love poem analysis

I chose the poem "Somewhere I Have Never Travelled" by E.E. Cummings.  Cummings view on love resembles a flower opening and closing with the seasons.  He gets across the idea that the woman he loves makes it difficult to think, and in turn can use this manipulatively and to her advantage.  This idea is very similar to the way I see love.  It is something that causes people to do crazy things, typically due to the failure to think it through.  Love causes you to act rashly, and make decisions that you  may regret.  Those who love each other enjoy the time that they spend together more than anything else, and I feel that Cummings and I see love in the same way.

Love Poem Analysis- James Jones

Weighing the Dog by Billy Collins
          I chose this poem mostly because of the weird situation that is set up in the beginning, however the author's take on love was made quite interesting by the poem's set up. The narrator is attempting to weigh their dog on a bathroom scale, an awkward and confusing situation, which is later compared to a weird relationship. They're both difficult situations to approach and figure out. However after the situation the narrator is able to look back and really appreciate his relationship with his past lover. He didn't know what he had, until it was gone. This somewhat cliche attitude towards love is easy to relate to, considering in many situations when you look back its easy to fully understand a situation. In relation to love we often realize how good person was after we lose them, unless they were terrible.

Poetry Collection- James Jones

The Seven Ages by Louise Gluck 

         Louise Gluck was born April 22, 1943 in New York City, she is of Hungarian -Jewish descent, her father, an immigrant from Hungary was an inventor. She attended both Columbia University and Sarah Lawrence College however she did not graduate from either of the two. She has written twelve poetry collections and has been awarded many times for her work.

         Her collection provides many themes and subjects that one may think of when in self reflection during different stages of their life. Worry, loneliness and regret are all very prevalent subjects in her collection, however there are more positive pieces in this collection as well. In "Exalted Image" she speaks about a young child, excluding himself from his classmates by only focusing on his work, he worries about his life, calling it empty, he doesn't know how to fill the hole he has found in his existence. In "Radium" she gives the perspective of a young person worried and bothered by the way time passes, claiming that life was simply a distraction from the horror of the fact that time continues moving with no sign of stopping. In "Summer Night" she uses the perspective of an older person to express the regret of someone that did not complete many actions they could have so easily. 

         "Youth" is one of the poems that interested me most from this collection. It discusses the feeling of childhood, sitting back as time moves and life happens all around you. You have no control over the fact, which is the horror of youth, you must tolerate the odd happenings around you without giving input. Her take on childhood is fairly accurate, and when looking back regardless of how great one's childhood may have been her assertions are still true,.  

          Though I'm not entirely sure of what my style of expression through verse may be because I don't write poetry very often Louise Gluck's collection does inspire me in a way. I think that her choice to focus on self reflection throughout different stages of life was intriguing, and I also think that her poems wonderfully created.

Gluck, Louise. 

Love Poem Analysis: Andrew Collins

Measure by Zareh Khrakhouni

This poem is about two lovers who are having the classic "I love you more" argument. It starts off seeming like a parody of that kind of conversation, with the cliche start and then the foray into more outrageous comparisons. The final comparison, made by the speaker's partner, compared their love to the the light in the speaker's eyes when the speaker looked at them. The speaker then asserts that he has been defeated. The tone quickly changes from hyperbolic to genuine. The speaker's attitude towards love is that initially, love is just a fun relationship without much meaning, but when it develops fully, it is so powerful that it is only comparable to the reactions it elicits in those who possess it. I think the speaker has a very valid view on love. Although it may not mean much at first, I think love is a force to be reckoned with when it is in full blossom.

Love Poem -Jacob Y

The Love-Hat Relationship by Aaron Belz

I have been thinking about the love-hat relationship.
It is the relationship based on love of one another’s hats. 
The problem with the love-hat relationship is that it is superficial. 
You don’t necessarily even know the other person. 
Also it is too dependent on whether the other person 
is even wearing the favored hat. We all enjoy hats,
but they’re not something to build an entire relationship on.
My advice to young people is to like hats but not love them.
Try having like-hat relationships with one another. 
See if you can find something interesting about 
the personality of the person whose hat you like.

The first thing that stands out to me about this poem is that it is free verse. Too often, almost, we see poems written within a rigid structure, and sometimes seeing free verse is a sort of breath of fresh air from the traditional sonnet or ballad. The author uses hats as a social commentary about the depth of human connection in today's society by calling it "superficial." We are obsessed with the physical, the appearance, of people nowadays, instead of focusing on what's more important, "the personality." There's no rhyme scheme at all, and the meter is totally varied. I chose this poem because it addresses how interpersonal relationships in today's world are just a "like-hat" relationship perceived as a "love-hat" relationship. Indeed, as Belz bluntly states: "they're not something to build an entire relationship on." 

