Kandyce Bryant

Professor J. Mignano-Brady

English 102

March 17th, 2011

True Love

Love can be expressed in many ways, about different people or things for many reasons.

Love is eloquently illustrated in the poems Perfect Woman by William Wordsworth, To My

Dear and Loving Husband by Anne Bradstreet, and in the song You Are by Charlie Wilson.

These three speakers of love use theme, tone, and rhyme scheme to tell the world that they have

that one person in their lives that is like gold, a phantom of delight, and heaven sent.

William Wordsworth, takes his time to describe “his perfect woman” to the world. Living

between the 17 and 1800’s Wordsworth knew what perfection meant to him. His words illustrate

a theme of love at first sight and a tone of admiration and joy. “She was a phantom of delight

When first gleam’d upon my sight; A lovely apparition, sent to be a moment’s ornament”

(Wordsworth). In the first line the speaker expresses that she brought satisfaction and pleasure to

his sight like a shining light. In the next lines he uses the word apparition, a synonym of

phantom, to emphasize that she was pleasing in his eye sight.” A creature not too bright or good

For human nature’s daily food; For transient sorrows, simple wiles, Praise , blame, love, kissed,

tears, and smiles” (Wordsworth). Wordsworth is showing in these lines that she is everything.

He’s letting the audience know that she is a light but not too bright or too good, a short duration
in sorrow and simple tricks. He uses seven words to demonstrate the emotions he feels for her

and what she means to him all in this first sight.

“Endurance, foresight, strength, and skill; A prefect Woman nobly plann’d To warm, to

comfort, and command; And yet a Spirit still, and bright With something of angelic light”

(Wordsworth). Here are four more words used to show the audience that this woman was indeed

perfect. He puts a capital “W” on woman to accent that she is all woman and is essentially sent

from heaven, a perfect place, to warm, comfort, and command the hearts of man. Could this be

love at first sight?

To My Dear and Loving Husband by Anne Bradstreet is a poem that lets everyone know

that love continues on from William Wordsworth in the 17 and 1800’s. This is a woman

speaking to and about her husband making it very clear that there is nothing or no one that loved

her husband more than she did. She uses the most glamorous things; gold, largest; the river, and

powerful things to compare her love and still there was nothing too great!

“If two were one, then surely we. If ever man loved by wife, then thee;” (Bradstreet 1-2).

Just like the poem Perfect Woman, rhyme scheme is presented in the poem and the opening line

is expressed with such love and power that it sets the tone of elation and bliss linking to the

theme true love. She is letting everyone know that her and her husband had a great union

together.” If ever wife was happy in a man, Compare with me ye women if you can” (Bradstreet

3-4). Here she shows that the happiness she shared with her husband is so great that it is

incomparable to anyone else’s. She tells everyone that they can try to compare, but she doesn’t

believe they will have any success. “My love is such that rivers cannot quench” (Bradstreet 7).

The speaker is showing that her love is so grand and plentiful that rivers rich in water cannot
even compare to the true love her and her husband experience. She is grateful for the precious

and priceless union that she encountered. From this she prays that it will live on as a legend even

when they are no longer on the land of the living.

“Thy love is such I can no way repay; The heavens reward thee manifold, I pray. Then

while we live, in love lets’ so presever, That when we live no more we may live ever”

(Bradstreet 8-12).

“Some people search a life time and never find their true love but Heaven cared enough

to give you to me” (Wilson).

Charlie Wilson expresses his love through song. He lets the audience know that this

woman was perfect for him from first sight and forever more. “You’re the perfect girl you were

made for” (Wilson). This is showing that in his eyes she is perfect and she was made just for

him. He knows that they “Were compatible, incredible and natural”(Wilson). These three words

show that they are where they should be, with each other. He uses the word natural to show that

their union belongs together and it is as natural as the trees, the grass, and the birds chirping

outside.

“You are, the reason I love the reason I trust God sent me and angel you are the best in

the world a wonderful girl knowing you by my side brings tears to my eyes” (Wilson). This is

the chorus of the song and it connects the verses so that Wilson can simply say that she is the

reason for everything he feels. She brings so much emotion out of him that it brings tears to his

eyes every time he thinks about her. Through his word choice Charlie Wilson expresses the

theme of true love and tone of joy and gratitude.

 William Wordsworth, Anne Bradstreet, and Charlie Wilson all have the same thing in

common and that is the admiration, the love, and respect they hold for that perfect being for

them. They let their audiences know that from the 1700’s to 2011, love continues to live and

progress through the hearts, minds, and souls of everyone everywhere. The titles Perfect Woman,

To My Dear and Loving Husband, and You Are all spark “the very pulse of the machine”

(Wordsworth), letting people “prize thy love more than whole mines if gold” (Bradstreet 5) and

allowing them to “stand strong here forever” (Wilson).