1. Poetry Project- Affliction of Richard By Robert Bridges
By: logan Trader

2. Biographical Information about Robert Bridges
Robert Bridges had lung cancer at the age of 36, which made his poetry depressing
At first his poems were privately printed
Robert Bridges usually likes to write in free verse
Robert Bridges was a poet laureate in 1913 of Britain
Robert Bridges also likes to write in a ballad form

3. Organization/Structure/Form
Love not too much. But how,
When thou hast made me such,
And dost thy gifts bestow,
How can I love too much?
Though I must fear to lose,
And drown my joy in care,
With all its thorns I choose
The path of love and prayer.
Though thou, I know not why,
Didst kill my childish trust,
That breach with toil did I
Repair, because I must:
And spite of frighting schemes,
With which the fiends of Hell
Blaspheme thee in my dreams,
So far I have hoped well.
But what the heavenly key,
What marvel in me wrought
Shall quite exculpate thee,
I have no shadow of thought.
What am I that complain?
The love, from which began
My question sad and vain,
Justifies thee to man.
The Organization of this poem is 3 stanzas and 8 lines in each. This poem is a lyric poem. It has a constant rhyme scheme witch makes you feel the pain that the speaker is feeling.

4. Imagery
“ But what the heavenly key”- this quote is saying heaven is the key to all things
“ I have no shadow of thought”- this quote is saying that he has not thought, so all he sees is his shadow
“ With which the fiends of hell”- this quote is important to see how down and depressed the speaker is
“ With all the thorns I choose”- this quote expresses the painful feelings of the speaker

5. Literary Terms A B C D Love not too much. But how,
When thou hast made me such,
And dost thy gifts bestow,
How can I love too much
Though I must fear to lose,
And drown my joy in care,
With all its thorns I choose
The path of love and prayer.
Literary Elements
End Rhyme- every line has a paired rhyme pattern
Rhyme Scheme- the first and third line rhyme and the second and fourth line rhyme
Metaphor-In this metaphor Robert Bridges is comparing thorns to love and prayer
Imagery- Bridges is using multiple images of natural things to show pain and or love

6. Literary Terms EFEFGHGH Didst kill my childish trust,
Though thou, I know not why,
Didst kill my childish trust,
That breach with toil did I
Repair, because I must:
And spite of frighting schemes,
With which the fiends of Hell
Blaspheme thee in my dreams,
So far I have hoped well.
Literary Elements
End Rhyme- every line has a paired rhyme pattern
Rhyme Scheme- the first and third line rhyme and the second and fourth line rhyme
Imagery- The poet uses images from religion

7. Literary Terms I J K L What marvel in me wrought
But what the heavenly key,
What marvel in me wrought
Shall quite exculpate thee,
I have no shadow of thought.
What am I that complain?
The love, from which began
My question sad and vain,
Justifies thee to man.
Literary Elements
End Rhyme- every line has a paired rhyme pattern
Rhyme Scheme- the first and third line rhyme and the second and fourth line rhyme
Imagery- Bridges is using images of natural things

8. Speaker
The speaker in the poem is a man who has loved a women but, the women doesn’t like him back. In the poem it talks about love not too much and this tells me that he either has been crushed by a girl or a girl doesn’t like him back.

9. Literal Meaning
This poem is literally talking about your hope, faith and belief in the church. Also it is a bout love and how everyone is not going to like you back.

10. Figurative Meaning
The poem reads like a prayer, and seems to directly address God: "And dost thy gifts bestowand How can I love too much?" The speaker describes some hardships that he has had, but realizes that all the while, he still loves his God. There is some tension in the language, he seems somewhat dissatisfied with his position: "That breach with toil did I / Repair, because I must". The "love" in the poem seems forced and ironic, rather than completely genuine. The word "affliction" is present in the title which is a hardship.

11. Authors Purpose
The authors purpose of this poem is to show you that everyone is not going to like you and that even though that might happen you still have hope and faith in yourself.

12. Theme
The message that I receive from this poem is that you shouldn’t love to much because not everyone will like you back and everyone will die someday. Also everyone will have heartbreaks in their lives.

13. Sites Used http://www.poetryoutloud.org/