To Be In Love By Gwendolyn Brooks
To be in love
Is to touch with a lighter hand.
In yourself you stretch, you are well.
You look at things
Through his eyes.
A cardinal is red.
A sky is blue.
Suddenly you know he knows too.
He is not there but
You know you are tasting together
The winter, or a light spring weather.
His hand to take your hand is overmuch.
Too much to bear.
You cannot look in his eyes
Because your pulse must not say
What must not be said.
When he
Shuts a door-
Is not there_
Your arms are water.
And you are free
With a ghastly freedom.
You are the beautiful half
Of a golden hurt.
You remember and covet his mouth
To touch, to whisper on.
Oh when to declare
Is certain Death!
Oh when to apprize
Is to mesmerize,
To see fall down, the Column of Gold,
Into the commonest ash.
Respond to the questions.
1. Who is the persona?
2. What is/are the theme/s
3. What are the literary devices found in the poem?
4. What is the tone of the poem?
5. What could one understand from the poem?
Asmadi Rasim
love is a great and difficult thing to face
ReplyDeleteIn the beginning, the poet describes how it feels to be in love with a person. She feels everything he feels, sees everything he sees and feels dazed when around him. But suddenly they break up and she is gravely hurt. It feels like a dagger through the heart and even though she tries to forget and erase all of her feelings she ever felt, they still come back to haunt her. Even though there are emotions pouring inside of her, she cannot except that she misses her love because to do so
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ReplyDeleteThe writer believes that love last momentarily ‘to touch with a lighter hand’. If one holds it tight, it sure is a success’In yourself you stretch, you are well’. When she meets the lover, she sees perfection (real)’ a cardinal is red. A sky is blue.’ They’ve got the same emotion towards one another ‘Suddenly you know he knows too’. The lover devotes his love to her at all cost (good/ bad circumstances) ‘The winter, or a light spring weather. His hand to take your hand is overmuch’. But she cant divulge the love for fear of the risk she’d faced ‘Too much to bear. You cannot look in his eyes Because your pulse must not say What must not be said’. Out of the blue, they become apart and she feels the stillness and emptiness. ‘When he Shuts a door- Is not there_ Your arms are water’. And the gruesome freedom she gets as the perfection of love harms her ‘And you are free With a ghastly freedom. You are the beautiful half Of a golden hurt’. She cant reach him. But keeps missing him and be denial about it. ‘You remember and covet his mouth To touch, to whisper on. Oh when to declare Is certain Death! Oh when to apprize Is to mesmerize’. And now, the beauty of love is nothing ‘To see fall down, the Column of Gold, Into the commonest ash’.
ReplyDeleteThis is my open response to Zura's comment. Interpretation should be arranged accordingly where group of lines that make sense should be interpreted individually. You did that but the flow of your thoughts failed to reach the audience as no separation was done between group of lines that make sense. But congratulations anyway if it is your product. I can't all the time check your intergrity as it is always up to the individual to sense.
ReplyDeleteThis is a deep thought poem coming from a woman. Only the owner knows the real meaning but as readers there are certain sides that I believe we could contribute as at times certain things are left as the poet herself could not see them when the poem was written the first time. This what makes poetry subjective as different individuals see moments differently.
To be in love
Is to touch with a lighter hand.
In yourself you stretch, you are well.
You look at things
Through his eyes
This bulk decribes that a lover should be gentle with the beloved (Is to touch with a lighter hand). The lover entertains the beloved accordingly (In yourself you stretch, you are well) and this is subjective depending on such individuals. How to stretch oneself to accomodate the other is subjective as it differs according to situation or mood or environment. But if this is handled well, the lover is expected to be in good condition as there won't be troubled waters between them. But this also leads to the lover seeing things through the perspective of the beloved (You look at things through his eyes).
In literary criticism, one is allowed to do a critic based on her/his understanding which is based on her/his beliefs on certain areas in life. If you were brought up unlike others, so customary with 'men are superior', there is a tendency that you would agree with the poet's thoughts but if you are more liberal, a new kind of breed, you would argue on why such lighter hand should be there, caressing as you see men as dominating.
To be continued