Melisha’sBook of

Amorette

Falling in love can be a full time job. First you fall in then you fall out of love. Falling in love is something that everyone is baffled about. What is this emotion

that so many personal wars has been started over? What is this emotion that love song, poems, and vowels have been built on. Love is an emotion that so many

friendship has been built on. What about the love that God commanded us to have. Let’s take a look at different aspects of love.

Falling in love is something that we all long to do one day. Being with the right person will determine in the beginning if you are on the right tract. Searching for

the right person is a process that should not be taken lightly. We sometimes find ourselves impatient and soon find out that we moved a little too fast. This is what

dating is all about, trying to see if this is someone that you could see yourself with in the next 20 to 30 years.

Being in a successful relation is what everyone wants. Let’s take a look at the story of Adam and Eve. Adam was lonely and God gave him a wife that he designed

just for him. Now we can take a look at this story from a biblical standpoint and say that Eve was designed for Adam just as we should be with someone who is

designed for us. He waited on God to give him a wife. He did not beg or rush the process and he waited on God to say that yes this is your wife and I designed her just

for you. Everything they did, they did because of the love that they had for each other. Yes later on in the story we know that they were kicked out of the Garden of

Eden because of their disobedience to God. But they still loved each other until the end of their days. How many of us can say that we love our mate with all of our

hearts and we have been together for 30 year, 20, years 10 years. Is it more common for marriages to end before that time?

Another level of love is that of our family and friends. Although things are not always peaches and cream between families, there is still a level of love that one

has for their family. It’s just as intense as a husband and wife relationship and just as personable as a relationship between God and man. We find ourselves going

above and beyond for our family that we would not other time do for others. Protecting family from hurt, harm, or danger is a natural instinct that most possess for

their love one. Wars between families has been started over trying to either defend the honor of their family member and also family pets.

Love has to be a powerful emotion if we were given instruction on how to use it. Another love that is so popular these days is the love that God commanded

everyone to do and that’s to love each other as God loves the church. Now of course let’s take the spiritual approach to this topic. The love that God talks of is the

agape love. Agape love is a love that does not discriminate. This love is a love that no matter what you have to do it. Loving someone in spite of what they did to you.

It is a God ordained supernatural love that only God can instill in a man which is the opposite of worldly love. Worldly love is conditional and Agape love is selfless,

unconditional and undeserved. Worldly love says “I’ll love you if you do this or do that.” And agape love says “There is nothing you can do to keep me from loving

you.”

When we feel like we are on the wrong end of love, we tend to feel like someone took something so precious away from us. Love can cause other to fly off

the hinges and spiral into a jealous rage. Unfortunately if these emotions are not under control it cause you to commit suicide or to harm another when they are

unable to let go of a love interest that might have harmed us.

Another level of love is the bond that brings countries, nations, and kingdoms and has ended many wars. There were some well-known wars such as the Trojan

War that bought families that were at odds back together. This is a love that tragedies are the center of why people realize the love that they have for their

adversaries. Let’s take a look at 9/11. Although this tragedy happened on American soil it had an impact on the world. It bought tears to many countries that did not

like America and what we stood for. It bought other countries back into alliance with American because of it and soon we found ourselves on the same side of the coin

with nations that we called enemies. The love for humanity is a powerful tool that has prompted adversaries to rethink their decisions to stay divided.

So take time out to get to know people on a more intimate level to make sure that there is a connection there. There is no need to waste ones time on someone

that you know you will won’t be with in the next five years. Take time out to make sure that you are ready to put your all into a relationship. When you love, you

should experience less stress so that you could live longer. Here are some poem that I believe tells of loves lost, love found, and agape love.

Song to Celia

By Ben Jonson

Drink to me only with thine eyes, And I will pledge with mine; Or leave a kiss but in the cup, And I’ll not look for wine. The thirst that from the soul doth rise Doth ask a drink divine; But might I of Jove’s nectar sup, I would not change for thine. I sent thee late a rosy wreath, Not so much honoring thee As giving it a hope, that there It could not withered be. But thou thereon didst only breathe, And sent’st it back to me; Since when it grows, and smells, I swear, Not of itself, but thee.

