Good day everyone,
Let us continue our conversation on Like This Together here. I didn't get to hear from a number of our friends their thoughts on this poem. I feel that this poem is a bit of a challenge for us as the metaphors and imageries used are not something that we have encountered before being from different physical setting and culture. and what makes it doubly challenging is that most of you are still an infant when it comes to LOVE. So let us delve into this poem.
It is really sad and heartbreaking when the love that you have lived for is dead. When love dies should you go on a trip of self reproach or should you blame the other person? What do we discover from Like This Together?
You could start your discussion here with metaphors, phrases or sentences that puzzle you. Or you could just throw a question seeking for that flicker of light over this poem.
So, come on Erudites. Let us get this discussion going.
A phrase that puzzled me is from stanza 4, “sometimes at night, you are my mother, old detailed griefs twitch at my dreams”. I got a sense that she has a not so good/broken relationship with her mother that makes her insecure about the relationship she was in or scared to accept love from her partner because the person that's supposed to love her (her mother) didn’t (?) I’m not so sure if that's how others view this stanza.
ReplyDeleteIn this poem my favourite line is ‘famous streets have forgotten’ in stanza 2. I think it metaphorically means that relationship is a journey. As the streets are ought to take us somewhere, same goes to relationship. However, in relationship there is no guarantee that we will reach the other point, because we might encounter problems along the way to the other side. Just like the persona said “famous streets have forgotten” indicates that she is not seeing her relationship with her partner going anywhere although they once love each other deeply.
Thank you, Adrienne Rich for reminding me that in love or relationship, nothing lasts forever through this poem😊
Iqwan Roslanni, 202837
Iqwan,
DeleteYou need to think of contradictions in stanza 4. Why do you think the persona sees her partner as a mother whom she turns to when she has dreams of detailed old griefs? Why does she use these expressions; crawl against you, fighting for shelter, and yet making you
my cave ?
is it because the mother represents home / affection / love that is equivalent to her partner? and maybe the reason why she used those expression is because of the word old griefs? maybe those griefs remind her about her past relationship as her partner might do something similar to what her ex-boyf did to her before. and by saying crawling and fighting must mean that she is having trouble to accept her partner but she just wanted to accept and forget about all the issue by making her partner as the cave (as home just like her mother). im not quite sure bout my answer since it's 11 and my conscious mind isnt nowhere to be found.
DeleteI think that like her mother, the persona holds her partner close to her heart. They are romantic lovers but also like family to each other. I view the expressions used literally, in which the persona is using them to describe her movements when she turns to her partner in bed vividly. “Crawl against you” and “fighting for shelter” provides the image of the persona desperately snuggling against her partner as she buries herself in his arms. Her partner becomes her “cave” as he is dependable in shielding her from her bad dreams.
Delete“Crawl” may also refer to the persona with movements like a baby, or in a curled-up position like a foetus. This indicates that she is vulnerable and will seek for comfort in her “mother” (partner).
The first stanza gives me nothing but a sad vibe, a melancholic setting where the partners have given up on their relationship, and try to fix their problems by looking for a quiet place and sit next to each other accompanied by nothing but silence.
ReplyDeleteWhen the poet said, "a year, ten years from now I'll remember this", I feel like she knows that no matter how long it is, even after they both have moved on, she will always remember her relationship with her partner. She will always reminisce the moment they ended a long term relationship? that's what i understand from the stanza.
Stanza 4 hits me hard because I think both of them said things that they don't mean, or they interpret each other's words differently which causes arguments and misunderstandings. "Sometimes at night you are my mother: old detailed griefs twitch at my dreams", from my understanding, much like a mom, the partner suffocates her with all the negatives attitudes but she still finds comfort in him. No matter how bad the partner is, she will end up looking for him for comfort because the partner is her person. This describe a toxic relationship, where you don't see the unhealthy energy/attitude/behavior that your partner gives you, because you are blinded by love. It can damage ones mentally, emotionally and physically. So, without realizing she risked herself by staying in such relationship because she loves him.
Nagibah,
DeleteYour insights into those two stanzas are a gem. Would love to hear what you see in the rest of the stanzas.
Thank you madam, for the second stanza, i think the poet describes their relationship that is slowly breaking apart. They live together physically, but emotionally they are not together anymore. They are basically strangers in their own home. A home that they used to be happy together, in love. But now, it is nothing to them just like "roses in the rack". Roses to me represent love and happiness. We give and receive roses in special occasions. So, this explains that, they are not in love anymore. Their love is dead just like the roses which is kept in the rack like a souvenir. Honestly, I don't understand the line, "famous streets have forgotten where they were going" but i think, the buildings are all being replaced by new buildings. So, she was saying that, what they had together are just memories just like the buildings, that can be replaced. If i misunderstood that, please let me know madam hehe
Deletefor the 3rd stanza, "We have, as they say, certain things in common" i think the poet tells that people love their relationship and they are perfect/suit for each other but people only see what is being potrayed by the couple. I believe that we only want to show the happy sides of us to people. The poet does not blame the people for thinking that way. The reason why I said she does not mind is because the words, "I mean" in the 3rd line "I mean: a view from a bathroom window over slate to stuff pigeons huddled every morning" in the 3rd line. People see the outer part of the relationship so she has no right to question their opinion.
DeleteBut in a way, i think she agree because of her partner, she values things that she never thought she will be thank for. "Because of you I notice, the taste of water, a luxury i might otherwise have missed". The partner exposed her to new things/knowledge/experience and she loves him and always grateful to him for that.
After reading Naqibah opinion on stanza 1, I do agree with her. It seems like both of them seem to gave up on each other but somehow they want to try to fix it ,if they can.
DeleteOther than that ,a symbolism of birds and broken ice emphasized that the love they had for each other was cold and saddening: “ Birds scatter across islands / of broken ice. Another time.” Since the relationship has turned out bad and disappointing, the persona decided to not care anymore about their happy memories together as lovers long ago. In contrast to their past relationship’s moments, the persona stressed that she will remember her feelings of wanting to escape herself from the heart-rending relationship in the present, which appears in the last couple of lines in stanza 1.
Norfa Athirah 202558
I think the meaning of the famous streets have forgotten where they were going can be a marriage. I mean famous street can resemble the journey that every couple want to go which is the marriage as their final destination. And by saying the the streets have forgotten were they were going maybe means that the couple has forgotten their intention to get married / or they are not going to get married due to their problem.
Deletenever thought of that but thank you yassin!!! Also to add, the poet said "Only a fact could be so dreamlike." in addition of what you said, maybe she wished that the relationship ends up with a marriage, but it is just a dream of her because now they are not together. This reminds me of an old malay song "Pelamin Anganku Musnah" hahaha.
