Comparing 'Our Love Now' and Sonnet 130

Comparison Essay - “Our Love Now” and Sonnet 130

“Our Love Now”, is a modern poem by Martyn Lowery regarding a diminishing relationship whereas Sonnet 130, written by William Shakespeare in the 17th century is a declaration of love. Shakespeare portrays his poem from a single, male viewpoint; this is perhaps because of the patriarchal society he lived in. However “Our Love Now” is depicted from two perspectives, a male and a female, this could be because of the changes in society between the two eras.

A clearly defined structure is apparent in both poems. However, “our love now” is structured as a conversation or dispute, with four original arguments (a male voice) and four counter-arguments (the female voice). All of the counter-arguments ends with, ‘such is our love now’ except the final one which concludes ‘such is our love’ as if their love is no more! There are two ways that you could digest this poem, the reader could follow all instances of the male voice first and then the female voice or you could read it as a conversation. Sonnet 130 is in the usual style of a sonnet, one long verse where every other line rhymes, except the final two lines which forms a rhyming couplet. The opening section appears to be insulting his mistress, but the concluding couplet changes the entire meaning. In each line, Shakespeare introduces a new trait of his mistress; this creates the effect of an expanding and developing argument, which is then contradicted by the last couplet. There is one similarity however as they both contain significant endings, Our Love Now’s dramatic ‘such is our love’ and Sonnet 130’s concluding couplet “And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare. As any she belied with false compare.”

Both poets use specific language to establish the mood of the poem. Sonnet 130 uses archaic language such as ‘dun, damasked and belied’, Shakespeare used this as it was the language of the time. The writer also chooses to use conventional ideas for...