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Response: The poem “To Celia” is a lyrical love poem about a man whose love was rejected by her more than once because of how hard he is trying to win her. We tend to get this way when we feel like we are the cause of losing that person. This seems to be his plea to her that he is willing to do anything to get her back. He is obsesses with her and is willing to do anything to show her how much he is in love and want to be with her. The author uses metaphors of drinking to signify how toxic his affection to her has become. He also shows more obsession by sending her a rosy wreath to see if she that would show her that he is serious about how he feels. Unfortunately she can’t bring herself to forgive him and is done with him. In the end it seems as if he has accepted her rejection. I chose this poem because it would tie end with my Anthology about love being all over the place. I like this poem because it is an example of the fight that some people put up to win back a love they have lost.

My Love is Like a Red, Red RoseBy: Robert Burns

Oh, my love is like a red, red roseThat’s newly sprung in June;My love is like the melodyThat’s sweetly played in tune.So fair art thou, my bonny lass,So deep in love am I;And I will love thee still, my dear,Till a’ the seas gang dry.Till a’ the seas gang dry, my dear,And the rocks melt wi’ the sun;And I will love thee still, my dear,While the sands o’ life shall run.And farewell thee weel my only love!And fare thee weel awhile!And I will come again, my loveThough it were ten thousand mile.

Response: In the poem “oh, my love is like a red, red rose” we see that the speaker is in love with a woman. He tries to express his love by referring to it as a red, red, rose. Roses throughout time has been a symbol of love and romance. The Roman and Greek goddess Aphrodite and Venus has been associated with roses, beautiful but deadly. Just like the rose being beautiful but full of thorns that can hurt, Roses are a symbol of the positive and negative aspects of love. Love can be beautiful but love can also hurt. Burns describes his love as everlasting when he says “And I will love thee still, my dear, while the sands o’ life shall run. So he plans on loving her until the end of his days on earth. Burns loves her so much that he can’t bear the thought of being without her any longer. He is missing her and wants to get back to her. I am including this poem because it goes along with the theme of my Anthology about love being all over the place. I like this poem because through the process of trying to find love, there might be people out there that would be that thorn in the midst of a beautiful batch of roses.

First Love: A quizBy: A.E. Stallings

He came up to me:a. in his souped-up Camarob. to talk to my skinny best friendc. and bumped my glass of wine so I wore theferrous stain on my sleeved. from the ground, in a lead chariot drawn bya team of stallions black as crude oil andbreathing sulfur: at his heart, he sported atiny golden arrow.He offered me:a. a rideb. dinner and a movie, with a wink at theclichéc. an excuse not to go back alone to theapartment with its sink of dirty knivesd. a narcissus with a hundred dazzling petalsthat breathed a sweetness as cloying asdecay.I went with him because:a. even his friends told me to bewareb. I had nothing to lose except my virginityc. he placed his hand in the small of my backand I felt the tread of honeybeesd. he was my uncle, the one who lived in thehalf-finished basement, and he took me bythe hairThe place he took me to:a. was dark as my shut eyesb. and where I ate biter seed and became ripec. and from which my mother would never take mewholly back, though she wept and walked theearth and made the bearded ears of barleywither on their stalks and the blastedflowers drop from their sepalsd. is called by some men hell and others lovee. all of the above

Response: My first impression of the poem “First Love: A Quiz”, I thought that it was a quiz that I would actually take in school. The author Stallings in the first stanza shows that love at first sight doesn’t always turn out that way and maybe we have to go deeper that first impressions to get to the true and real person. The second and third stanza becomes dark and makes you watchful when you go out on dates. When your date’s friend tell you to be careful, then it’s time to call off the date. Sometimes being single and a bit lonely will cause you to ignore some signs that may tell you to step back and analyze things more carefully. But yet, the speaker ignores all signs and falls in love and enters into a relationship possibly marriage and now is living in a world of regret. I chose this poem because although my Anthology is about love being all over the place, I feel like we still should be careful in this pursuit of finding true love.

