You, love, and I,
(He whispers) you and I,
And if no more than only you and I
What care you or I ?
Counting the beats,
Counting the slow heart beats,
The bleeding to death of time in slow heart beats,
Wakeful they lie.
Cloudless day,
Night, and a cloudless day,
Yet the huge storm will burst upon their heads one day
From a bitter sky.
Where shall we be,
(She whispers) where shall we be,
When death strikes home, O where then shall we be
Who were you and I ?
Not there but here,
(He whispers) only here,
As we are, here, together, now and here,
Always you and I.
Counting the beats,
Counting the slow heart beats,
The bleeding to death of time in slow heart beats,
Wakeful they lie.
The first time I read this poem, I immediately noticed two lovers one close to death. Then I looked at the poem as an image in and of itself, and I noticed that it looks like the lines of a heart monitor, the beating of a heart displayed through words. For me, nothing could be more lovely.
Then I thought about death, about the verb "die." The Oxford English Dictionary says that to die does not only mean physical death, but that it also means "to experience a sexual orgasm. (Most common as a poetical metaphor in the late 16th and 17th cent.)" If this does depict an orgasm, then the climax must happen during the volta (turn), when the narrator states, "Yet the huge storm will burst upon their heads one day" (l. 11). And the idea of such uncertainty occurring at that moment is quite intriguing, from a poetical standpoint.
There is a sort of vague hopelessness inherent in this very intimate scene. The narrator knows that the future will not be good, that like all relationships things must eventually end, for one reason or another. Even though the woman has questions, she is resolved to let them lie, wakeful but silent, as she and her lover lie in the last line of the poem.
Is this piece about the death of a relationship or the death of an individual in the near future? Have they just made love? Is someone being less than honest? Those are all things for the reader to interpret.
The poem is not about the death of a relationship or the death of one of the lovers. The poem is about the imminent death of love itself…and perhaps even more profound it’s about something long since forgotten in our world…commitment.
ReplyDeleteNotice in the first line that the narrator establishes the three characters: you, love, and I. You- the male narrator- then states, “and if no more than you and I/ what care you and I?" He is beginning to ponder the existence of their relationship outside the emotional state of love when he says “if no more.” He makes a point to establish that third character love is the one in threat of leaving. Another clue to this meaning is in the conversation which states, “Where shall we be?” and the narrators reply is, “Not there but here.” He is telling her that when love goes (and we both know that it will), we will still be here together…not apart, not there. “As we are, here, together, now and here.” This line illustrates the aforementioned commitment as if to say that when our love dies, we will still be together as we are here and now. Nothing has to change. Though we are both “wakeful” of this slow death of our love, we find peace in knowing that our relationship/co-existence persists.
Yes. You are correct.
DeleteI can see these points. Thank you so much for sharing them, Anonymous. Next time include a name.
ReplyDeleteI have also seen the side of this poem which includes an unseen narrator, almost like a deity. Maybe Love is this narrator?
I think he talks with love
ReplyDelete