Poems can provide insight into our relationships and how we deal with relationships between each other. These poems focus on relationships between family, friends, and love.
‘To My Brothers’ by John Keats encapsulates familial love, intellectual camaraderie, and the fleeting beauty of shared moments in life.
It explores the theme of relationship through the intimate bond between siblings. It portrays the closeness and companionship shared between brothers, emphasizing the importance of familial ties and mutual support. The poem highlights the depth of their relationship, depicting moments of shared understanding, love, and connection as they journey through life together.
Small, busy flames play through the fresh-laid coals,
‘Lochinvar’ is a ballad about a young and courageous knight who saves his beloved, the fair lady Ellen, from marrying another man.
'Lochinvar' is a very interesting poem from the perspective of relationships. Every character and object in the poem either compliments or contrasts with the hero, Lochinvar. Underneath the poem’s heartwarming love story is an interesting satire on relations between Scotland and England in the 16th century. Lochinvar is a Scot, while Ellen is presumably English, and thus, they cannot marry. Behind the poem is also a question of morality, as Lochinvar, like the Scottish raiders of the period, steals something that is not his in the poem.
O young Lochinvar is come out of the west,
Through all the wide Border his steed was the best;
‘Sonnet 131,’ also known as ‘Thou art as tyrannous, so as thou art,’ is a poem about how the Dark Lady’s beauty moves the speaker. He knows she’s untraditionally beautiful but he doesn’t care!
Shakespeare's ‘Sonnet 131’ explores relationship dynamics in the light of the theme of society’s expectations vs. individual preference. This relation between the Dark Lady and the poet is not a conventional one thus not accepted by society as per the textual information. Besides, this uneven relationship subjects the poet to suffer to some extent inwardly with a hope that the Lady may forego her “dark” deeds.
Jean Bleakney’s ‘Consolidation’ is a deeply personal poem about the act of rearranging the cowry shells that the speaker and her children gathered in the past.
This Jean Bleakney verse revolves around motherhood and a mother-children relationship.
‘My Papa’s Waltz’ uses a rowdy dance between a father and son as a metaphor for the darker undercurrents of masculine relationships.
The overarching theme of the poem is found in the volatile relationship that exists between the speaker and their father. What at first appears to be a night of rowdy bonding is eventually revealed to be hiding a simmering tension and an even darker truth: the eponymous "papa" wields an aggressive authority that has left both his wife and son fearfully submissive to his belligerent will. The poet's imagery ("We romped until the pans / Slid from the kitchen shelf") and diction ("battered," "scraped," "beat") characterize every interaction between the two as a physical confrontation.
‘My Parents’ by Stephen Spender is a poem based on bullying and the desire to make friends.
The poem explores the dynamics of the speaker’s relationship with his parents who want to shield him from other children. This protective dynamic defines the relations of the speaker with his peers, the influence of parental decisions on social relations and the individual’s development.
My parents kept me from children who were rough
Who threw words like stones and wore torn clothes
Their thighs showed through rags they ran in the street
And climbed cliffs and stripped by the country streams.
‘Long Distance II’ by Tony Harrison is an elegiac poem that describes a father’s way of grieving the death of his wife and his child’s reaction to his futile actions.
The title of the poem hints at the subject, which is the long-distance relationship between two individuals: one dead and another alive. This “distance” is caused by the death of the speaker's mother. The poem also explores the relationship between the speaker and his father.
‘The First Disciple of Buddha’ reveals the transformative effects of human compassion as a path toward spiritual enlightenment.
At the center of Bhatt's poem is the beginning of a new relationship: the speaker becomes the eponymous first disciple of Buddha. Ultimately, this is meant to showcase how selfless compassion for others will place you on the path toward enlightenment. Both of the characters in the poem reciprocate this kindness. First, the speaker cares for the man by cleaning him up, then the Buddha shows their gratitude by leading them to the spot where they attained nirvana.
‘To E.T.’ processes the lingering grief and regret caused by a friend’s death via an expression of loving admiration.
At the center of the poem is the close friendship between the speaker, Frost, and their friend, Edward Thomas. This relationship is marked by a mutual respect for each other's literary works and a brotherly bond that encouraged open and honest communication between the two, ensuring that nothing would ever go unsaid. Despite this promise, death leaves the speaker unable to reconcile the permanency of their friend's absence, creating an unresolvable grief that' is symbolized by the "half-read" poems.
‘New Year’ by Duffy melds year-end nostalgia with the ache for a lost love, weaving hope into the fabric of longing.
Like many of Duffy's poems, 'New Year' features the highs and lows of relationships. The speaker is left lonely by the absence of her partner during the year end celebrations. Duffy highlights the importance of spending these times with those you love, characterising the speaker's partner as being somewhere they should not be. The speaker describes their relationship as 'grief in reverse', emphasising the complicated and emotionally distressing nature of dysfunctional relationships. Despite these negative factors, the speaker reflects on their 'intimate' relationship, treasuring the times they have spent together.
Out of the space around me, standing here, I shape
your absent body against mine. You touch me as the giving air.
‘Eden Rock’ evokes nostalgia, depicting a timeless picnic with his parents, blending memory with longing for familial unity.
This poem is all about relationships, especially the one the speaker had with his parents. The pain one feels when one can no longer be with one’s loved one is what the poet tries to convey through this poem.
They are waiting for me somewhere beyond Eden Rock:
In Part VIII, while May sets her adulterous plans into motion, deities Pluto and Proserpina debate about the nature of women.
While this poem has explored the relationships between May, her husband, and her lover, this section examines a more prominent couple. The Roman deities Proserpina and Pluto occupy the focus of this section. While they engage in a heated discussion about the nature of women, the couple ultimately resolve the issue amicably after each party has spoken only once. This relationship differs from the others presented thus far as Proserpina, the woman, easily takes control of the situation and asserts her power over her husband in an effort to convince him of her perspective.
‘Praise Song For My Mother’ uses nature metaphors to depict her mother’s vital, nurturing presence in a personal ode.
At the very center of Nichols' poem is the relationship between the speaker and their mother. Unfolding from the daughter's perspective, the words touch on their reverential perception of their parent as "deep and bold and fathoming." As essential and pivotal as the "sunrise" but also a source of stability like the moon. The poet's diction underscores the tone of love, respect, and gratitude felt by the speaker toward their mother and the faith she had in them.
‘The Anactoria Poem’ is a widely read love poem in which Sappho uses the story of Helen of Troy to speak on the nature of beauty.
This poem offers a tantalising glimpse into Sappho's relationship with the titular figure, Anactoria. The absence of Anactoria is likened to that of Helen of Troy, which suggests Anactoria chose to leave Sappho, although the reason is not clear. The poem is thus a brilliant depiction of the ways in which relationships can evolve and even grow bitter over time.
Some say thronging cavalry, some say foot soldiers,
others call a fleet the most beautiful of
sights the dark earth offers, but I say it's what-
‘The Snowman on the Moor’ explores the turbulent and abusive relationship between the speaker (presumably Plath herself) and her male spouse.
Plath's discussion of abusive relationships from the point of view of the victim is incredibly raw and emotional - the poet shows not only the physical but emotional toll that an unstable power dynamic brings. By concluding the poem with the speaker returning to her abusive partner, Plath effectively develops the ground for discussing the cycle of abuse that victims often find themselves in.
Stalemated their armies stood, with tottering banners:
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