Since there’s no help, come let us kiss and partBy: Michael Drayton

Since there's no help, come, let us kiss and part, Nay, I have done, you get no more of me, And I am glad, yea, glad with all my heart, That thus so cleanly I myself can free. Shake hands for ever, cancel all our vows, And when we meet at any time again Be it not seen in either of our brows That we one jot of former love retain. Now at the last gasp of Love's latest breath, When, his pulse failing, Passion speechless lies, When Faith is kneeling by his bed of death, And Innocence is closing up his eyes, Now, if thou wouldst, when all have given him over, From death to life thou might'st him yet recover. Response: In the poem “Since there’s no help, come let us kiss and part,” the speaker is faced with letting his love go. He knows that their love for each other is dying and he wants to release her of all of her promises to him so that she can go and be happy. He wants her to know that he is giving her permission to move on with her life with the promise of them one day maybe rekindling the love. But with the handshake that they both shared is the speaker’s way of being done and finally accepting the resolution to their relationship. “When, his pulse failing, Passion speechless lies,” is the speakers way of saying that his love for her is dying and he may not get that passion back for her because of the time they have spent apart. In the end he stresses that she is the only one who can revive their relationship and that he is holding on to faith that they would be together one day. I chose this poem because it goes along with my Anthology theme of love being all over the place.

LongingBy: Matthew Arnold Come to me in my dreams, and thenBy day I shall be well again!For so the night will more than payThe hopeless longing of the day.

Come, as thou cam'st a thousand times,A messenger from radiant climes,And smile on thy new world, and beAs kind to others as to me!

Or, as thou never cam'st in sooth,Come now, and let me dream it truth,And part my hair, and kiss my brow,And say, My love why sufferest thou?

Come to me in my dreams, and thenBy day I shall be well again!For so the night will more than payThe hopeless longing of the day.

Response: In the poem “Longing” by Matthew Arnold we see that the speaker is in physical turmoil. He is looking for the woman of his dream to come and make him well. He believes that just her presence could possibly heal him when he says “And part my hair, and kiss my brow/ and say, My love why sufferest thou?” In the second stanza, the new world represent the place that he plan on going after his death and he want her to follow him there. In the third stanza you can feel his desperateness because he has gotten to a point where he is o.k. with just dreaming of her being there, to comfort him. The speaker believes that if she could make any of his request happen then it would help him not to feel so hopeless. I chose this poem because this is an example of a love that he is longing to have and is seeking to find love.

Life in a Love By: Robert Browning Escape me?Never— Beloved!While I am I, and you are you,So long as the world contains us both,Me the loving and you the loth,While the one eludes, must the other pursue.My life is a fault at last, I fear— It seems too much like a fate, indeed!Though I do my best I shall scarce succeed— But what if I fail of my purpose here?

It is but to keep the nerves at strain,To dry one's eyes and laugh at a fall,And baffled, get up to begin again,— So the chase takes up one's life, that's all.While, look but once from your farthest bound,At me so deep in the dust and dark,No sooner the old hope drops to groundThan a new one, straight to the selfsame mark,I shape me— EverRemoved! Response: In the poem “Life in a Love” by Robert Browning we see that the speaker is expressing the need of the world to have them in it together. His pursuit comes just after she left him and he seems as if he does not want to let her go. In the first stanza, the speaker states that “It seems too much like fate, indeed!” as if he knows that this pursuit of her is his destiny and won’t stop at nothing to get her. He is more after conquering her as if it is his fate than a romantic love for her. In the second stanza he says that although the “old hope for her drops to the ground”, he would “shape” himself to it. It looks as if he is willing to finally except whatever the outcome of his pursuit will be. This poem is about a love that he lost and pursuing to have.

When We Two Parted By: Lord Byron When we two partedIn silence and tears,Half broken-hearted,To sever for years,Pale grew thy cheek and cold,Colder thy kiss;Truly that hour foretoldSorrow to this.

The dew of the morningSank chill on my brow— It felt like the warningOf what I feel now.Thy vows are all broken,And light is thy fame:I hear thy name spoken,And share in its shame.

They name thee before me,A knell to mine ear;A shudder comes o'er me— Why wert thou so dear?They know not I knew thee,Who knew thee too well:— Long, long shall I rue theeToo deeply to tell.

