Compare how the poets present obsessive love in Porphyria’s Lover and one

other poem from the anthology:

Porphyria’s Lover and Sonnet 29 both present obsessive love in a relationship, but in
different ways. While Porphyria’s Lover is a dramatic monologue detailing the murder of
a woman by her lover, with a sinister tone and an unreliable narrator, Sonnet 29 is a
more cheerful and passionate Petrarchan sonnet about a woman’s love for her
husband.

In both poems, obsessive love causes the speaker to become impatient. In Porphyria’s
Lover, this impatience makes him act harshly towards the subject. The fourteenth and
fifteenth lines read: ‘And last, she sat down by my side/ And called me. When no voice
replied’. The repetition of ‘and’ emphasises how long it took for Porphyria to call the
speaker, implying his impatience; the comma after ‘last’ also foregrounds the two words
by providing a pause, which makes him seem resentful, as if he is trying to show the
reader how unfairly he is being treated. However, further on, in line twenty-eight, the
speaker describes himself as ‘one so pale for love of her’, showing that he does love
indeed love her despite his cold behaviour. ‘Pale’ has connotations of sickness and also
coldness, which would link to his behaviour. The Ancient Greeks also described
jealousy with a word meaning both 'pale' and 'green' interchangeably. Meanwhile, in
Sonnet 29, this impatience is expressed through a strong desire to be with the subject.
In the last two lines of the octave, the speaker demands ‘rather, instantly/ Renew thy
presence’. By placing ‘instantly’ between the comma and the line break, the word is
foregrounded, which emphasises the impatience of the speaker. Furthermore, the
imperative verb ‘renew’ is used, which sounds forceful and commanding. However, as
the consonance of ‘r’ draws out the beginning of the line, the urgency of the command is
softened a little and the lines sound more indulgent. In the fourth line of the sestet, the
speaker describes a ‘deep joy to see and hear thee’. Again the assonance of ‘ee’, a
long vowel sound, slows the line and invites the reader to fully sense the depth of her
love. The words ‘deep joy’ are simple and literal, which shows the frank,
single-mindedness of her emotions. ‘See’ and ‘hear’ are verbs in the semantic field of
senses, which reinforces the speaker’s desire to be with the subject, as she doesn’t
express a need to even interact with the subject, just feel his presence. Elizabeth
Barrett Browning wrote this sonnet for her husband, Robert Browning. She was
somewhat older than him and felt inferior to him, which could have reinforced a need to
be with him, as she may have doubted her own potential for happiness without him.
Overall, Porphyria’s Lover paints a difficult and conflicted way of expressing impatience,
while Sonnet 29 shows a simpler one.
Secondly, in both poems, the obsessive love is fulfilled. In Porphyria’s Lover this
fulfilment comes at the expense of the subject. Lines 52 and 53 describe ‘the smiling
rosy little head/ So glad it has its utmost will’. ‘Smiling rosy little’ is a triplet which has
infantile connotations, as if he is describing a doll, showing his possessive and
patronising attitude towards her. It is also heavily ironic, as Porphyria cannot be ‘smiling’
or ‘glad’, as she is dead; this implies a delusion on the speaker’s part, as it is likely
Porphyria’s face is contorted due to the nature of strangulation. By using synecdoche in
describing the head’s ‘will’, the speaker separates Porphyria from her ‘head’ implying
that this wasn’t what Porphyria wanted, and that the speaker knows this, but is again
deluding himself. The last three lines read ‘and thus we sit together now/ And all night
long we have not stirred/ and yet God has not said a word!’ The poem was previously in
past tense but shifts here to present and then present perfect, a common technique
used to end a narrative. The repetition of ‘and’ strengthens the exclamation, bringing the
poem to a dramatic close and finalising the fulfilment of the obsession. Robert Browning
was very vocal about his political views and believed strongly in the emancipation of
women; this portrayal of a toxic relationship and destruction of Porphyria could be his
way of criticising the selfishness or possessiveness of his male peers. Alternatively, this
poem could reference an 1818 murder of a woman with golden hair, in which case
Browning would have to bring her death around either way. On the other hand, in
Sonnet 29 the fulfilment comes peacefully. The opening line reads: ‘I think of thee! - my
thoughts do twine and bud/’ The poem starts off very urgently, with an exclamative
followed by a caesura to foreground the first words and provide a strong pause which
makes them sound louder and more dramatic. The use of the pronouns ‘I’ and ‘thee’
emphasises how this poem is about both of them, showing a unison. This contrasts
heavily with the last line: ‘I do not think of thee - I am too near thee’. Although caesura is
also used, this time it simply slows the pace of the line and makes it sound calmer, as if
she has been satisfied. ‘I do not think of thee’ directly opposes the first line, creating a
structure where the end resolves the beginning. Finally, ‘too’, ‘near’, and ‘thee’ all have
long vowel sounds, which lengthens the last few lines and the full stop draws the poem
to a gentle halt, reflecting the peaceful and nonviolent nature of the fulfilment. Barrett
Browning’s relationship with her husband was positive and mutual, so it would make
sense for her poem to end in such a way. In Porphyria’s Lover the obsession can only
be fulfilled through violence, while this isn’t needed in Sonnet 29.

In conclusion, while in Porphyria’s Lover obsessive love leads to a toxic and negative
relationship eventually ending in violence, in Sonnet 29 the outcome is more peaceful
and positive.