# Interim explained — Poetry

> Chapter companion for Poetry by Georgia Douglas Johnson.

## What happens

The speaker describes the dark, cold days between meetings with a loved one, feeling lifeless until the beloved's voice calls them to wake and live again.

## Themes in this chapter

### Love and Loss

The poem contrasts the joy of reunion with the sorrow of separation, highlighting love's power to revive.

### Isolation and Otherness

The speaker's days are dark and cheerless without the beloved, emphasizing a sense of isolation.

## Character check-ins

### Unknown

The speaker who experiences the gloom and is revived by the beloved's voice.

### Life

The beloved whose voice brings the speaker back to life.

## Key lines

> The days lie dark between our jeweled meetings Like wintry burials.

The time apart feels dark and lifeless, like a winter funeral.

_The speaker compares the separation to death and burial._

> My heart bows low before the cheerless hearth Until your voice rings through the gloom And bids me Wake! And live!

I am despondent and hopeless until I hear your voice, which commands me to rise and embrace life again.

_The beloved's voice is a life-giving force that breaks the speaker's despair._

## Links

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