In secret we met— In silence I grieveThat thy heart could forget,Thy spirit deceive.If I should meet theeAfter long years,How should I greet thee?— With silence and tears.

Response: In the poem “When We Two Parted” by Lord Byron, the speaker seems to be experiencing the pain of breaking up with someone he really loves. He seems to have had a premonition of their break up in the first stanza when he said “Pale grew thy cheek and cold, colder thy kiss; truly that hour foretold Sorrow to this.” In the second stanza we see that he has another indicator that their relationship was over when he said “The dew of the morning Sank chill on my brow It felt like the warning of what I feel now.” He feels as if she has broken her vow to him. Maybe she started seeing someone else while still being in a relationship with him. The speaker is wondering now how he would great her after breaking up, and I guess he feels like he should do it “with silence and tears.” I chose this poem because it is a poem about a love that he lost which is part of my theme about love being all over the place.”

Clenched Soul By: Pablo NerudaWe have lost even this twilight.No one saw us this evening hand in handwhile the blue night dropped on the world.

I have seen from my windowthe fiesta of sunset in the distant mountain tops.

Sometimes a piece of sunburned like a coin in my hand.

I remembered you with my soul clenchedin that sadness of mine that you know.

Where were you then?Who else was there?Saying what?Why will the whole of love come on me suddenlywhen I am sad and feel you are far away?

The book fell that always closed at twilightand my blue sweater rolled like a hurt dog at my feet.

Always, always you recede through the eveningstoward the twilight erasing statues.

Response: In the poem “Clenched Soul” by Pablo Neruda, he seems to be having a tough time with a break up. “In the first two lines where Neruda says “We have lost even this twilight. No one saw us this evening hand in hand while the blue night dropped on the world” because he is expressing to his love that they are not together any longer and he knows that things are not the same. Neruda is asking his love about her absence when he was grieving for the loss of their love when he says “I remember you with my soul clenched in that sadness of mine that you know. Where were you then?” “The book fell that always closed at twilight and my blue sweater rolled like a hurt dog at my feet” is Neruda’s way of saying that he has come to the realization that the relationship is over and he realizes that she is not coming back. I like this poem because a love lost is a hard thing to deal with but he eventually does. I chose this poem because love sometimes must come to an end whether we want it to or not.

How Do I Love Thee? Let me count the waysBy: Elizabeth Barrett Browning How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.I love thee to the depth and breadth and heightMy soul can reach, when feeling out of sightFor the ends of Being and ideal Grace.I love thee to the level of everyday'sMost quiet need, by sun and candle-light.I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.I love thee with the passion put to useIn my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.I love thee with a love I seemed to loseWith my lost saints,—I love thee with the breath,Smiles, tears, of all my life!—and, if God choose,I shall but love thee better after death.

Response: In the poem “How do I love thee? Let me count the way” by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, we see that there is a definite love that the speaker has for another. She is willing to show him how she feels by going to the extreme of showing him. She is willing to “count the ways.” The speaker seems as if she is ready to commit her soul to him just to show him how much she loves him. The depth of her love goes deep because she says that “I shall but love thee better after death.” I chose this poem because It is an example of love and the depth of how someone can love which would be what all would seek to find. In the last line when he says “I shall but love thee better after death,” he is letting her know that he has no plan of his love ever fading. He plans to love her until death.

Love PoemBy: Jennifer Maier

My brain is in love with your brain, and my body is just nuts about your body. My brain thinks your body is the ne plus ultra of sinewy perfection. My body goes in awe of your brain, a dim sibling, loping behind. And my heart? My heart is a bloodhound with two masters. It tracks you through the deep woods, first this way, then that. The body whistles; the mind blows its silver horn. Soon we will find you, treed and waiting. The mind will stand poised with its camera; the body, raise its barreled scope. The heart will run around and around in circles as they argue about the future, and birds scatter like buckshot, piercing the dawn with their little cries.