Love Poem Analysis - Mikaela Gatewood

somewhere i have never travelled,gladly beyond
by E.E. Cummings

somewhere i have never travelled,gladly beyond
any experience,your eyes have their silence:
in your most frail gesture are things which enclose me,
or which i cannot touch because they are too near

your slightest look easily will unclose me
though i have closed myself as fingers,
you open always petal by petal myself as Spring opens
(touching skilfully,mysteriously)her first rose

or if your wish be to close me,i and
my life will shut very beautifully ,suddenly,
as when the heart of this flower imagines
the snow carefully everywhere descending;

nothing which we are to perceive in this world equals
the power of your intense fragility:whose texture
compels me with the color of its countries,
rendering death and forever with each breathing

(i do not know what it is about you that closes
and opens;only something in me understands
the voice of your eyes is deeper than all roses)
nobody,not even the rain,has such small hands

While the obvious subject of the poem is how in love the author is, the most important aspect of this poem is the author's claim that his love has insurmountable powers over him, such as the ability to "open" or "close" him emotionally on a whim. It can be seen throughout the poem that the subject has complete control over the author, such that if their "wish to be close me,i and my life will shut very beautifully, suddenly." Despite lacking any command over his emotions, the author seems to be perfectly content with his love having such power over him, and really doesn't seem to question why they have that power in the first place, citing "i do not know what it is about you that closes and opens;only something in me understands the voice of your eyes is deeper than all roses." 
While the poem is a sweet tribute by the author to his love, the overall theme of the piece is slightly problematic. There was a time in my life where I would have loved to have a relationship like the one described in the poem, one where your significant other was madly in love with you and would sacrifice anything just for you. To me, these relationships were like the grand romances I had always seen in the movies, loves that claimed to be the end all be all. But as I've grown older, my idea of love has shifted. I disagree with the idea that it's ok for your significant other to have complete control over you or vice versa. I have come to realize that the healthiest relationships are those comprised of two independent individuals who manage to coexist together. I think it's important to realize that being your own person is the first and most important step in a relationship. 

love poem analysis - Emily Cashman

The poem I read was "Weighing the Dog" by Billy Collins. This love poem starts off with a dog as the subject matter, but by the end of the poem, a shift takes place and the speaker is no longer talking just about his love for a dog, but about something deeper. By then end of the poem, the speaker is discussing a break up with a past significant other and how that has affected him. The last three lines and specifically the closing line "and now we are both lost in strange and distant neighborhoods." is talking about how the two people have separated and are now on different paths in life. Throughout the poem, there is an awkward, almost uncomfortable, tone being used to describe the actual act of weighing a dog and also the break-up between the two people. The poem doesn't have any sort of rhyme scheme and this contributes to the slightly awkward and uncomfortable nature of the poem. I think this tone was used to show how nothing in life is really smooth and with bumps or awkwardness, and that is an idea I agree with.

Love Poem Analysis- Caroline Totty

Poem
BY JILL ALEXANDER ESSBAUM

A clementine

Of inclement climate

Grows tart.

A crocus

Too stoic to open,

Won’t.

Like an oyster

That cloisters a spoil of pearls,

Untouched—

The heart that’s had

Enough

Stays shut.

I chose the poem "Poem" by Jill Alexander Essbaum. This poem has no apparent rhyme scheme or even structure. I read a quote from Essbaum that said, "I don't try anymore to fit my poems into a fixed idea of what poetry is or ought to be--that's like cramming a size twelve ass into a size 6 dress." So clearly she did not intend for this poem to have a certain structure or rhyme scheme. The last stanza of this poem is what really grabbed me. It was so simple, consisting of only seven words, yet said so much. The whole poem is basically saying relationships that aren't meant to work are bound to go bad and once they do and you experience a bad breakup, it's hard to open your heart back up to someone and feel that vulnerability again. I thought it was interesting she used a crocus because a crocus is typically a symbol for glee, youth, and cheerfulness. Her second stanza is stating that someone who comes off happy and cheerful may not open up and let his or herself be vulnerable to another person because they are too afraid to show their true feelings behind the facade of happy. This poem is four stanzas, twelve lines, and thirty one words yet speaks so much about pain and vulnerability of a relationship that you could never understand until you experience it.

Love Poem Analysis

I  chose the poem "somewhere i have never travelled,gladly beyond" by E. E. Cummings.  The speaker in this views his beloved like a flower, and repeatedly talks of the two of them opening and closing.  For him, her presence makes his thoughts muddled like the words on the page, it can cause him to do what she wants (open or close).  His love is one that hangs onto the small things, it is very irrational (only something in me).  I would say this is pretty similar to the way I feel about love and many people do: you just enjoy the presence of someone or something and it causes you to do weird things. 

