The Themes of Love and Loss in My Last Duchess, La Belle...

The Themes of Love and Loss in My Last Duchess, La Belle Dame Sans Merci, When we Two Parted, and Villegiature Works Cited Missing The poems, My Last Duchess, La Belle Dame Sans Merci and When We Two Parted and Villegiature by Robert Browning (1812-1889), John Keats (1795-1821), Lord Byron (1788-1824) and Edith Nesbit (1858-1924) respectively, have all been written in the nineteenth century. All these poems deal with the different aspects of love and the different attitudes of lovers towards their beloved, after parting or during times away from each other (Villegiature). Brownings My Last Duchess shows the possessive and dominant type of love where the Duke, who is speaking throughout†¦show more content†¦But, what people in such relationships fail to realise until it is too late is the downside to this sort of relationship, not only for the dominated, but also for the dominating, as such an obsession with ruling over another eventually led the Duke to murder his wife. Though most people would not have taken as drastic a measure as the Duke, the poet probably uses such a negatively powerful result to emphasize on the harmful aspects of such a relationship. Also, this poem follows a strict rhyme scheme and has a conversational rhythm. It is written in iambic pentameter, which probably conveys the conflict within himself between what he says and what he really is - a murderer! Furthermore, this sort of communion does not hold many positive aspects for the partner who lets himself/herself be controlled by the other either. In La Belle Dame S ans Merci, the knight says, And that is why I sojourn here/Alone and palely loitering/Though the sedge has witherd from the lake/And no birds sing, the sad condition of the knight here emphasizes on the downbeat to this type of love and the sad, lonely image (from winter) is used to create a greater impact on the reader. This dominating type of affection