OCR English Literature
Poems
Revision
,A Song - Helen Maria Williams
Opens with a universal concept of love - that it makes everything else pale in comparison, love is
all we need from life.
It develops into a poem that tells the story of love gone wrong, love that seems as if it is lost or at
least is soon to be.
Plot: The lovers court, unite, and then undergo a gradual separation that results from their
differing motivations and priorities; the narrator lives for love, her lover lives for material gain.
General points:
- The ABAB rhyme scheme helps emphasize her feelings for him and brings attention to the
regularity of the rhyme, suggesting that her feelings for him have always been the same
, Boon - A helpful/beneficial thing, a blessing
- Starts with a negative, reflecting what the poem is about
No riches from his scanty store
- ‘Scant’ - barely sufficient, ‘scanty store’ suggests the
My lover could impart; man is poor and this is stressed by the sibilance
He gave a boon I valued more — - ‘More,’ she’s comparing his different features
- ‘All his heart,’ is a common metaphor for love, she wants
He gave me all his heart!
it ‘all,’ showing her love for him
- She contrasts his financial status with his value in her eyes,
His soul sincere, his generous worth, shows how much she values him and this is emphasized by the
Might well this bosom move; sibilance
And when I asked for bliss on earth, - She considers his love as bliss.
- ‘Only’ suggests her agitation for his reluctance to acknowledge
I only meant his love.
her feelings
But now for me, in search of gain - ‘But’ a turning point, the poem is now in present tense whereas
From shore to shore he flies; before it was in past tense.
- The fact that he ‘flies’ from shore to shore suggests that he
Why wander riches to obtain, might be trying to get away from her.
When love is all I prize? - She feels that his love is all that she needs to sustain her, not
any of the ‘riches’
- Suggested agitation with the ‘?’
Poems
Revision
,A Song - Helen Maria Williams
Opens with a universal concept of love - that it makes everything else pale in comparison, love is
all we need from life.
It develops into a poem that tells the story of love gone wrong, love that seems as if it is lost or at
least is soon to be.
Plot: The lovers court, unite, and then undergo a gradual separation that results from their
differing motivations and priorities; the narrator lives for love, her lover lives for material gain.
General points:
- The ABAB rhyme scheme helps emphasize her feelings for him and brings attention to the
regularity of the rhyme, suggesting that her feelings for him have always been the same
, Boon - A helpful/beneficial thing, a blessing
- Starts with a negative, reflecting what the poem is about
No riches from his scanty store
- ‘Scant’ - barely sufficient, ‘scanty store’ suggests the
My lover could impart; man is poor and this is stressed by the sibilance
He gave a boon I valued more — - ‘More,’ she’s comparing his different features
- ‘All his heart,’ is a common metaphor for love, she wants
He gave me all his heart!
it ‘all,’ showing her love for him
- She contrasts his financial status with his value in her eyes,
His soul sincere, his generous worth, shows how much she values him and this is emphasized by the
Might well this bosom move; sibilance
And when I asked for bliss on earth, - She considers his love as bliss.
- ‘Only’ suggests her agitation for his reluctance to acknowledge
I only meant his love.
her feelings
But now for me, in search of gain - ‘But’ a turning point, the poem is now in present tense whereas
From shore to shore he flies; before it was in past tense.
- The fact that he ‘flies’ from shore to shore suggests that he
Why wander riches to obtain, might be trying to get away from her.
When love is all I prize? - She feels that his love is all that she needs to sustain her, not
any of the ‘riches’
- Suggested agitation with the ‘?’