Response: In the poem “Love Poem” by Jennifer Maier, we see that the speaker is comparing herself with her love. In the first two lines where she says “My brain is in love with your brain, and my body is just nuts about your body.” She does this to let the reader know just how much in common she has with him. Being in love and in tune with someone is a special kind of love. It is said that many will never experience that kind of love and will search a lifetime to just to have it. In the second stanza the speaker says “Soon we will find you, treed and waiting. The mind will stand poised with its camera” because the heart is in search of love and is going crazy trying to find it. Hopefully you will be in the right area to be found. I chose this poem because I like that it showed loved being chased down like a hound looking for the lost.

Lonely HeartBy: Wendy Cope

Can someone make my simple wish come true?Male biker seeks female for touring fun.Do you live in North London? Is it you?Gay vegetarian whose friends are few,I’m into music, Shakespeare and the sun,Can someone make my simple wish come true?Executive in search of something newperhaps bisexual woman, arty, young.Do you live in North London? Is it you?Successful, straight and solvent? I am too -Attractive Jewish lady with a son.Can someone make my simple wish come true?I’m Libran, inexperienced and blue -Need slim non-smoker, under twenty-one.Do you live in North London? Is it you?Please write (with photo) to Box 152.Who knows where it may lead once we’ve begun?Can someone make my simple wish come true?Do you live in North London? Is it you?

Response: The poem “Lonely Hearts” is about the struggle of finding someone to love and to have them reciprocate those feelings. He’s beginning a long journey and wants the company to tag alone with him. He knows how difficult the process of trying to find love by posting an ad but was willing to do it anyway. At this point in his life it seems as if he doesn’t care what the make and model of the women, he’s just tired of life’s journey alone. At times he’s specify the type of women, but it is many types, which shows how desperate willing he is to give love a chance. Perhaps it’s because he has been alone for a long time and he’s fed up with living life alone. The finally of this poem is him inviting that someone to contact him so that they may start their journey through life together. I chose this poem because it ties in with my Anthology of poem with a theme of love being all over the place . I was drawn to this poem because of what the speaker was willing to go through to find love.

"I loved you..." By: Alexander Pushkin

I loved you, and I probably still do,And for a while the feeling may remain...But let my love no longer trouble you,I do not wish to cause you any pain.I loved you; and the hopelessness I knew,The jealousy, the shyness - though in vain -Made up a love so tender and so trueAs may God grant you to be loved again.

Response: In the poem “I love you” by Alexander Pushkin, it seems as if the speaker is addressing his love interest and opening up about his feelings. He wants her to know that she should not worry about him bothering her about their relationship any longer. He is willing to suffer and not show her any interest even though his love is burning deep within him. He don’t want to cause any problems or put any pressure on her so he is willing to swallow his feelings for her happiness. Although he is so deeply in love with her, he is willing to see her flourish in another relationship where she could find love. I like this poem because it shows love in an unselfish way. It shows that you can love someone enough to let them go and be happy with someone else. This poem is another aspect of love being all over the place.

The Definition of Love By: Andrew Marvell

My love is of a birth as rareAs 'tis for object strange and high:It was begotten by DespairUpon Impossibility.

Magnanimous Despair aloneCould show me so divine a thing,Where feeble Hope could ne'er have flownBut vainly flapped its tinsel wing.

And yet I quickly might arriveWhere my extended soul is fixedBut Fate does iron wedges drive,And always crowds itself betwixt.

For Fate with jealous eye does seeTwo perfect loves, nor lets them close:Their union would her ruin be,And her tyrranic power depose.

And therefore her decrees of steelUs as the distant Poles have placed(Though Love's whole world on us doth wheel)Not by themselves to be embraced,

Unless the giddy heaven fall,And earth some new convulsion tear;And, us to join, the world should allBe cramped into a planisphere.

As lines (so loves) oblique may wellThemselves in every angle greet:But ours so truly parallel,Though infinite, can never meet.

Therefore the love which us doth bind,But Fate so enviously debars,Is the conjunction of the mind,And opposition of the stars.

