"My Shadow," written by Robert Louis Stevenson, and "The Lecture Upon a Shadow," written by John Donne, are very unique in representations of relationships. Stevenson's poem speaks openly, and in a childish way of a child's relationship with itself, while Donne's poem is more formal and focuses more upon the relationship of love between two people. The use of a "shadow" in both poems suggests similar and different meanings of the relationship in the eyes of a child and the eyes of an adult. The theme of insecure relationships may be compared on the basis of their subjects, their tone, and their use of a common metaphor.

"The Lecture Upon a Shadow" gives a more natural view of relationships than "My Shadow." Donne's first two opening lines, "Stand still, and I will read to thee/A lecture, Love, in Love's philosophy," suggests that an intimate relationship is at...