Love is not all - Charlie Grimes

"Love is not all" by Edna St. Vincent proposes a complex understanding of the role that love plays in the speaker's life. The speaker has two basic thoughts about love: 1) Love is not the end-all-be-all. There are, in fact, more fundamental necessities in life, such as "meat, "drink," or a "roof" (representing the basic trio of necessities: food, water, shelter), and greater things that man should be concerned with. 2) The speaker believes that love IS essential in the sense that people who do not experience are "making friends with death," or not experiencing life in the fullest manner possible. Put simply: love is not vital to being alive, but it is vital to truly living. The poem's pro-love sentiment is reinforced by the fact that it is in the form of a traditional sonnet, which often contain subjects of love. The speaker's most powerful message about love is displayed in the ending couplet and aided by the change in rhyme scheme. The speaker ponders whether he would trade love for the basic life necessities mentioned in the beginning sestet of the poem, to which he ultimately says: "I do not think I would." The speaker would not "trade the memory of this night for food," nor would he trade any part of his love life for concrete needs. I tend to agree with this view of love: a constant need for romantic involvement is unnecessary, but when this kind of involvement is occurring, it often makes the true "necessities" of life pale in comparison.

love poem analysis

She Walks in Beauty

BY LORD BYRON (GEORGE GORDON)

She walks in beauty, like the night

   Of cloudless climes and starry skies;

And all that’s best of dark and bright

   Meet in her aspect and her eyes;

Thus mellowed to that tender light

   Which heaven to gaudy day denies.

One shade the more, one ray the less,

   Had half impaired the nameless grace

Which waves in every raven tress,

   Or softly lightens o’er her face;

Where thoughts serenely sweet express,

   How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.

And on that cheek, and o’er that brow,

   So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,

The smiles that win, the tints that glow,

   But tell of days in goodness spent,

A mind at peace with all below,

   A heart whose love is innocent!

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I read “She Walks In Beauty” by Lord Byron, the poem is broken into three parts, each with six lines. In the first part of the poem he describes how the girl in the poem walks in beauty, saying that to her everything seems beautiful, and wherever she graces with her presence joy and beauty also appear. In the second part of the poem, he talks about the things that could possible distract or impair her beauty, but then he changes his mind and decides that she would still be beautiful anyway. In the final part of the poem he describes her individual features that make her so pretty, giving detail on her smile and her brow. Finishing up by telling innocent and pure her beauty is which is what makes it so special.

I like what lord Byron is saying, because I feel that someone who is truly beautiful not just outside but inside as well, can make the places they go beautiful as well. The description of the girl’s innocent love and glowing smile make it seem as if she could light up a room. So she does walk in beauty because she creates beauty where she walks.

Love Poem Analysis - Aislinn Langley

Love is Not All (Sonnet XXX)

Edna St. Vincent Millay, 1892 - 1950

Love is not all: it is not meat nor drink

Nor slumber nor a roof against the rain;

Nor yet a floating spar to men that sink

And rise and sink and rise and sink again;

Love can not fill the thickened lung with breath,

Nor clean the blood, nor set the fractured bone;

Yet many a man is making friends with death

Even as I speak, for lack of love alone.

It well may be that in a difficult hour,

Pinned down by pain and moaning for release,

Or nagged by want past resolution’s power,

I might be driven to sell your love for peace,

Or trade the memory of this night for food.

It well may be. I do not think I would. 

Vincent's sonnet addresses a paradoxical attitude in regard to love. Instead of stressing the importance of love, as many poets seek to do in sonnets, she points out its flaws and frivolity. The first quatrain of the sonnet outlines the idea that love is nonessential. She writes that "it is not meat nor drink / Nor slumber" or in any apparent way necessary to life. It isn't a "floating spar to men that sink" or a means or salvation or redemption. It is simply an emotion. Similarly, the second quatrain tackles the idea that love can more hurt a person than help. Love cannot "clean the blood" or "set the fractured bone" or physically mend a person, furthering the idea that there is no material benefit of it. Vincent describes how love or lack thereof causes "many a man [to make] friends with death" and is ultimately something that she "might be driven to sell" if it meant she could be free of any potential pain it would bring. By this point in the sonnet, it seems clear that Vincent views love as something illogical and unwise, but the final line reveals the true depth of her feeling. Despite all the reasons to set aside love in the name of self-preservation, she says "I do not think I would." She thus encapsulates the idea that love is dangerous and illogical and perhaps not in man's best interest, but we love in spite of all of this. Despite being "nagged by want past resolution's power," people love anyway. Vincent acknowledges that love is not all, but that doesn't make it any less moving.

I suppose I agree with her interpretation. It reads rather cynically at first, which is disheartening, but seeing that this cynical view isn't dissuading her from loving is touching and an idea I respect. I don't believe love is as essentially useless as the poet does, but the theme of not caring about the potential drawbacks of emotion resonates with me.

St. Vincent Millay, Edna. "Love is Not All" 1931. Literature and Composition. Comp. Carol Jago. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2011. 675. Print.