Response: In the poem “The Definition of Love,” Andrew Marvell he is trying to explain his belief that fate separate people and the opposite of love happens. In the third stanza where Marvell says “And yet I quickly might arrive where my extended soul is fixed but fate does iron wedges drive, and always crowds itself betwixt”, he is showing his reason why he feels that fate tears people apart. He speaks of love as if he has had some challenges in a successful love connection. In the lines where he says “As lines (so loves) oblique may well themselves in every angle gree: But ours so truly parallel, though infinite, cannot meet,” he is showing how he thinks that love should go. Marvel really don’t believe that you could have true love. In the final lines he states that love “Is the conjunction of the mind, and opposition of the stars" which seals his feeling on why he thinks that love is not obtainable. I like this poem because it shows another aspect of love. It shows that everyone don’t believe in love.

Under the Harvest MoonBy: Carl Sandburg

Under the harvest moon,When the soft silverDrips shimmeringOver the garden nights,Death, the gray mocker,Comes and whispers to youAs a beautiful friendWho remembers.

Under the summer rosesWhen the flagrant crimsonLurks in the duskOf the wild red leaves,Love, with little hands,Comes and touches youWith a thousand memories,And asks youBeautiful, unanswerable questions.Response: In the poem “Under the Harvest Moon” by Carl Sandburg seems to be all about love. In the second line “When the soft silver Drips shimmering over the garden night,” it symbolizes the memories of love while “Death, the grey mocker” symbolizes the lack of love that he also possess. Maybe the speaker went through the loss of a love. The second stanza is about the period of time between the sunset and dusk and the hanging of the seasons from summer to fall. It signifies the how the speaker experience a break up of some sort. Maybe she changed her mind about how she felt about him. Or maybe she decided to date someone else. The death of summer could also be the death of his relationship, the once love interest that he had. In the last line “Beautiful, unanswerable questions” is his way of saying that he still has questions about why his relationship died” I like this poem because we all know that some relationships end up breaking up and sometimes we may never get a full understanding of why? I chose this poem because love doesn’t always have a happy ending

I Knew a Woman By: Theodore Roethke

I knew a woman, lovely in her bones,When small birds sighed, she would sigh back at them;Ah, when she moved, she moved more ways than one:The shapes a bright container can contain!Of her choice virtues only gods should speak,Or English poets who grew up on Greek(I'd have them sing in chorus, cheek to cheek.)

How well her wishes went! She stroked my chin,She taught me Turn, and Counter-turn, and stand;She taught me Touch, that undulant white skin:I nibbled meekly from her proffered hand;She was the sickle; I, poor I, the rake,Coming behind her for her pretty sake(But what prodigious mowing did we make.)

Love likes a gander, and adores a goose:Her full lips pursed, the errant note to seize;She played it quick, she played it light and loose;My eyes, they dazzled at her flowing knees;Her several parts could keep a pure repose,Or one hip quiver with a mobile nose(She moved in circles, and those circles moved.)

Let seed be grass, and grass turn into hay:I'm martyr to a motion not my own;What's freedom for? To know eternity.I swear she cast a shadow white as stone.But who would count eternity in days?These old bones live to learn her wanton ways:(I measure time by how a body sways.)

Response: In the poem “I knew a Woman” by Theodore Roethke we see that the speaker is a describing the essence of the woman that he fell in love with. He remembers her beauty and how she established good relationships with everyone. She feels that she was even in perfect harmony with nature when he says “When small birds sighed, she would sigh back at them.” She also taught him how to love because she was so good at it. “Lovely in her bones” says that she was beautiful both inside and out which the speaker wants you to know how perfect of a love she was to him. “How well her wishes went! She stroked my chin, She taught me Turn, and Counter-turn, and Stand; She taught me Touch, that undulant white skin; I nibbled, meekly from her proffered hand; She was the sickle; I, poor I, the rake, Coming behind her for her pretty sake (But what prodigious mowing we did make” is the speakers way of telling the reader that she taught him how to make love to her. This poem is a awesome poem about how relationship are built and that’s on communication and trust. He trusted her to show him how to love her. I chose this poem because it is another aspect of love.

