Authenticity and Dynamics of Love in James Baxter's "The Bad Young Man" Anonymous 12th Grade

In Baxter’s “The Bad Young Man,” the central themes and contrasts are about the authenticity of the couple’s love, whether it is lust or love, and about the dominance in their relationship, whether the man or the woman is dominant. Baxter uses structure and literary techniques to reveal aspects of their relationship throughout the poem, and title itself gives readers a glimpse into their dynamic.

From the first stanza, the young man tries very hard to coax the woman into sleeping with him. With the use of a repeated exclamatory imperative “lie you down, lie you down!”, a rushed mood is established. This non-gentle mood suggests that them making love is not about love, but more about lust. The emphasis on her action instead of her feelings also points towards lust.

The lust before love idea is carried on with the extended visual imagery of animals with connections to sex. Baxter mentions a “two-backed beast”, which is an euphemism for intercourse, as the two people entwined together show their backs. “Beast” has negative connotations, highlighted with the alliteration of “backed beast.” In the next stanza, the man’s dialogue again contains animal imagery, this time with more neutral connotations as they only describe the animals...