DeleteI love how you explained the meaning of the 3rd stanza when we wanted to show the only good side to other people. When we are in a relationship, of course we want to share only happy things and make others believe that the relationship is still going strong. To show that we are doing good with each other even though on the inside, all the good feelings were long gone. When we decided to put an end to everything, people started questioning why and they started to find who was at fault. That’s why I really like it when Naqibah said that people see the outer part of the relationship so she has no right to answer the question. But for me, sometimes when the relationship ends, we ourselves don’t even know where things went wrong. One thing for sure, all the warm feelings are not there anymore. When we parted, it is undeniable to say that we miss our partner. We are used to the feeling of having our partner around so when they disappear, we will have the feeling of emptiness. That is when all good memories keep coming to the mind again and again. It takes time to break that habit of being “us” to just “me”. And it is up to us to keep those good memories or throw it away forever.
DeleteMaying 204340
ReplyDeleteThrough the understanding of the author's background, we can find that the author is a very rational and thoughtful woman. So I think the main idea （gist）of this poem is not to be a slave to feelings and treat every emotion in the right way. Everyone need to Thanks for the time of love.
In the third section, the author talks about the gratitude of the women in the poem to their lovers, because it is the man who makes women better and makes women feel the taste of being loved.
The fourth, fifth, and sixth sections describe the ups and downs of their relationship, and after the relationship is over, the woman in the poem still looks at their relationship with a beautiful eye and embraces the future with a positive attitude.
I think that when the author wrote this poem, he wanted to describe a female image who is not controlled by emotion and who dares to love and hate in the process of love.
Maying 204340
I love it when you say "Not be a slave to feelings and treat every emotion in the right way" because I believe being in a relationship, love is not enough. How do you love someone, when you abuse your partner emotionally and mentally? You hurt your partner by words for the sake of "love". I think most people who are in a toxic relationship, they don't realize that they are in one. So, they stay because they love. Why your partner say harsh things to you? oh because he loves you. Just like in stanza 4, no matter how negative has been towards the poet, she still look up for her partner because of love.
DeleteFirstly, to the question that madam has mentioned, I will not blame any of us if the relationship is going to the end, maybe I will regret some behaviour that I did, but I still believed that love is in the destiny. Like This Together is a splendid poem about a broken relationship, the persona is trying to fix the problems of her relationship. It’s really beautiful, the language used and the imagery – metaphor, personification, etc. But here are some metaphor that puzzles me, what do “hyacinth” and “hard cerebral lumps” represent? I can feel that hyacinth is a kind of flower, but why the poet must use hyacinth? Is “hard cerebral lumps” means the hard relationship?
ReplyDeleteChen Hongyu 201706
I would like to say this poem is a sad story of love, as in the end the poet is heartbroken. This pain lasts long and deep and can affect our lives. I think the poet’s relationship has fallen apart. The phrase ‘’roses in the rack’’ indicates the relationship dies. In my understanding, rose represents romance and love. This kind of feeling is like when you wanna save the relationship from falling apart, but it is already broken piece by piece.
DeleteHuang Yaoyi 201388
I found that the hyacinth flower can have several meanings depending on its colour, such as asking for forgiveness, regret, prayers, sincerity, and sorrow. The “hard cerebral lumps” might represent the sad memories or conflicts and dilemma that have always been on the couples’ mind. However, they do not voice it out, and it forms a lump – an uncomfortable object that is out of place and should not be on their mind.
DeleteMy interpretation of the lines is that only with strong emotions (“fierce attention”) such as a fight will cause their unspoken problems to surface. If we look at the pictures of the hyacinth, it’s made up of small, star-shaped(?) flowers sticking close to each other, forming a bigger flower/plant. Personally, the hyacinth looks a little wrinkly when I look at it from afar, and it reminds me of the brain (“cerebral”) since it’s wrinkly and round too. Now that the hyacinth “blooms” from the brain, I think the flowers represent sorrow and other negative feelings.
Although the problems are out in the open, the couple has not reconciled. The persona hints that confronting their problems would only make them sadder, because the previous lines states that “through mere indifference”, they can prevent their love from wearing away, “rained away”, or “burnt dry”. This means that if they care and try to have this discussion about their “hard cerebral lumps”, it will probably not end well for them. “Unwraps the wet buds” could be related to a wet hyacinth, which to me means tears and crying.
Asyraf 192927
ReplyDeleteI really like the imagery in this poem especially the one that is hidden like how the birds are mentioned twice to show that there’s two party that makes a couple in the relationship.
In my opinion, the author is damaged and she had a hard time to let go of this relationship even though she already had enough of it and have nothing to give anymore. It is really sad to think how a relationship failed can make you feel even though it all started with a happy and ambitious view.
I also realised how relationship is affecting the overall life of the author. When your relationship is good everything would be good, and when its bad everything its bad and you would feel like a drugged bird or a tree with snapped branches.
In short. I really like how this poem shows the effect of relationship to your life and how things can turn wrong even though you already tried hard to make it work.
The poem is a very sad and beautiful poem. Although I do not have a deep understanding of the whole poem, there are some lines that hit me hard because I can relate to it very well. The line that interest me the most is the first line in stanza 4, "Our words misunderstand us" It's true, a relationship can be broken because of misunderstanding. We always have to be very careful of what we are going to say to our partner. Other than that, we should have a good understanding with our partner and if any misunderstanding happens we should talk it out with them and tell them what we truly feel. Loving someone is not easy and same goes to moving on from someone who used to be an amazing person in our past. We can always forgive but not forget.
ReplyDeleteNurul Izyan 203743
Yes izyan, i agree with you about that line. sometimes we do not even realize our words will hurt the one we love and this will definitely leads to misunderstanding. but i do think as a partner it is crucial to always communicate and listen to anything that bothers our partner. it requires 2-way communication no matter how small the problem is.
DeleteNur Afiqah 203149
ReplyDeleteThe first thought that came into my mind once I read this poem is how I can put myself to fit in the author's shoe. This poem is about a woman who struggled in trying to resolve the relationship's problems which most of us have faced before.
The first two stanzas highlighted that the relationship is already ended. The imagery of a heartbroken relationship that has been through a lot of hardships can be seen in stanza 1 :
Wind rocks the car.
We sit parked by the river,
silence between our teeth.
For me, silence in a relationship can be seen as a form of avoidance when one has an issue with their partner and is unable or unwilling to express it. When two person put silence and ego as their way to express their feelings, the love will fade and go away as there is no communication occur between them two. A symbolism of birds and broken ice emphasized that the love they had for each other was cold and saddening: “Birds scatter across the islands of broken ice. Another time.” Since the relationship has turned out bad and disappointing unlike the first time they were together, the persona decided to not care anymore about their happy memories anymore and decided to erase those memories away. In a relationship, the spark can begin to fade simply because both parties started to take each other for granted and sometimes admitting feeling "bored" of each other.