To a Stranger. By: Walt Whitman

PASSING stranger! you do not know how longingly I look upon you, You must be he I was seeking, or she I was seeking, (it comes to me, as of a dream,) I have somewhere surely lived a life of joy with you, All is recall’d as we flit by each other, fluid, affectionate, chaste, matured, You grew up with me, were a boy with me, or a girl with me,I ate with you, and slept with you—your body has become not yours only, nor left my bodymineonly, You give me the pleasure of your eyes, face, flesh, as we pass—you take of my beard,breast,hands, in return, I am not to speak to you—I am to think of you when I sit alone, or wake at night alone, I am to wait—I do not doubt I am to meet you again, I am to see to it that I do not lose you.Response: The poem "To A Stranger," by Walt Whitman seems to be about the speaker coming to realization that he has not been alone all of his life when he says “PASSING stranger! you do not know how longingly I look upon you.” He has seen God in a vision or a dream and has falling in love with him. The speaker longs to have a relationship with him in the first two lines when he says “I have somewhere surely lived a life of joy with you.” in lines six and seven the speaker tell of the life that Whitman has lived with God without him really knowing him personally. In the lines where the speaker says “ I am to wait- I don not doubt I a to meet you again,” is the speakers way to saying that he knows that there will come a time after death where he would see God. He plans on living a Godly life to insure that he will not lose the opportunity of seeing him again. I like this poem because it shows a different kind of love. A spiritual love. A love that if you believe that you would have ever lasting life after death. The stranger in Whitman’s poem is why I chose this poem because it shows that love is not just between man and woman but it could also be the love that God has for us and the love that we should have for God.

Love and a QuestionBy: Robert Frost

A stranger came to the door at eve, And he spoke the bridegroom fair. He bore a green-white stick in his hand, And, for all burden, care. He asked with the eyes more than the lips For a shelter for the night, And he turned and looked at the road afar Without a window light.

The bridegroom came forth into the porch With, 'Let us look at the sky, And question what of the night to be, Stranger, you and I.' The woodbine leaves littered the yard, The woodbine berries were blue, Autumn, yes, winter was in the wind; 'Stranger, I wish I knew.'

Response: In the poem “Love and a Question” by Robert Frost, Frost talks about a familiar incident that all new married couples go through and that is consummating their marriage. In the first stanza, the speaker says that “a stranger came to the door at eve,” which I think is the grooms fear. He is now married and he is going to take that next step after married and that is consummating the marriage. His fear could be tied to him worried about how he is going to perform in the bedroom. He continues to fear when he says “And he turned and looked at the road afar without a window light.” Life can be scary, not being able to see into the future. The fear that things won’t work out becomes real when you sit and think about if you had made the right decision to marry this particular person. I chose this poem because although love and be a beautiful thing and you decide to marry, it can also become scary at times. I like this poem because it allows other to see that they too are not alone with fearing life.

Within, the bride in the dusk alone Bent over the open fire, Her face rose-red with the glowing coal And the thought of the heart's desire.

The bridegroom looked at the weary road, Yet saw but her within, And wished her heart in a case of gold And pinned with a silver pin.

The bridegroom thought it little to give A dole of bread, a purse, A heartfelt prayer for the poor of God, Or for the rich a curse;

But whether or not a man was asked To mar the love of two By harboring woe in the bridal house, The bridegroom wished he knew.

Intimates By: David Herbert Lawrence

Don't you care for my love? she said bitterly.

I handed her the mirror, and said:Please address these questions to the proper person!Please make all requests to head-quarters!In all matters of emotional importanceplease approach the supreme authority direct! -

So I handed her the mirror.And she would have broken it over my head,but she caught sight of her own reflectionand that held her spellbound for two secondswhile I fled.

Response: In the poem “Intimates” by David Herbert Lawrence, we see that there is a dispute about the love going on. The conflict that Lawrence is experiencing is something that some of us have been in before. Staring Lawrence in the face is a angry woman that wants to know where she stand in her relationship when she ask “Don’t you care for my love?” Lawrence puts it back on her by asking her to “Please address these questions to the proper person!” It seems as if he is having a hard time answering the question and told her to answer her own question. Lawrence seems as if he is in a stressful relationship where he has to reassure his love but is unwilling to fix the problem. So instead he runs. I chose this poem because it reminds me of how relationship tend to just be stagnant because only one wants to work on the relationship while to the other person it may not be that important to them.

