# Delusion explained — Poetry

> Chapter companion for Poetry by Georgia Douglas Johnson.

## What happens

The speaker reflects on a moment of trust and intimacy, only to realize that what they held onto was an illusion—a gauntlet rather than a genuine connection, revealing their own blindness.

## Themes in this chapter

### Love and Loss

The poem explores the disillusionment of a cherished love that turns out to be hollow.

### Isolation and Otherness

The speaker's blindness and subsequent isolation highlight a sense of being deceived and alone.

## Character check-ins

### Unknown

The speaker who experiences the painful realization of being deceived.

### Life

Implied as the source of the deceptive gesture, representing a false promise of love or connection.

## Key lines

> You gave me your hand, I held it to be / The last word, the dear word, / The soul’s entity;

You offered me your hand, and I believed it was the ultimate, precious expression of your soul.

_The speaker's initial trust and reverence for the gesture._

> I cherished it, treasured it, / Only to find I held but a gauntlet⁠— / That I had been blind!

I valued and protected it, only to discover I was grasping an empty glove—I had been deceived all along.

_The moment of painful realization that the connection was an illusion._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_9_se/chapters/delusion
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_9_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_9_se/chapters