The poem titled “Love and Friendship” has three stanzas and 12 lines. In the foremost stanza, the second line rhymes with the fourth one. In the foremost stanza, the second line rhymes with the fourth one. In the second stanza, the second line rhymes with the fourth one. In the concluding stanza, the second line rhymes with the fourth one. As well, the first line rhymes with the third line. Overall, in the poem, Emily Brontë, compares love with undomesticated rose-briar, showing her mastery of the usage of similes along with metaphors (Kennedy and Gioia 768-7690). Characteristically, rose-briar symbolizes obsession or passion. Brontë as well compares the holly tree with friendship. In most communities, the tree is taken as symbolizing peace.
The attitude that Brontë had towards love is rather clear in the poem. In real life, she tended to keep away from other persons. She was quite close to her two sisters. Even then, she lacked social relations with persons who were not members of her family. Commonly, she found more joy from tending to animals and keeping their company than from socializing with people. She really adored her mastiff christened Keeper. She neither befriended male friends nor got married. She remained single until she passed away at 30. At 30, she was commonly perceived as an old, or ageing, maid. Rather than socializing, she preferred spending her days writing, especially materials focusing on love. Even though she appeared to be avoiding love, the materials, including “Love and Friendship”, give the notion that she enjoyed examining the subject of love.
The overall message in the poem can be interpreted in diverse ways. Roses have thorns. Brontë compares love with roses. Love, like a rose, is certainly beautiful. As well, love, like a rose, can occasion pain. Her comparison of friendship with the tree may be interpreted to mean that when romance is underway, a friendship or companionship easily gives way to love, which controls one’s emotions and feelings. When trying times come along, love may not hold up. They die off. The tree endures tough times. Brontë appears to be using the similes to encourage people to seek out for friendship rather than love in the long term. She suggests that companionships endure even in circumstances that are incompatible with love. Brontë, being a friend to her sisters, grew up with them. They supported one another even in trying times, especially after the demise of their other family members. The three sisters encouraged each other through their writings. Obviously, companionship was the principal factor holding them together during the trying times.
A casual reading of “Love and Friendship” gives one the notion that regardless of how beautiful love comes off as being, it may cause him or her lots of heartache. One gets the notion he or she can be markedly swindled by love’s appeal at the expense of developing strong, dependable friendships. Love is likely to fly away when one is feeling cold, weak, and impassionate but friendships remain reliable during such times. During the times when one feels weak, her or his true friends can be called upon to support her or him unreservedly.
The poem may as well be directly interpreted as demonstrating that love is as essential as companionship in human life and that the two are complementary. Such interpretation is hinged on the perception that Brontë is keen on showing her audiences why they need to balance out companionship and love. Brontë is keen on showing her audiences that both companionship and love affect persons in all the phases of their lives. That is because the lives are always colored by affection and lust. As well, it is because companionship and love are hinged human emotions.
That means that none of the two can be ignored. Brontë draws parallels between the two to show that they intimately connected. Brontë is keen on showing her audiences that individuals remain friends even when love ends but celebrate love’s glory when it lasts. When love ends, companionships substitute the pain that friends feel. Individuals may not make out the significance of companionships when they view it in the light of love’s beauty and radiance.
“Love and Friendship” has several meanings that are indirect. Such meanings are presented in the feelings that the poem evokes. It appears that Brontë is keen on communicating that friendships last but love is fleeting in a roundabout way. She communicates that by evoking hope in her audiences by demonstrating to them that friendships last even in cases where given relationships die. As well, Brontë evokes the feeling that true friends can always be counted on to care for others when they feel lonely, scared, or uncomfortable. From the poem, one gets the feeling that his or her true friends will always support her or him and afford her or him comfort whenever distressed. A person’s love for another can die out, but the dependability of a true friend stays strong.
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