Another point that I want to highlight here is in stanza 4 as here we can start to see a more clear picture of why did they fall out of love in the first place if they were so passionately in love before. The first line, "Our words misunderstand us" proves that sometimes when we are in anger, we usually say things we didn't even mean. We hope for the other person to understand our hidden words but what happened is the other way around. What I hate about being in a relationship is our love sometimes drive us blind by assuming the other person feels instead of communicating about it. Relationship is not about a fantasy where two person hold hands while understand each other every single time, but it is about having a lot of misunderstanding and still not leaving each other's hands and fix it. Next, “Old detailed griefs” in the next line might be of a heartbroken relationship too which resulting the persona to be afraid of not accepting the guy’s love". As in my experience, a broken relationship from the past really do change my view towards my future relationship. My trust issue, insecurities and jealousy will be beyond my control as I don't want to feel that kind of pain again.
Through this poem, I can learn that every relationship that we have, we must appreciate it. However, if we happened to fall out of love, we should never regret it because breaking up is a part of life. One should go on living since there are a lot more in life that God offers to us.
i like your explanation for stanza 1 afiqah. i do think that the line ' silence between our teeth ' portrays how the persona and her partner allow the silence to fully inhabit themselves. sometimes we use silence to express our feelings usually sadness. but in a relationship i believe that silence is something that will kill the relationship slowly. it tend to be a habit to let the partner to figuring things on his/her own and overtime it will drain himself/herself and he/she will walk out of our life.
DeleteHi Afiqah! It is really good explanation. I agree with your explanation for the line “Old next griefs”. At first, I cannot relate how miscommunication between the two lovers can occur if they are passionately in love (I have never been in special relationship before, so I’m not really familiar with this kind of thing). However, in the line “old detailed griefs” enlighten me how they fell apart. It shows that the persona is struggling to forget the past broken relationship, and causes her too afraid to accept the new love from the guy. When the pain come as in the line “twitch in my dreams”, the persona ‘crawl’ to the guy who she indicated not just as a simply ‘lover’ but also a family. ‘crawl’ maybe indicates that the persona is really in need or desperate to be healed. When the persona said “you are my mother”, I think she indicated the guy as who gives love, protecting and affection to her (as that’s what mother represent). “fighting for shelter” shows how the persona fight to find a place to heal the old pain and found the guy as ‘cave’ who protect her from the pain. Therefore, the person’s old wound causes the misunderstanding that separate them. From this poem, it teach me how important to let go things behind us. As we can see the persona met a really good guy, but she is afraid for the new relationship as she still struggling with the old pain from the past. In the relationship, we should not look into the past, what is the most important is the future. We should focus on the person who are with us at that time and never take the person for granted.
DeleteNur Suhana Athirah 202696
Tian Dongyu 201533
ReplyDeleteIn this poem what impresses me most are the details in the third stanza, the persona emphasizes of how the guy she really loved used to be before they fall out of love. Most of the things that are portrayed in this stanza give the image of how grateful the persona was to have the guy as her lover. Her unending gratitude was due to her past painful event and her partner was the one who saved her from that. Here, the persona highlighted that her lover was the one who gave shelter to her and kept her safe. In the fifth and sixth line of the stanza, “over slate to stiff pigeons / huddled every morning; the way”, the “slate” was a symbolism of shelter. The same goes to “stiff pigeons” which connotatively means that they as a lover were there together through a lot of challenges. We can know that how much the persona miss the spent with her lover. It seems that she can not accept the truth that the relationship has ended.
Moreover, the persona expressed more of her thankfulness in line 7 to line 13. These seven lines convey a very deep meaning of how the guy had changed the persona into a better person. He had taught her to appreciate every little things in life and to appreciate life as a whole, “water” is the image of life.
From my point of view, sometimes it not easy to keep a long and good relationship and a soul mate is not always there. What we can do is to become a better self and move on.
I really Like your explanation about the poem because it seems like all of us got the same message from the poem itself.
DeleteAs a fetus to the concept of romantic love, this poem scares me. After reading it I just feel a sense of dread, and I am filled with a ton of questions like what makes and breaks a relationship? Does love ever last? Why does it have to hurt so much? What is so interesting about Canada geese? It’s scary how no matter how much you love someone or want things to work out, most of the time it just doesn’t. The line “Because of you I notice the taste of water, a luxury I might otherwise miss” stuck out to me because it seems that because of her boyfriend, even the simplest and mundane things became special. It really shows how being in love is almost like a spell where everything is seen through rose-colored glasses. Another line that caught my attention was “the severed hand still suffers beyond the stump” because to me it seems that the impact of the breakup can last even though it has been a long time since they have left you. It also shows how close and intimate they were since she describes his leaving like an important part of her is being chopped off and removed. There are some other parts of the poem that I find hart to interpret, like the final stanza. I cannot tell if she’s talking about the possibilities of new love, or if she’s talking about moving on, or something else entirely. I think that when love dies because of a clearly toxic partner, it is fine to blame them, but if it was just falling out of love and drifting apart, then I guess going on a trip of self-reproach is much healthier.
ReplyDeleteSasmiita 202800
I believe the final stanza could be indicating a moving on with life in general. I believe she is in no way ready to let herself into embracing a new love because she could very much feel sorry for the new love for still holding on to the past memories. It's a hope for a better day but it could also be her acceptance to life that maybe she just needs to let go of the drowning misery and move forward with life but in the questions of whether or not she's found a new love, could very much be not (maybe a summer fling but definitely incomparable).
DeleteHye sasmiita, I love your point of view on the poem especially when you said, "no matter how much you love someone or want things to work out, most of the time it just doesn’t", this line hits me rock bottom because I myself have my personal plans and now I'm just afraid if things is not going to work out as I planned because I want to date to marry and it hits me harder because Im trying to relate with what the persona is experiencing in this poem. There were several line indicating it such as in stanza 2, "famous streets have forgotten where they were going", for me famous streets is maybe the relationship of the persona and her bf is kinda famous and their plan at the early of their relationship is obviously a marriage because that is our goal of being into a relationship right? Date to marry. But because of scars that are keep on adding to the relationship, they forgot about their goal, in other words, people would say the relationship is just a title without feelings. (Tawar hati)
DeleteAnd about the last stanza, from my point of view, at that point of writing the poem, the persona has already given up on her relationship, she felt like it is not worth to keep on going with the relationship cause the scars keep on adding.
For me, I can sense the pain that the persona went through when she had to let go of someone that has become a part of her. It is the fact they are together at that moment sitting with silence between them and the feelings the persona had will remain in her memory. It is understandable for her to find it hard to forget him as he offered her comfort, makes her happy and they even shared smallest details like 'Canada Geese' that she knows are his favorite. Also, in the stanza 3, she mentioned that because of him, she noticed the taste of water that for me makes it hard to forget him as water is a basic need of human to continue living and she will consume it every single day even if it reminds her of him.
ReplyDeleteFathihah, 203253
Ouch, imagine drinking water everyday and every time you do, you'd be reminded of a past lover :'(
DeleteIt's funny how small things from a past relationship can actually became something that would forever tattooed in our brain. It's like in every little thing we do, there will always be that small detail that would came up in our mind, reminding us of what we used to be.
