, is a poem about the plague in London.   The poem gives the feeling of pain and suffering.   One of the first things to notice is that the poem is a couplet, written in first person.   The poem has sixteen lines, split into four stazas, with the rhyme scheme of abab/cdcd/efef/dgdg.   In the first two lines it is established that the poet is talking about a town, but there is also a sense of sarcasm used by Blake.   His use of the word “chartered”, in lines one and two, help to point out how frustrated people were with the government.   The lines three and...