Love's PhilosophyBy: Percy Bysshe Shelley

The fountains mingle with the river,And the rivers with the ocean;The winds of heaven mix foreverWith a sweet emotion;Nothing in the world is single;All things by a law divineIn another's being mingle--Why not I with thine?

See, the mountains kiss high heaven,And the waves clasp one another;No sister flower could be forgivenIf it disdained its brother;And the sunlight clasps the earth,And the moonbeams kiss the sea;--What are all these kissings worth,If thou kiss not me? Response: In the poem “Love Philosophy” by By: Percy Bysshe Shelley, we see that this is a true love poem. He shows us that everything is connected such as rivers, the wind, and the ocean. So he wants to know why him and his love can’t mingle like nature does. Shelley takes it a little further and ask that if the Mountain kiss the heaven and the waves hug each other then it doesn’t matter because he isn’t getting the same affection from his love. He is showing us how nature is in perfect harmony and unity and he is upset that he hasn’t gotten to the place where he is living in that kind of unity. This seems to be tearing him up inside and because in his conclusion he is asking “Why not I with thine?” and “If thou kiss not me?” I chose this poem because it shows that love can be a thing that people long for and is finding it hard to obtain.

I never lost as much but twiceBy: Emily Dickerson

I never lost as much but twice,And that was in the sod.Twice have I stood a beggarBefore the door of God!

Angels—twice descendingReimbursed my store—Burglar! Banker—Father!I am poor once more!Response: In the poem “I never lost as much but twice by Emily Dickerson, we see that she is in despair over the loss of a love one. Because she use the word twice in the poem two times, it leads me to believe that maybe she was at a loss two times in her life. In the first stanza we see that when she says “Twice I stood a beggar before the door of God! I knew that she really must have loved deeply if you are praying for the recovery of a love one. Dickerson really is pouring her heart out in this poem, opening up to the fact that she was begging for her love one not to die. She is a believer of God and was at the point where she felt that only God could help her love one to live. Dickerson shows her anger about the situation when she says “Reimburse my store” which she seems to be screaming with the devil to bring back what he has stolen from her which is her love ones. I like this poem because it shows that love can be taken away no matter how much you plead and beg God not to. I chose this poem because it shows another side to love. Love is but for a moment, then you have to die.

Works Borrowed

Arnold, Matthew. “Longing” from Henry Frowed; Oxford University Press. Online Literary.

Browning, Elizabeth Barrett “How Do I Love Thee? Let Me Count The Ways”. Book

Browning, Robert “Life in a love” from Kindle Addition. Online Book

Burns, Robert “A Red, Red Rose” from The Oxford Book of English Verse. Book

Byron Lord “When We Two Parted” from The Oxford Book of English Verse. Book

Cope, Wendy “Lonely Heart “ from http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/index.php?date=2001/12/06. Website.

Dickerson, Emily “I never lost as much but twice.” from http://readbookonline.net/readOnLine/19115/. E-Book

Drayton, Michael “Since there’s no help, come let us kiss and part” from http://readbookonline.net/readOnLine/41757/. Online E-book

Frost, Robert. “Love and a Question” from http://www.americanliterature.com/author/robert-frost/poem/love-and-a-question. Online Literature

Johnson, Ben “Song to Celia” from http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/173729#about. Internet

Lawrence, David Herbert, “Intimates” from http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/intimates-2/comments.asp. Internet

Maier, Jennifer “Love Poem” from http://poems.com/poem.php?date=16029. Internet

Marvell, Andrew. "The Definition of Love" reprint. from Miscellaneous Poems. Andrew Marvell. Book

Naruda, Pablo “Clinched Soul” Poetry E-Book. Online Book

Pushkin, Alexander “I love you…” from http://poemhunter.com/poem/i-loved-you-2/. Internet

Roethke, Theodore. “I knew a Woman” from The Collection Poems of Theodore Roethke. Book

Sandburg, Carl. “Under the Harvest Moon” from Chicago Poems. Internet Literature

Shelly, Persey Bysshe. “ Love Philosophy” (First Poems) from Persey Bysshe Shelly. Book

Stallings, A.E. “ First Love: A quiz” from

Whitman, Walt. “To a Stranger” from http://www.poetry-archive.com/w/to_a_stranger.html. Poetry Archives