Elleanna 203254
yeah, the poem pretty much shows us how does it feels like to have a relationship that doesn't work out. Th images that the poet gave makes lifts up our sense, how rocky, how cold, how brittle, how precious, sad it is to experience a relationship like the persona,
Deleteizzah fatini 203741
The line Canada geese hurts me the most. In the first stanza, I can see that the persona tried to reminiscence their old time together and how the Canada geese were significant things for both of them since her partner loves Canada geese. However, since their relationship has ended, the knowledge of his liking has become meaningless to her as all of his trivia, their moments together, him, the person who used to give her memories become only a memory. It is so heart-rending for her to have to separate from her lover and just try to gather up all her memories to form a pile and live in them, because that is the only thing she could do.
ReplyDeleteAlia Amirah 203742
I agree with you Alia and like your words saying that someone we love that gives us a lot of memories to cherish become the memory itself. I went through this before as it is normal for us to experience the come and go feeling. We created a lot of memories with our significant other without us knowing that finally the other person becomes memory that leave for us to remember and it is heartbreaking hahaha
DeleteI think this poem is somehow scaring me by the way how a relationship can be broken. It makes me realised that nothing lasts forever. From the first stanza, I can sense that their relationship is not going well. The lines ' I’ll remember this— this sitting like drugged birds, in a glass case—’ shows that it feels awkward for them to be alone. This contrasts with the real in love couple which I think both parties are comfortable with each other, thus no awkward moment. I believe that stanza 2 gives pain to the reader (even me, myself). Reading how the author describe the broken relationship as rooms cut in half shows that their hearts are no longer attached together. Their relationship is ‘hang like flayed carcasses’. I think ‘they’ in stanza 2 gives meaning as ‘problem’. This particular problem that they face has definitely torn down their ‘house’. I think house here means as their lovey-dovey relationship. Reading the next stanza until the end makes me really sad. In stanza 5, the author also added ‘Dead winter doesn’t die,it wears away,’. I somehow feel that the author wanted to express that love does not die. It just wears away. People can prevent it, but if only one person fight for the relationship, it somehow does not work. In the last stanza, I feel really sad reading the line ‘But new life, how do we bare it?’. I think it’s hard to face the change in life. Imagine having butterfly in the stomach everyday before this, but as the relationship is tearing down, the feeling is gone. It’s not easy to face the new life. Something that strange to us. But what can we do? That’s life.
ReplyDeleteHi Imanina, I agree with what you said especially when it comes to the energy and effort in a relationship it should be mutual and it will not work if it's only one sided.
DeleteIn this poem, at first i find it very hard to relate it to one and another as it has many metaphors that is being used in this poem. however, i get the gist of this poem especially when the persona says they are tearing down, tearing up it symbolizes how the relationship is slowly breaking. of course in every relationship we hope for a happy ending which is loving with each other married to one another till the end of the live.
However, the persona is stucked in her past and it scares her to start a new one. it shows in the line the wave of birth.
a thing to ponder is how people decide that,a significant person is the one?
Imanina, I agree with you about the real life love relationship where people are comfortable with their partner. But do they really comfortable or is it because they ignored the things that should be taken care of?
DeleteIt is different from how the poem was described because it was about a broken relationship that finally come to the end. But do people thought of it as a real love? Where you are struggling to make it work, a lot of things to be mend, and yet both are still trying. And it is sad for me as well, because they are trying and give their best but things are still not working out in the end.
Love comes with sacrifice, whether you are going to take it and fight for it or you just wait for it and leave it. And yes, what is the outcome of your sacrifices is not the ultimate purpose, but whether you do it or not is what matters.
-Imanina Sheenaz 203252
NUR MUNIRAH, 202797
DeleteHi Imanina, I agree with what you said especially when it comes to the energy and effort in a relationship it should be mutual and it will not work if it's only one sided. In this poem, at first i find it very hard to relate it to one and another as it has many metaphors that is being used in this poem. however, i get the gist of this poem especially when the persona says they are tearing down, tearing up it symbolizes how the relationship is slowly breaking. of course in every relationship we hope for a happy ending which is loving with each other married to one another till the end of the live. However, the persona is stucked in her past and it scares her to start a new one. it shows in the line the wave of birth. a thing to ponder is how people decide that,a significant person is the one?
I think this poem really hits me hard especially in stanza 4. The poet is trying to express that miscommunication has led her love relationship to slowly fade. This stanza shows how a “word” can affect one’s relationship negatively. The part when the poet said, “Sometimes at night you are my mother: old detailed griefs twitch at my dreams, and I crawl against you, fighting for shelter, making you my cave. Sometimes you’re the wave of birth that drowns me in my first nightmare” show that she is willing to take every word that has been thrown to her because of “love”. Even though the poet knows the truth about her significant other, she is willing to wait and think that there must be something that she can do to overcome this mistreatment and sadness. What saddens me the most is because the poet does not realize how toxic the relationship is and her expectations only hurt her more.
ReplyDeleteWhen we love a person, we are willing to stay with the hope that he/she will do the same. But at the end of the day we must realize that a relationship might not work because there is no mutual treatment, love and communication. When the poet said “I suck the air. Miscarried knowledge twists us like hot sheets thrown askew”, I think the person that she used to love really makes her swallow the sadness alone and leaves her behind with negative perceptions.
Nur Alia Amirah 203742
DeleteYour approach on toxic relationships is an eye opener for me Haziqah. Sometimes, when we love too deeply, we tend to close our eyes from seeing what is true and living in a bubble of imagination we created on our own. Since the line “I crawl against you, fighting for shelter, making you my cave” shows that she is willing to give everything to her partner as she sees him as someone who she can depend on.
With him, she gains comfort that she craves for a long time as she mentioned her past relationship has left permanent scars in her heart in line “old detailed griefs, twitch at my dreams” thus makes her unaware of the bad effect of giving it all to her love one until herself, the most precious one has left forgotten. For her, this relationship is her everything, a future that she envisioned therefore she fights for it like it is her last breath. “I suck the air” gives me a perception that she is enduring the bitterness in her relationship with the hope for it to be fixed and to turn back to normal. However, her action eats her alive as she starts to lose herself with the negative perceptions and a broken relationship.
Although I could not fully understand each and every line of this poem, but I understand it indicates a sad and broken love story, especially from the second stanza. The author used metaphors like "city", "rooms" and "houses" as the symbol of their relationship, falling apart and broken. And also in the last four lines of this stanza, the persona implied that although she and her other half live under the same roof, but their feelings are not connected anymore.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I could not fully understand each and every line of this poem, but I understand it indicates a sad and broken love story, especially from the second stanza. The author used metaphors like "city", "rooms" and "houses" as the symbol of their relationship, falling apart and broken. And also in the last four lines of this stanza, the persona implied that although she and her other half live under the same roof, but their feelings are not connected anymore.
