Compare Climbing my Grandfather with Eden Rock:
Both poems are about familial relationships and emphasise specific details. Both also have undertones
of death, with in Eden Rock, his parents waiting for him, and him thinking it was easier than he had
imagined, and in Climbing my Grandfather seemingly about an emotional journey to remember and
honour his grandfather, as well as coming to terms with it.
Final line of Eden Rock "I Had not thought that it would be like this"
Final line of Climbing my Grandfather "The slow pulse of his good heart"
Both revert to childlike simplicity for the final line, as if wishing they were children again, although in
Eden Rock he is being welcomed by his grandparents, here he is going to let his grandfather go-coming
to terms with his death (parting)
"the same suit/ Of Genuine Irish Tweed" of Eden rock with "the old brogues, dusty and cracked," of
Climbing my Grandfather shows old fashioned times, when it was more proper, and remembering really
specific details of those they cared about.
Both poems use the use of sounds to slow down the poem, as if both want to stay in this moment,
certainly in this case in Climbing my Grandfather, in Eden Rock lots of small details are being
remembered, so this could simply be to add to the reminiscing feel of the poem. Eden Rock uses the
sibilance created when his mother "slowly sets out/ The same three plates." An extended -ee sound is
created in Climbing my Grandfather when he crosses the "screed cheek."
Compare Love’s Philosophy with Sonnet 29-I think of thee:
Love’s philosophy is about someone trying to convince a woman to sleep with them, while Sonnet 29 is
about someone longing for someone and watching them from a distance.
While Love’s philosophy shows a clear physical longing for the woman, “why not I with thine?,” while
Sonnet 29 shows an obsessive desire to be with them, or even control them “bands of greenery which
insphere thee,” shows how he is her world and that she cannot live without him.
Love’s philosophy asks, “what are all these kissings worth if thou kiss not me?” Asking what is the
beauty of the world worth, as he had previously declared that “the sunlight clasps the earth, and the
moonbeams kiss the sea,” if she would not kiss him. This contrasts with how rather than thinking of her
and how much he wants her, in Sonnet 29 she declares that “I do not think of thee – I am too near thee,”
describing how her obsession with him is so consuming that she cannot think of him because he is so
close.
Both poems try commanding or manipulating their obsessions into joining them. In Love’s Philosophy,
Shelly uses the personification of “Love’s” to make it sound like it is a rule and within a very rigid society,
women were expected to obey all rules, so he is effectively commanding her to join him. In Sonnet 29
Browning uses imperatives, “renew thy presence… Rustle thy boughs,” to try and force him to join her,
this was highly unusual within a society where women were expected to be ordered about and men to
be doing the ordering, rather than the other way around.
Both poems are about familial relationships and emphasise specific details. Both also have undertones
of death, with in Eden Rock, his parents waiting for him, and him thinking it was easier than he had
imagined, and in Climbing my Grandfather seemingly about an emotional journey to remember and
honour his grandfather, as well as coming to terms with it.
Final line of Eden Rock "I Had not thought that it would be like this"
Final line of Climbing my Grandfather "The slow pulse of his good heart"
Both revert to childlike simplicity for the final line, as if wishing they were children again, although in
Eden Rock he is being welcomed by his grandparents, here he is going to let his grandfather go-coming
to terms with his death (parting)
"the same suit/ Of Genuine Irish Tweed" of Eden rock with "the old brogues, dusty and cracked," of
Climbing my Grandfather shows old fashioned times, when it was more proper, and remembering really
specific details of those they cared about.
Both poems use the use of sounds to slow down the poem, as if both want to stay in this moment,
certainly in this case in Climbing my Grandfather, in Eden Rock lots of small details are being
remembered, so this could simply be to add to the reminiscing feel of the poem. Eden Rock uses the
sibilance created when his mother "slowly sets out/ The same three plates." An extended -ee sound is
created in Climbing my Grandfather when he crosses the "screed cheek."
Compare Love’s Philosophy with Sonnet 29-I think of thee:
Love’s philosophy is about someone trying to convince a woman to sleep with them, while Sonnet 29 is
about someone longing for someone and watching them from a distance.
While Love’s philosophy shows a clear physical longing for the woman, “why not I with thine?,” while
Sonnet 29 shows an obsessive desire to be with them, or even control them “bands of greenery which
insphere thee,” shows how he is her world and that she cannot live without him.
Love’s philosophy asks, “what are all these kissings worth if thou kiss not me?” Asking what is the
beauty of the world worth, as he had previously declared that “the sunlight clasps the earth, and the
moonbeams kiss the sea,” if she would not kiss him. This contrasts with how rather than thinking of her
and how much he wants her, in Sonnet 29 she declares that “I do not think of thee – I am too near thee,”
describing how her obsession with him is so consuming that she cannot think of him because he is so
close.
Both poems try commanding or manipulating their obsessions into joining them. In Love’s Philosophy,
Shelly uses the personification of “Love’s” to make it sound like it is a rule and within a very rigid society,
women were expected to obey all rules, so he is effectively commanding her to join him. In Sonnet 29
Browning uses imperatives, “renew thy presence… Rustle thy boughs,” to try and force him to join her,
this was highly unusual within a society where women were expected to be ordered about and men to
be doing the ordering, rather than the other way around.
