EXERCISES

1)The poet was regarded explicitly as a visionary. The poet stresses upon his visionary capacity , his integrity and sincerity.

2)It was an intelligent person that ,for the common people, was the keeper of the truth. The common people believed that a personal truth of the poet is ultimately a truth about humanity.

2.a)the Victorian poet's didn't use the word "I" as the romantic poet's. They used a mask to avoid to the laws of the romantic "I". They couldn't write explicitly their ideas. It was the time of taboo and for this reason used a mask to write his opinions.

2.b)In the ode of the west wind we have an example of direct self-expression because in this poem the poet uses the romantic "I".

2.b) in this poem the poet uses a mask to show his ideas and he doesn't write in first person his opinions. In this sense we have the use of oblique self-expression.

In My Last Duchess the setting is the city of Ferrara during the renaissance. The imaginary speaker is the Duke of Ferrara who is addressing a messenger of the Count whose daughter he intends to marry. While negotiating the marriage , he shows him a portrait of his previous wife and talks about her. Two different personalities emerge in the poem. The young wife flushes with joy at very simple things - the sunset , the cherries and the white mule; she is nice to everybody including people to lower ranks. The Duke finds it unbearable that she puts the same value on , for example, "a bough of cherries" as on the gift of his nine-hundred-year-old name. He is proud, class-conscious and possessive. He reveals himself as a tyrant who wants to have absolute control over his wife. As he was unable to, he "gave commands ; then all smile stopped together". As the men are going down stairs  the Duke expresses his confidence that the Count will grant his reasonable request for an ample "dowry", quickly adding though his fair daughter's self is my object". His last remark is about a sculpture of Neptune "taming a sea horse" which is a visual metaphor for the Duke's wish to tame those under his control.