ReplyDeleteBao Wenkai 201549
Maira Mustafa 202693
ReplyDeleteLove or being in relationship is something wonderful that almost everyone dreams of. To be in relationship may be easy but keep the relationship alive is something challenging. This relates so much to the poem where the persona or the poet is reminiscing her past relationship, her memories with her lover. Her reminiscing the memories can be seen throughout the poem. One of it is stanza 1 line 6. She used to say the word her partner love to hear, but since the relationship is fading, she is no longer putting her effort in saying things her partner enjoyed listening. Instead, both of them were cold as in line 3 explained they were in silence (silence between our teeth). An alive and filled with love kind of relationship would not be silence, instead it would be filled with laughter and fun stories. Stanza 3 line 6-13 draws me a picture of how close they use to be and how playful they are; tasting water tap and enjoying little things. To some people they see it as something little but to the persona, it is a weird pleasure, and it is special because only they know what it is like. The sad thing is that all the little things they do remain a memory to the persona that she has to let it go. (Grip the earth and let it burn).
Hi Maira, It is very true that life is full of challenges and not all can handle passing all those tests especially with a demanding relationship there will be a silent phase where the couple would start to give up, I loved that you highlighted the idea of enjoying the small things you know the famous saying "devils in details "maybe the poet wants to highlight more things in depth by showing fun and memories throughout a small objects. hiba jebrini 201714
DeleteIzza Khaleda
ReplyDelete200552
The part of the poem that has aught my attention is stanza 5. Here, I understand that the persona want to emphasize that there will be a point in any broken relationship where we attempt to correct all of the flaws and mistakes we have made. This can be seen clearer in the third and fourth lines of the stanza;
“picked clean at last ,
rained away or burnt dry.”
The poet suggests that they might potentially repair their broken relationship if they are able to work for it together. After all, it takes both sides to build a bridge in a healthy relationship. People say,when ego goes, relationship stays.
“Our desiring does this,
make no mistake, I’m speaking
of fact: through mere indifference
we could prevent it.”
I think these four lines show us that the persona is attempting to convey that the cause of their fight and confusion was their own fault. The persona portrays that the she had a glimmer of hope that her poor relationship with her partner could be fixed. Sometimes in relationship, we would only realize our mistake after having some thought on it. We always hope that the love that we treasure would be able to last long and become stronger day by day. We could possibly forget the little things that have led to misunderstandings and fights, and eventually make things work again.
All in all, this poem still makes me realize that no matter how hard you try to hold the relationship that you have with your partner, we cannot simply ignore the misunderstanding that occurs and we might lose the love because of this. Everything that we have is not permanently ours, including the love of our life. It depends on how mature we are to confront all the problems in a relationship in order for us to make it work until the end.
I like your points regarding stanza 5 Izza, honestly i have the same opinion too! The misunderstanding that happened to both of them are because of their own fault. I think in relationships it is all about how you handle/fix problems/issues that occur because if you dont talk and discuss the problems/issues will never be solved. Even if one party says he/she wants to let it go, both partner need to talk and sort things out. You can never let things go without communicating, because one party might not feel the same and started to bottle things up which later on will affecting their relationship.
DeleteIzza you took the words right out of my mouth! I definitely agree on your take of stanza 5. Especially on the part where you said, when ego goes, relationship stays. I think a relationship requires a lot of forgiveness and communication among the partners. But it of course won't work if only one person is trying to make the relationship alive.
DeleteIzza you took the words right out of my mouth! I definitely agree on your take of stanza 5. Especially on the part where you said, when ego goes, relationship stays. I think a relationship requires a lot of forgiveness and communication among the partners. But it of course won't work if only one person is trying to make the relationship alive.
DeleteElleanna 203254
From my own perspective, this poem is about a woman who tried to fix her problem in a relationship. I bet all of us have been in a relationship or seen someone close to us in a relationship whether in a good relationship or a bad one. So, I guess we all can relate to this heartbreaking poem. The line that interest me the most is the first line in stanza 4, “
ReplyDeleteOur words misunderstand us.” I agree with this line, because I once was in a broken relationship because of misunderstanding. We need to be really careful of what we are going to say to someone (partner) especially when we are communicating through messages or whatsapp because what we want to tell our partner may not be the same as what our partner interprets. To illustrate, we said “Shut up” to our partner in a joking way but he interpreted it in a different way which is in a serious way, so our partner will get offended and mad. This proves that even a small misunderstanding can cause a relationship to be broken apart. In short, think before speaking because words hurt more than swords.
Deby
The poem really gives me the sad vibes. In stanza 1, the persona said " birds scatter across islands of broken ice" I think the broken ice depicts how the relationship actually is which is cold, sadness and the use of the word birds scatter there explains that the persona couldn't care less anymore about the relationship and trying to run away from it.
ReplyDeleteIn stanza 3, i like how the persona portrays how the guy that she loves used to be. In this stanza, i believe that the persona is trying to show how grateful she is for having that guy as her man/lover. "Over the slate to stiff pigeons, huddled every morning" I think slate symbolizes shelter as slate itself used as roofing materials. The persona sees the guy as a shelter, to keep her safe. In the next line the persona expresses her gratitude "Because of you I notice the taste of water, a luxury I might otherwise have missed." in this lines i believe the word water represents life as the guy teaches the persona to appreciate little things in life. We all know that water is a need in our daily lives but when we have the unlimited supplies of water we tend to take it for granted and not saving water even a drop, but when the water got disrupted and we need to limit the use of water then we only appreciate every drops of it. This significantly related to the persona as she used to take things for granted and changed when she met the guy. From there, i could see how deep her love is and how she appreciates the guy when they are still in love with each other.
The first stanza of the poem really sets a perfect tone of a story of someone whose past relationship may also become the death of a new beginning for another chapter of her relationship. The first three lines of the first stanza could very much explains how hollow the viewpoint of the world for her with very much nothing to grasp anymore. It could also indicate how like birds which in nature never stay put in one place, the love of her life has flown away for a new journey of life on his own leaving her down on the ground becoming the place of abandonment. At one point in one's life, there may come one person in your life with whom you may fall in love with so much they become the life of you, the very everything that define the essence of your life that even the slight thought of losing that particular person sounds so much more than just a deadly nightmare; It's a complete death to you that may or may not revive you back to living life the same again, which is something that could be felt by the persona in this poem.
ReplyDeleteIn stanza 4 i believe it was the point where she realizes that no amount of talking through things would escape them from the tragic crestfallen. The persona describes how the person that she loves has been the place of strength that she gravitates towards like a daughter to a mother, ultimate comfort and affection. However, there were also times when this person becomes the person that terrifies her the most, suffocating her with hurtful words ruthlessly. The person was both her medicine and poison but one that she willingly comply to live with for the rest of her life.
