Poetry · Theme
Love and Longing
How Poetry develops Love and Longing.
The poems are saturated with romantic yearning, desire, and the ache of separation, often expressed through natural imagery and intimate encounters.
Where it surfaces
- Chamber Music
Central theme of romantic desire and emotional yearning throughout the chapter.
- I: Strings in the Earth and Air
Love is depicted as a wandering, musical presence, evoking a sense of romantic yearning.
- At That Hour When All Things Have Repose
The harps play to Love, and the entire poem is a longing invocation for Love's arrival at dawn.
- IV: When the Shy Star Goes Forth in Heaven
The lover's song and visit express deep longing and romantic devotion.
- V: Lean Out of the Window
The narrator is irresistibly drawn to the beloved's singing, leaving his solitary activity to be near her.
- VI: I Would in That Sweet Bosom Be
The speaker's intense desire to be with the beloved and find solace in their presence.
- VII: My Love Is in a Light Attire
The narrator's tender depiction of the beloved in a pastoral spring setting conveys deep affection and admiration.
- Who Goes Amid the Green Wood
The narrator's adoration for the beloved is expressed through the woodland's joyful adornment.
- IX: Winds of May, That Dance on the Sea
The central theme of the chapter: the narrator's yearning for the absent beloved and the sorrow of separation.
- X: Bright Cap and Streamers
The lover's call and the response 'As lover to lover, Sweetheart, I come' embody romantic longing and devotion.
- XI: Bid Adieu, Adieu, Adieu
The poem centers on Love's courtship and the beloved's anticipated surrender, emphasizing romantic yearning and the transition to intimacy.
- XII: What Counsel Has the Hooded Moon
The narrator's passionate declaration and dismissal of cosmic wisdom in favor of personal love.
- XIII: Go Seek Her Out All Courteously
The poem is a passionate declaration of love and the urgent desire to be reunited with the beloved.
- XIV: My Dove, My Beautiful One
The narrator's urgent and tender call to the beloved, offering their breast as a bed, expresses deep romantic longing.
- XVI: O Cool Is the Valley Now
The invitation to the valley is an expression of love and desire for shared time.
- XVIII: O Sweetheart, Hear You
The poem centers on the lover's plea for his beloved to hear his tale, and the promise of soft, comforting love.
- XIX: Be Not Sad Because All Men
The speaker's tender address and desire to soothe the beloved reflects deep affection and care.
- XX: In the Dark Pine-Wood
The poem is a direct invitation to a lover, expressing desire for closeness and intimacy in a secluded natural setting.
- He Who Hath Glory Lost, nor Hath
Love is presented as the sustaining force for one who has lost all else.
- XXII: Of That So Sweet Imprisonment
The poem centers on the desire for a sweet imprisonment in the beloved's embrace, highlighting the longing for union.
- XXIII: This Heart That Flutters Near My Heart
The poem centers on the beloved's heart as the speaker's hope and riches, with joy found between kisses and sorrow in separation.
- XXIV: Silently She’s Combing
The lover's plea reveals a deep longing and the enchanting, almost magical hold the beloved has over him.
- XXV: Lightly Come or Lightly Go
Love is confessed through song and laughter, offering solace in the face of woe and a heavy heart.
- XXVII: Though I Thy Mithridates Were
The poem explores the paradoxical nature of love, where vulnerability is necessary for true connection, and even the most tender love contains a hint of falsity.
- XXVIII: Gentle Lady, Do Not Sing
The poem centers on love's passing and the desire to reframe it as sufficient rather than tragic.
- XXIX: Dear Heart, Why Will You Use Me So?
The speaker's deep affection and yearning for the beloved, mixed with pain and confusion.
- XXX: Love Came to Us in Time Gone By
The poem centers on the memory of love and its initial shyness, now past.
- XXXI: O, It Was Out by Donnycarney
The chapter centers on a cherished memory of walking with the beloved, her sweet words, and a tender kiss, emphasizing romantic intimacy.
- Pomes Penyeach
Central theme in poems like 'A Flower Given to My Daughter' and 'On the Beach at Fontana,' exploring desire and emotional bonds.
- Watching the Needleboats at San Sabba
The young hearts cry 'Loveward,' expressing a yearning for love that is ultimately unfulfilled.
- A Flower Given to My Daughter
The speaker's tender address to his daughter reveals a deep paternal love and a sense of protective longing.
- On the Beach at Fontana
The speaker's protective embrace and 'deep unending ache of love' highlight a profound, enduring love.
- Alone
The whispered name of the beloved evokes a swoon of shame and delight, highlighting intense romantic yearning.
- A Memory of the Players in a Mirror at Midnight
Love is portrayed as stale, sour, and driven by base physical greed, subverting traditional romantic ideals.
- A Prayer
The narrator's intense yearning and submission to the beloved, blending desire with anguish.
