Introduction: ‘Sonnet 43’ is a poem written by Elizabeth Barrett Browning. Each sonnet in this collection, including this poem, is directed toward her beloved husband Robert Browning, who also happened to be an eminent Victorian poet at that time. About the Poet: Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861) was a prominent English poet. Noted to be the … Read more
Introduction The Nigerian poet and novelist Gabriel Okara has incorporated imagery of his native Nigerian delta into his poems, and his writing fuses the lexicon of his native Ijaw language with English concepts. Both in terms of form and subject, “The Mystic Drum” is an African poem. Okara returns to his roots in history, religion, … Read more
Introduction Wordsworth and Coleridge were friends with the British essayist and writer William Hazlitt (1788–1830). In the year 1822, he wrote the article “On the Ignorance of the Learned.” Hazlitt persuasively makes the claim that formal education breeds ignorance and animosity. He thinks that book learning cannot replace experience. One must actively participate in life, … Read more
Introduction John Donne’s poem “Go and catch a falling star,” (1633) explores women’s presumably inevitable infidelity. In the poem, the speaker claims that no matter where he looks in the world, his chances of finding a lady who will be faithful to him are roughly the same as those of encountering the devil or a … Read more
Introduction: ‘A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning’ is an elegiac poem written by John Donne. It is a poem on the untimely death of his wife Anne More Donne in 1611. It serves as a farewell to her, a parting note where he makes the readers beware of death and its consequences and asks them not to … Read more
Introduction: ‘Epilogue’ is a dramatic monologue written by Robert Browning. A part of Asolando, his collection of poetry, it is the final poem penned by him on his death day. As the title suggests, it is thus the poet asking his readers to bid farewell to him without pity as death beckons him in the … Read more
Introduction The speaker of this poem, John Donne criticizes Death, one of his enemies. Most people fear this enemy, yet in this sonnet, the speaker reprimands it. Speaking to Death in this manner shows that the speaker is not terrified of it and does not believe that Death should be so arrogant in himself. About … Read more
Introduction “To His Coy Mistress” persuades a young woman to appreciate life’s joys before passing away. In fact, the poem is an attempt to woo the coy mistress who serves as its title. However, the speaker obsesses over death itself during this process with horrific intensity. The apprehension of death seems to overtake the poem, … Read more
Introduction William Wordsworth published a poem titled “The World Is Too Much With Us” in 1807. The poem bemoans the loss of humanity’s connection to nature and accuses industrial society of destroying it in favour of selfish pursuits. The poem was written by Wordsworth during the First Industrial Revolution, a time of technological and mechanical … Read more
Introduction Robert Browning wrote the well-known dramatic monologue “My Last Duchess.” It implies that the speaker murdered his wife and will do the same to the next one shortly. The Duke and Duchess Ferarra provided the poet with ideas for this poem. The Duchess passed away in eerie circumstances. At fourteen, she got married, and … Read more