Overall, i believe this poem sheds light upon the real doom of a broken relationship which leaves one person losing hope and motivation to live a life because the oxygen that carries her through living which is her past love is forever gone from her life. It serves as a validation that the idea of moving on may sound easy on the lips but it really depends on the depth of love someone has towards that person who got away. In the context of this poem, only time could tell if she would even open her heart to a new beginning and leaving behind these heart-wrenching memories.
would like to say this poem is a sad story of love, as in the end the poet is heartbroken. This pain lasts long and deep and can affect our lives. I think the poet’s relationship has fallen apart. The phrase ‘’roses in the rack’’ indicates the relationship dies. In my understanding, rose represents romance and love. This kind of feeling is like when you wanna save the relationship from falling apart, but it is already broken piece by piece.
ReplyDeleteHuang yaoyi 201388
But then again, if they are really into each other, why would they fix the problem? yes maybe there are a lot of troubles and scars that keeps on adding but its such a waste to waste all those years being together but not ending it with a happy ending (marriage). I mean we fall in love by chance but we stick with love by choice, for me if the couple is really in love with each other so badly, they would find a way to fix the broken pieces even how long it takes. Maybe they could be like the art of kintsugi where if a broken plate or items are broken, they would use gold to fix it and attach it back and the items would be much much more valuable. For me if im in the persona shoes I would try to fix the relationship by fixing ourselves first to be the best partner because like the saying goes, if you want the best, be the best for someone first.
DeleteI liked this splendid poem about a broken relationship. It is actually a heartbreaking love poem with very complicated contents. . It’s pretty lovely, the warm language used and the imagery – metaphor, personification, etc. In this artistic poem, we can see every complicated relationship that has come to an end. In the first three lines of stanza 1. The symbolism of birds and broken ice emphasized that the passion they had for each other was cold and saddening: “ Birds scatter across islands / of broken ice the relationship ended badly, the persona decided to not care anymore about their happy memories together as lovers long ago. In contrast In the last stanza of the poem, it was a bit of a motivation. We can see that in this stanza, there is a positive vibe that life goes on
ReplyDeleteHIBA JEBRINI (201714)
This poem plays a lot with emotion which is my cup of tea. The first stanza caught my attention wherein the poet reveals that the relationship has come to an end. It must be bad to have the feelings that it is not anymore feels like home, too much thunder for a rainbow.
ReplyDeleteThere are few lines that I would like to highlight. ‘We sit parked by the river, silence between our teeth’. From my perspective, the silence is just between their teeth. There are so many things that came across their mind. Their heart and mind have so many to tell but they remain silent. Silent moment is where we can reflect back on ourselves when we’re going into something bad. It is very important to put ourselves in other’s shoes.
‘Our words misunderstand us’. Every couple must have been through a thunderstorm but why is it so hard to make it a rainbow? Why do we let go of each other when things get tough? Aren’t the goals is to live happily ever after? Why do we want to regret it later? Things are never too late when we decide to patch things up. Often angriness and ego make us ignoring the things that we should look into.
‘But new life, how do we bare it’? Every couple wants to wake up having theirs partner beside. It must be so heart breaking for the persona to wake up, realizing those things are gone.
The love is gone. But all those precious moment will remain there, in our heart.
NUR NAJWA SYAHIRAH (202801)
Hello everyone! I might be the last participant for this gem discussion but we save the best for the last.
ReplyDelete“And of His signs is that He created for you from yourselves mates that you may find tranquility in them; And He placed between you affection and mercy. Indeed in that are signs for a people who give thought.” Surah Ar-Rum (30:21).
I have encountered through this one post on instagram saying that “true love won’t hurt you. It’s the false person you gave it to that does. True love arrives when you wait with a patience like no other, because when you search, when you chase your emotions run riot on your decision making and ability to differentiate between lust and peace.
I have had this one mindset engraved that if you have feelings for someone, get your parents involve straightaway in the relationship you are about to build with that person (this applies for the serious relationship not for cat-fishing). Brace yourself to do taaruf and focus on essential things like “i am in the process of searching for a partner in marriage and i would like to do taaruf with you for that reason. Are you interested?” If the answer is yes, proceed. If the answer is no, move on.
That was the practical steps I’ve heard from one of the good speakers Aiman Azlan and his way of thinking about relationship just parallel to mine. I find there is such a waste of time to date a person for months or years without actually knowing where the relationship would bring you two to. In this phase, just focus more on your core values, your vision in marriage, your preparation to become a spouse and a parent. So that in every step and decision you would take later on in your relationship with your partner bring you somewhere towards betterment.
Last but not least, i would love to conclude that Adrienne Rich has given the readers the a very sad yet beautiful poem about a broken relationship. Like this together has a lot of complicated and deep meaning behind it. Through this poem, i can learn that we must appreciate every relationship that we have and if we have someone who really care and determined to take our hand into marriage, do give it meticulous consideration before rejecting it. Don’t ever take granted in someone’s kindness as it was a weakness. To anyone who has been taken for granted before, let them know kindness is your strength and ,et them have it.
Thank you.
FAREEZ IRFAN (202694)
This poem made me feel like a colour-blind person who is trying to see the beautiful colours splattered throughout the poem. Because, I had only managed to see certain colours and that is because I have not experienced a romantic relationship before. However, I do know what love feels like and also how the changes that could break out heart or should I say, our soul.
ReplyDeleteThe imagery in this poem gave me chills, knowing how hard it would have felt to let go. It would be amazing if we were only blessed with the ability to make our memories and imaginations appear before us in person. So that we could relive the moment one more time. Though I know less about love and broken relationships, I somehow felt her loss through Adrianne’s words, the complex language he used to utter the persona’s true emotions connected with her memories of her love starting from the 4th stanza was truly mesmerizing yet painful to read further. The content of the poem may be monochrome but the literary elements are definitely filled with colours of her memories, that slowly faded away by the end of the poem. She expressed her feelings as if her love was like a song or music that we would listen to in the morning, a song that was stuck in our head throughout the whole day. But one day, it stopped and all she could listen to was the voices in her head, that replayed his voice and memories like a broken music player that she tried to fix and failed.
“I crawl against you, fighting for shelter, making you my cave. Sometimes you’re the wave of birth that drowns me in my first nightmare. I suck the air.” The symbolism and metaphor used in these lines from stanza 4, hit me like a lightening bolt. It shows, how a person could give you all sorts of feelings then leave you as if nothing has happened is truly heart breaking and unfair. In the same time, loving someone who does not love or want you anymore is like trying hold or touch the invisible air or wind that caresses you. The lines also express how love can be our sweet dream then turn into our nightmare. It is like shutting our eyes tightly, to escape the fear of darkness in a dark room. Because it is pointless to do so, all that you would see is the same darkness again but with your own choice to close your eyes. So, love is like fire that warms you but could also burn you alive, however you can always be a phoenix bird. Rise again and spread your wings wide and fly, that only time and death are uncertain our life.
PHILOMENA A/P SANDANA DASS (203744)
After all, love is like art, we must trust the process.
