Henry Stevens English Instrument 3

Intro:

The theme, telling the truth about love is a dominant theme of many texts, including Romeo and
Juliet, the famous play written by William Shakespeare and the poem Funeral Blues by W.H. Arden.
These two texts give memorable expression to the topic of telling the truth about love. The purpose
of this presentation today is to justify the reasoning as to why the excerpt, Act 5 Scene 3 lines 85-
110, from Romeo and Juliet and the poem Funeral Blues should be placed side by side in an
anthology called love and tragedy. What is the truth Henry? Your insight that you will convey via the
inclusion of these two texts. You have to have that insight as the scaffold of the perspective. Speak
to me today if you are not sure.The key element that compares the two texts is that ‘Funeral Blues’
is much more realistic then the play Romeo and Juliet, as Funeral Blues physically tells the truth
about love. Which is ……….

Body 1:

Funeral Blues is a poem written by W.H. Arden in 1936, which illustrates a funeral scenario where
the speaker expresses his devastating sadness over the loss of a loved one partner. Funeral Blues
focuses on the key theme of telling the truth about love as W.H. Arden writes the poem in the first
person establishing the direct connection between the reader and thetext poem, the deep personal
feelings of the speaker expressing how someone feels after a person they love has passed. Well the
truth would be that the pain of loss is going to be significant and your world won’t be the same
again.Furthermore, the theme of telling the truth about love is evident as the speaker makes
reference negative emotions. For example, the use of the colour ‘black’ and destructive words such
as “cut off”, “stop”, silence”, convey the depressed mood, that love doesn’t last forever. The love
has lasted but the individual hasn’t.

Language techniques are frequently used throughout the poem to assist in the portrayal of the key
theme, telling the truth about love. Symbolism is used in the text to demonstrates how the speaker
is affected by the death of somebody, emotions of death and grief evident. This is portrayed through
the lines, “Stop all the clocks” and “silence the pianos” with the speaker making a series of requests
and demands. In other words, the speaker wants life to cease just as their loved has ceased. decent
The speaker wants all the clocks to be stopped, he wants the telephone to be cut off, he wants the
dog to be kept quiet and he wants the music of the piano to be discontinued.All true- but you are
taking too long to make the same point. Just use one good example and move on.
Hyperbole….Symbolism g The speaker is telling the truth as he is grieving about the misery of his lost
love. Additionally, the imagery of darkness in stanza four is evident in the line, “the stars are not
wanted now: put out everyone”, refers to the speaker’s desire for no light, only darkness, a
reflection of their overwhelming sadness and despair – the real truth about love. Good
Body 2:

Romeo and Juliet is a play written by the well-known playwright, William Shakespeare. The poem is
about how two ‘star-crossed’ lovers who fall in love, but whose deaths ultimately cause each other
to commit suicide. Stop repeating – let your writing flow. Have a look through your text. You could
easily enhance the text if you edit the repeats of unnecessary information.The play Romeo and Juliet
is known to be a very tragic play, however the theme that has been chosen for this excerpt is telling
the truth about love. Haven’t you said this?Although this theme isn’t connected with the play since
Romeo and Juliet couldn’t possibly have fallen in love within three days, indeed an unrealistic
chance. There is, however, clear evidence of strong passion and desire reflected throughout the
excerpt. This is portrayed when Romeo takes his life for Juliet, “O Juliet my true love… I set up my
everlasting rest”, a love so passionate that he is willing to join her in death. Not as strong in terms of
content or syntax as your first two tasks Henry. You have a bit to do here.

Language features used in this excerpt include imagery and a metaphor and clearly influence the
reader to reflect on the chosen topic, love and passion. This particular scene takes place in the dark
of night and the light and dark imagery is used to describe Juliet as she symbolises a source of light in
the darkness of the tomb. Such images depicted through the lines, “For here lies Juliet and her
beauty makes, this vault a feasting presence, full of light”, making the audience all the more aware
of how much passion lies between the lovers. Additionally, the love that Romeo has for Juliet is
emphasised further through the use of a metaphor (“her beauty makes, this vault a feasting
presence, full of light”). Juliet’s beauty realistically couldn’t light up a dark vault, but Shakespeare
implies that her beauty can light up a room, a representation of Romeo’s love for Juliet.

Body 3:

When comparing the two texts, it is obvious that Funeral Blues is much more realistic than Romeo
and Juliet. Funeral Blues identifies the suffering when a loved one is lost, while Romeo and Juliet
identify the passion that lies within a relationship. “I thought that love would last forever, I was
wrong”, is a powerful expression in Funeral Blues suggesting that the speaker understands that their
love didn’t last forever – telling the truth about love, whereas Romeo and Juliet fail to comprehend
this aspect of love due to the unrealistic nature of their brief relationship.

However, the two texts have some similarities. In each text, the main characters grieve the loss of a
loved one, demonstrating their passionate love is a common element. In Funeral Blues, it is quite
evident that the speaker’s lover was their everything, “He was my North, my South, my East and
West, my working week and my Sunday rest, my noon, my midday, my talk, my song”. Similarly, the
refences to ‘my love, my wife’ by Romeo is an expression of Juliet as his everything. This illustrates a
clear similarity between the two texts, juxtaposing the use of the word “my” in each of the texts.

Needs a bit of work in a few areas Henry. Something to do in the lesson today.