Porphyria's Lover

I think the main way Browning has told the poem ‘Porphyria’s Lover is through the use of imagery. While reading the poem there are lots of quotes that allow you to really get a sense of what is happening. The first quote that I thought had a clear image was “the rain set early in to-night, the sullen wind was soon awake”, I think this was a really good opening for the poem because it really describes the setting leaving a fixed image in your mind of the dark, storminess of the night. This quote also casts a shadow over the rest of the poem as it leads you to know that the poem will be dark just like the setting. “When glided in Porphyria; straight”, this quote shows the beauty of the character Porphyria. When you read the word glide, you can tell that the narrator sees her as an angelic figure, showing his love and affection towards her. You can see the character is gliding towards him showing her power and confidence over him. “Made the cheerless grate blaze up, and all the cottage warm” this is showing the warmth and the ‘cosiness’ of the situation, we as readers have the picture in our minds of the two being, not just in a house but a home - a home being somewhere they are comfortable in together, again, showing their affection. This leaves us completely unexpectant as to the murder at the end of the poem. Browning also tells the story through each characters power. “Made my cheek lie there”, this shows the power of Porphyria, the word made shows it was a forced action therefore placing Porphyria in a powerful position. There is a contrast between this and another quote as this one shows her power, putting her across as strong, but the poem then goes on to say ‘she too weak for her hearts endeavour’ to show that really, beneath the power she is actually weak, and that while showing her feelings towards the narrator she isn’t as confident as meets the eye. “Her cheek once more blush’d bright benesth my burning kiss”, this quote is showing the narrators power, in my opinion this quote is representing him draining her power, I think this because it’s the line in which she is casting her spell for the last time. Then it goes on to say “my burning kiss”, this part of the quote shows that now he has the power and that the kiss is HIS and she can’t take control anymore. “Only this time my shoulder bore her head”, this is when we realise that now the narrator has all of the power. At the beginning of the poem we read that Porphyria’s shoulder bore his head but now he is finally in control things have swapped around. After listening to the class’ discussion on the poem my opinion on of it is that he (the narrator) had taken Porphyria’s virginity but now, as she is not “perfectly pure and good” anymore he feels that she may fall out of love with him so he murdered her in order to keep her for himself.

Book Recommendations

A trilogy by Gemma Malley: The declaration, the resistance and the legacy

Blurb of the declaration:

Anna hides her secret diary away each night because she doesn't want to get into trouble for breaking the rules. Life in Grange Hall is governed by rules, rules that have to be obeyed in order to make up for breaking the biggest rule of all. Being born.
But when Peter arrives and starts to tell Anna shocking things about the outside world, she learns to question the rules and, with Peter, struggles to escape the past and find a better future.

Blurb of the resistance:

The year is 2140. Peter and Anna are now living on the Outside as Legals. As an agent in the Underground, Peter is tasked with infiltrating Pincent Pharma Corporation and find out what's happening in the secret Longevity programme. Peter must feign a reconciliation and win the trust of his grandfather, Richard Pincent, one of the most powerful men on the planet, whose company, Pincent Pharma, is chasing the holy grail of modern science - a drug which will reverse ageing and make people look young again. But his grandfather has his own plans for Peter - plans which involve Peter and Anna signing the Declaration and endorsing Longevity+. Richard Pincent will stop at nothing to get what he wants, even if it means ripping Peter and Anna's new life apart. At the heart of the organisation he most despises, Peter stumbles across something more sinister than he could ever have imagined, as powerful forces are gathering to crush the young couple's dreams.

Blurb of the legacy:

When a Pincent Pharma lorry is ambushed by the Underground, its contents come as a huge surprise - not drugs but corpses in a horrible state.
It appears Longevity isn't working and the drugs that are supposed to guarantee eternal youth are failing to live up to their promise.
A virus is sweeping the country, killing many in its wake, and Longevity is powerless to fight it. When Richard Pincent of Pincent Pharma suggests that the Underground has released the virus, something has to be done to alert everyone to the truth and put the story straight once and for all.

When I woke up the knife was still there

I found this short story really interesting because of the amount of different connotations there are. Everybody in the class had their own interpretations of the story and it was really interesting to see things from other peoples points of view, for example, some people read this in a dark way thinking it was related with a murder and others were mentioning that it could be innocent and the knife could be in the kitchen. I personally think that the word knife instantly leaves a darker image in your mind just because of the connections it has. When I first read the story I imagined it to be about a criminal waking up the night after they had committed their crime and wishing the knife (the weapon) had been taken away but it hadn’t. After listening to all the things others were saying, I starting thinking it could be a metaphorical knife and it could be a case that he wanted a memory to be taken away.