Deletei have been sitting down and pondering on the line "the dead winter doesnt die, it wears out." the idea of love is certainly expressed in the line. have you ever think of your first love as a season? it might be years but everytime the 'season' comes to you, it gives you a specific feeling to it. if you were in other seasons, a sight of anything winter-like will remind you of winter. and i think of it. your first love never goes away, it just wears out. its a feeling that turns into sheer memories, and for some the feeling remains even just a little from time to time. you may be reminded of your first love in a form of the simplest things and i think just like how winter dead winter doesnt die, your idea love is always deeply engraved in you that it will never go away but just worn out by time as a new idea of what love is carry you throughout your life.
ReplyDeleteNur Lisa Qistina 203151
ReplyDeleteI was really interes in the second stanza of the poem depicts the persona and her lover in a nearly identical sorrowful broken relationship. Their feelings of love began to descend while they were together. In the first five lines of the stanza, the sound of conveying the message of their tainted relationship is solemn. As you can see, the words "city," "rooms," and "houses" all represent relationships and families. The persona emphasised again in the last four lines of the stanza that they are no longer together and that, despite living under the same roof, their feelings are no longer related. Another metaphor element used by the poet is "streets," which denotes a journey. Another metaphor aspect used by the poet is “streets,” which denotes a journey and connotes the couple's intention to marry: “famous streets have forgotten / where they were going. Only.” The persona suggests that they planned to marry a long time ago, but that they have since forgotten about it.
Nurul Mawaddah 203255
DeleteHello Lisa, those are indeed interesting metaphors you mentioned from the poem. As for me, to be honest this poem is so complicated for me to understand anything from the first and second reading. Adrienne Rich has pour her heart and thoughts in such a beautiful manner, filled with metaphors and imagery. It took me some time to digest the poem. However, once I was able to get the gist of it (thanks to the discussion in the reply section) the lines from stanza 4 that read 'Sometimes at night you are my mother: old detailed grief...' to 'making you my cave', really caught me attention. The poem depict a broken relationship, and how the persona, a woman, reminisce how she felt about it. I find it very interesting how she portray her partner as 'sometimes you are my mother'. Which I understand as, although when they are hurting each other, being a mess and all, at the end of the day she still finds her partner as her source of comfort. Just like we did with our mother. Perhaps it is related with my lack of experience with love (laughing out loud) but these lines hit me the most. It gave me a better understanding on the lovers relationship.
This is a very sad yet beautiful poem about a broken relationship. And it also tell us some life experience about relationships.
ReplyDeleteI really like the last stanza.
‘The severed hand still suffers beyond the stump.
But new life, how do we bare it?
You or huge tree when lightning strikes.
Fresh new flames spurting
through our old sealed skins’
There is a positivity of people who have got over the loss of love. She still had pain in her heart, but she wanted to move on. From this poem, I learned that we must appreciate every relationship we have. Because each relationship has its own story, its happy and sad moments, its challenges and its hardships.However, if we break up, we should not think that we have lost everything. We should move on, because there is so much more in life that waiting for us.
the first time I read this poem, I thought it is just some cliché love and heartbreaking poems but somehow it is way deeper and beautiful than how it is. My favorite part of the poem would be from stanza 2 where the poet uses the words city, rooms and houses to symbolize home and family. The persona mentioned about how they live together under one roof but they are disconnected with each other. From this stanza, I could relate it with our daily life where for some of us, home doesnt feel like home even though we are living so close to each other, we still feel we are too far from them or have no sense of belonging to them. My next favorite line is in the fourth stanza where the persona said "sometimes at night, you are mother". Based on my understanding, I believe that the persona's lover really took care of her just like her mother did and that is why the persona felt like her lover has the mother figure towards her. Personally, I really look forward for my significant other to be just like my mother because of the many years she had spent on taking care of me as a daughter really well, and I am hoping for it too from my partner. Last but not least, the one thing that puzzles my mind regarding this poem is does the fights and misunderstanding that drive them apart? Because fights sometimes make us know each other better and that is also one of the ways to witness each other's flaws and decide to stay with it or not. something to ponder upon.....
ReplyDeleteWhen I first read the poem, it really hit me. I relate to the persona so much especially how she felt after the heartbreaking relationship she went through plus the painful break up. From the fourth stanza, the line "Our words misunderstands us" it looks like they broke up due a misunderstanding. It shows that we must think careful of what to say towards people because what we say may hurt their feelings and destroy the relationship we have. Sometimes people may be offended by our words although they may not show it. We must not say things out of anger especially when we do not mean it. Plus if we are in a situation where we are not okay with certain things in the relationship, we need to talk with our partner so that they know and to avoid misunderstandings. Relationships go both ways. Communication is really the key to all of it. Without proper communication, lots of things will be left unsaid and unsettled. I too was once in a relationship where communication was not really our thing and we would argue almost everytime because both of us are too stubborn to sit down and talk about our feelings. In the end, it was what destroyed our relationship. It broke me that time I really liked him. If only I was the bigger person and talked things through, maybe it would've end differently. In the end, we must think of what we say to others and communication is important in any relationship to avoid misunderstandings.
ReplyDelete“Hyacinths” as a flower is a symbolism of beauty while “hard cerebral lumps” bring a connotative meaning of difficulties and challenges. Here, the poet tried to portray the image of how the lovers could make their relationship beautiful despite the difficulties they were facing. The poet implies that if they wanted to make it work, they could do so by peeling it layers by layers. Here, Rich was saying that beautiful relationship is made up of layers, which similar to hyacinth. So, the persona and her lover should have gone through the layers so that they could find the beauty of their relationship. Adrienne Rich has given the readers on a very sad yet beautiful poem about a broken relationship. Like This Together has a lot of complicated and deep meaning behind it; some elements and messages that we could not find anywhere. Through this poem, I can learn that every relationship that we have, we must appreciate it. If our partner is the one who cares for us, we have to thank him or her for that. We must be aware that every relationship has their own stories; happy yet sad moments, challenges and hardships. So, it is up to the lovers themselves to go through it together. However, if we happened to fall out of love, we should never regret it because breaking up is a part of life. One should go on living since there are a lot more in life that God offers to us.
ReplyDeleteI'm probably going to be the last because I've been reading day by day and have gone through all of the others comments on the poem and to my surprise, I don't really think that anyone is seeing the poem in the same perspective as mine. Yes true it is a broken relationship kind of poem but for me what Adrienne Rich is trying to emphasize is actually in the last stanza, this poem is created because of that particular stanza that is bringing the memories of the relationship back.
ReplyDeleteFrom my point of view through this poem I can see that the hardest part wasn't about letting someone go from your life. It's when you know they will never be around when the memories does. When the persona said "grip Earth and let burn" even though they're not really sure with whom they would ended up with, the persona still wants to let go of the partner, but we will never know if they are truly the one that is meant for you or not but perhaps the time is wrong, perhaps they came too early, maybe they would change for the sake of love, no one knows about that, but for now the persona just want peace and start fresh again. It's difficult when all those hurricanes are gone, and all that is left was you and all of the mess in your life. We fall in love by chance but we stick with love by choice, but when you know that it is toxic, let it burn to ashes.
