The Greek god Eros is viewed very highly by many as he is responsible for love, lust, and fate. He illuminates the idea of love that we all look for. One’s attitude towards Eros often might reflect his or her attitude towards the idea of love itself. Robert Bridges and Anne Stevenson both have different opinions on Eros, as well as some similar characterizations and ideas on the god of love. The two poets depict their different concepts of Eros using similar techniques, such as diction, point of view, imagery, and rhetorical questions. Robert Bridges’ poem “EPΩΣ” starts with a rhetorical question: “Why hast thou nothing on thy face?”. This sets the speaker’s tone of curiosity. He proceeds to call Eros an “idol of the human race”, but contradicts
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The speaker describes the appearance of Eros with very broken and worn down imagistic diction such as “thug”, “broken”, “boxer lips”, and “patchy wings askew”, unlike the poem by Bridges, who uses more idolizing and pure diction to describe Eros. Eros then answers the speaker’s question. Like the first poem, this poem is also written in first person point of view. However, it is in an informal conversation with Eros, who is brought down to the level and status of the speaker as the speaker also addresses Eros by “bully boy”. Also, the title of this poem is more informal, unlike the one by Bridges, which is written in Greek. Unlike “EPΩΣ” by Bridges, who still sees Eros as worthy of respect, the speaker in Stevenson’s poem lessens Ero’s status to a broken, weak, and helpless person. When Eros answers the speaker, he blames his broken image on the “long overuse” and that it is “the sum of blows your lust delivered one by one”; however, he gladly does it for love. Unlike Bridges’ poem which shows Eros’ ambiguous morals, the Eros in Stevenson’s poem has clearer intentions to help with love and shows Eros as a caring person rather cold and cruel: “Better my battered visage, bruised by hot, than love dissolved in loss or left to rot”. Both speakers show pity for Eros as they describe him as being unappreciated or not cared for enough, resulting in the stone cold look on his face and potentially cruel intentions in Bridges’ poem, and the “battered visage” in Stevenson’s
The speaker describes the appearance of Eros with very broken and worn down imagistic diction such as “thug”, “broken”, “boxer lips”, and “patchy wings askew”, unlike the poem by Bridges, who uses more idolizing and pure diction to describe Eros. Eros then answers the speaker’s question. Like the first poem, this poem is also written in first person point of view. However, it is in an informal conversation with Eros, who is brought down to the level and status of the speaker as the speaker also addresses Eros by “bully boy”. Also, the title of this poem is more informal, unlike the one by Bridges, which is written in Greek. Unlike “EPΩΣ” by Bridges, who still sees Eros as worthy of respect, the speaker in Stevenson’s poem lessens Ero’s status to a broken, weak, and helpless person. When Eros answers the speaker, he blames his broken image on the “long overuse” and that it is “the sum of blows your lust delivered one by one”; however, he gladly does it for love. Unlike Bridges’ poem which shows Eros’ ambiguous morals, the Eros in Stevenson’s poem has clearer intentions to help with love and shows Eros as a caring person rather cold and cruel: “Better my battered visage, bruised by hot, than love dissolved in loss or left to rot”. Both speakers show pity for Eros as they describe him as being unappreciated or not cared for enough, resulting in the stone cold look on his face and potentially cruel intentions in Bridges’ poem, and the “battered visage” in Stevenson’s