#1- Elizabeth Barrett Browning uses many different aspects of figurative language in "Sonnet 43," outside of the more typically used ones.
Elizabeth Browning has utilized multiple aspects of figurative language in her work, Sonnet 43, which expresses her love for her husband Robert Browning.
- First and foremost is the use of Anaphora. She employs this to create effect which is reflective of her love in the poem. “I love thee”, this phrase is framed in the lyric 5 times.
- Parallelism is another key which ensures the existence of symmetry in the poem. We can notice this in lines 7 to 9.
- Hyperbole is a fashion that prevails long in the poems dedicated to loved ones. Elizabeth utilizes several exaggeration techniques through similes and personification in her work. She elevates her lover to the highest by comparing his status to that of God, which she felt in her childhood days.
#3- “When to .......of sweet .....thought”
The opening lines of this sonnet by Shakespeare portray a picture of a man who is reminiscing his past-“sweet” experiences in life . However, this silence of thoughts soon converts into sighs and the poet laments for the temptations that were left unfulfilled. We notice that he is in deep nostalgic pain for the time he has wasted in his previous years which cannot return.
The next quatrain intensifies this idea and thoughts of friends that would never come back to his life, capture his mind. This invasion of thoughts brings tears into the eyes of the poet. He misses the times with his friends and also the events and places that cannot be re-experienced after the death of his beloved friends.
How does the thought of his dear friend change his attitude?
In the final couplets, we see an interesting solution of trap that the poet’s mind has produced.
But if ... while I ...on thee, ...friend, All ...are restored ...sorrows end.
The tangible elements like canceled note, expenses, payments, as well as the intangible thoughts of loss, the death of his friends, are the problems rose by the poet, which connect the audience to the past that was lived by the author and his peers. Moreover, these issues are resolved by the simple thought of his “dear friend.”
The idea here is to pay tribute to his friends and the time spent together. The central theme acts on the notion of remembering the old grieves for the rebirth of the memories of the friends lost.