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Key Quotes & Comparisons

English Lit: AQA GCSE Poetry - Love & Relationships, topic 3.1.4

Key Quotations: Porphyria's Lover

Here's some key quotes to remember for your exam:

'...God has not said a word!'

'...God has not said a word!'

  • 'And all night long we have not stirred, / And yet God has not said a word!'
  • This final claim suggests that the narrator believes that God has condoned what he has done, or that he has gotten away with his crime.
'Murmuring how she loved [him]'

'Murmuring how she loved [him]'

  • All of Porphyria's speech is reported by the narrator.
  • Here, even while she is alive, our narrator is presenting her in a muffled and silent way – just the way he prefers her to be.
'Sullen wind'

'Sullen wind'

  • Pathetic fallacy in the opening lines helps to create a stormy atmosphere.

Key Comparisons: Porphyria's Lover

Here are some suggestions for poems you could compare Porphyria's Lover to. Remember, there are endless options!

_The Farmer’s Bride_

The Farmer’s Bride

  • Similarities:
  • Obsessive love.
  • An unstable narrator.
_Love's Philosophy_

Love's Philosophy

  • You could contrast the ways in which they present manipulative lovers and how the two get what they want.

Test yourself on Key Quotes & Comparisons

  • Which of these quotes from Porphyria's Lover is an example of pathetic fallacy?

  • What's the final line of Porphyria's Lover?

  • Which poem, like Porphyria's Lover has an unstable narrator?

  • What features of The Farmer's Bride are similar to Porphyria's Lover?

  • What kind of lovers are portrayed in both Porphyria's Lover and Love's Philosophy?

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