Hi Suhail,
DeleteI was searching for your thoughts on this poem. I guess you are saving the best for last yea..? I still think you could give us more insights into "grip Earth and let burn" if you dwell deeper in the words "Earth and burn".
The stanza which I prefer is the second stanza of the poem, it portrays almost the same sorrowful broken relationship of the persona and her lover. When they were together, their feelings of love started to descend. There are seriousness in the tone of conveying the message of their tainted relationship in the first five lines of the stanza. Words like“City”, “rooms” and “houses” are the symbol of relationship and family, broken, falling apart and in ashes. The love shared between the two is beautiful, and yet complicated, and just like everything comes to an end, their relationship will, too. Even though the title is 'Like This Together', it is a wish to come true, but the inevitablity of the love disappearing is heart-breaking. Bao Wenkai 201549
ReplyDeleteThis poem gives me a sad feeling. Maybe it's because I can relate to what the author is expressing in this poem at some point of my life or maybe the poem just has the ability to emotionally move me.
ReplyDeleteI would like to comment on the first stanza first as it really shows how the beauty of relationships can be seen in the simplest things. The characters were simply sitting in a car by the river while watching birds. However, the persona said "A year, ten ears from now I'll remember this" which shows how she appreciate the moment even though it's just a simple activity. Besides that, the persona even mentioned them being like "drugged birds in a glass case". I think the word "drugged" was intentionally used to picture the couple as love can be described as a drug. Once you felt loved, it's like you can't stop from wanting to feel loved, and want more. So I think the first stanza showed how deeply in love this couple is.
Another stanza that I would like to comment on is stanza five. This stanza is like a button that switched on my emotional self. I think the line "Dead winter doesn't die, it wears away" was describing how love can't disappear right away, but instead it fades slowly. It's sad because starting from this line, I can feel how the persona is actually hanging on to the dying parts of the relationship. It is further explained that love fades because of their own desires. Maybe it could mean that they have started to take interest in other things, or other people. Now came my favorite most heart-wrenching line which is "though mere indifference we could prevent it". From this line I can feel that the persona is trying so hard to salvage her relationship. It's like she's saying, " even if we have differences, it's okay we can still save this relationship". She is trying to save what is left of her relationship and revive it. However, it requires "our fierce attention" meaning that the relationship can only be saved if it gets the fierce attention of both parts. This stanza breaks my heart knowing that the persona is still trying and hanging on to the little parts of the relationship, hoping to renew them but also knowing that without the help of her partner, the relationship is as good as gone.
Elleanna Lavinia Lo 203254
This poem certainly represents sadness and how reality hurts when all the dreamlike relationship has come to an end. I am very much attaracted with the first stanza where the persona tends to talk how beautiful her relationship was until it descended to several stanzas below. We can see how the first stanza is actually the past memories of her and her lover. It is irony, though. How everything started off so beautiful and in the end, all that left are only dust of memories.
ReplyDeleteThe last stanza have also been an eye-opening to us where the poet seems like she already moved on/letting go. I believe this process takes the longest time, to actually have the strength to let go someone who have been with you through thick and thin of your life. It might take some time, no one can determine whether it will be days, weeks, months or even years, but in the end, we know that we need to still go on and this time we need to go on with our different paths. The sleepless nights asking why, the gloomy days missing that person is something that we cannot avoid. Thus, cherish the moment even it hurts.
If we are brave enough to take the risk to be see the little light of happiness, we have to be braver to swallow the major darkness of bitterness when they left us.
Noorfitri Aliah Binti Ramli 201748
Zhang Xiaoyu (201632)
ReplyDeleteThis poem is a splendid poem which is talk about heartbroken love. The author use sadness but also beautiful language to describe a woman who struggled in trying to resolve the relationship’s problems. This poem is really hit me especially stanza 5 and 6. After been through broken up with people who loved so much, that feeling are so terrible and just like author said like “drugged birds” and “stiff pigeons”. From the author’s words I can know that during the heartbroken time, she can not feel anything, only numb and breath. At same time, whole person become to sensitive that can image that person from every tiny thing. But the persona is not a person who take the love as whole world. Even though broke up. She still have enough courage to face the life. Nothing in this world is eternal, even the love. We need to love ourselves first then we will know how to love a person.
This poem gave me sadness without losing its charm. The fourth section of the poem left a deep impression on me, "Our words misunderstand us." Because of their misunderstanding, their relationship became irreparable. , This makes me feel so deeply that I am sad now. I have lost my good friend for more than ten years because of misunderstanding. Therefore, if we want to develop with the people around us for a long time, we must communicate frequently to avoid misunderstandings and reflect frequently. Yourself. "Sometimes at night you are my mother: old detailed griefs twitch at my dreams, and I crawl against you" Partner is the only person we have to stay with for life besides friends. A partner is a beautiful reflection in the water, a perfect sustenance of personality. It should not be grief, so in a disharmonious relationship, no matter what the partner is, she still feels comforted by his side, because he belongs to her only.
ReplyDeleteLI SIJIE 204434
I think this is a heartbreaking love poem about a broken relationship. The author tries to use language and imagery to share the true emotions of the characters. In the last verse of this poem, we can see that she is still actively advancing in the broken relationship. Although her heart was still hurting, she knew that she had to face life. In addition, even if there are always difficulties, pains, and challenges in a relationship, we should experience it, because this is what life is all about. Through this poem, I think we must be grateful for every relationship we have. We should be grateful for the care of our partner. In addition, we must realize that every relationship has its own story, happiness and sadness, challenges and difficulties, which will all be experienced by lovers. However, if we are broken in love, don't lose hope in life because of this, because this is only a small part of what we will experience in life, and what we should really do is face life positively.
ReplyDeleteYang YueHan 204506
Rereading this poem, I think I have a refreshed understanding of what Rich has written. The six stanzas showed the progressing stages of a relationship. The first stanza is about the persona’s love in full bloom as she recalls it wistfully. Stanza 2 switches between the present and past of the couple, and moves on to their simple happiness in the daily moments of life (Stanza 3) and occasional arguments/conflicts in the relationship (Stanza 4). Stanza 5 describes how their love has gone cold gradually, and Stanza 6 is about the aftermath of their broken relationship.
ReplyDeleteTo me, the last stanza describes the persona’s conflict in moving on from the previous relationship. The fire and flames indicate that she is going through a moment of drastic rebirth, and all that serves her no longer must burn and vanish for new opportunities to enter her life. This process is like shedding a layer of skin and growing new ones, causing discomfort for the ex-couple as they are not acquainted with the feeling. Nevertheless, the persona says that they both know what they should do, what they knew for a long time but have never realised until now. This is to “grip Earth and let burn”: to come to terms with the past and allow themselves to start anew. Earth may symbolise the human self, meaning that they should not lose themselves over a breakup. They should hold on to themselves and bid goodbye to the past, to “let burn”, in relation to the flames.