'The House Of Dust: Part 04: 05: The Bitter Love-Song' by Conrad Aiken
AI and Tech Aggregator
Download Mp3s Free
Tears of the Kingdom Roleplay
Best Free University Courses Online
TOTK Roleplay
No, I shall not say why it is that I love you—
Why do you ask me, save for vanity?
Surely you would not have me, like a mirror,
Say 'yes,—your hair curls darkly back from the temples,
Your mouth has a humorous, tremulous, half-shy sweetness,
Your eyes are April grey. . . .with jonquils in them?'
No, if I tell at all, I shall tell in silence . . .
I'll say—my childhood broke through chords of music
—Or were they chords of sun?—wherein fell shadows,
Or silences; I rose through seas of sunlight;
Or sometimes found a darkness stooped above me
With wings of death, and a face of cold clear beauty. .
I lay in the warm sweet grass on a blue May morning,
My chin in a dandelion, my hands in clover,
And drowsed there like a bee. . . .blue days behind me
Stretched like a chain of deep blue pools of magic,
Enchanted, silent, timeless. . . .days before me
Murmured of blue-sea mornings, noons of gold,
Green evenings streaked with lilac, bee-starred nights.
Confused soft clouds of music fled above me.
Sharp shafts of music dazzled my eyes and pierced me.
I ran and turned and spun and danced in the sunlight,
Shrank, sometimes, from the freezing silence of beauty,
Or crept once more to the warm white cave of sleep.
No, I shall not say 'this is why I praise you—
Because you say such wise things, or such foolish. . .'
You would not have me say what you know better?
Let me instead be silent, only saying—:
My childhood lives in me—or half-lives, rather—
And, if I close my eyes cool chords of music
Flow up to me . . . long chords of wind and sunlight. . . .
Shadows of intricate vines on sunlit walls,
Deep bells beating, with aeons of blue between them,
Grass blades leagues apart with worlds between them,
Walls rushing up to heaven with stars upon them. . .
I lay in my bed and through the tall night window
Saw the green lightning plunging among the clouds,
And heard the harsh rain storm at the panes and roof. . . .
How should I know—how should I now remember—
What half-dreamed great wings curved and sang above me?
What wings like swords? What eyes with the dread night in them?
This I shall say.—I lay by the hot white sand-dunes. .
Small yellow flowers, sapless and squat and spiny,
Stared at the sky. And silently there above us
Day after day, beyond our dreams and knowledge,
Presences swept, and over us streamed their shadows,
Swift and blue, or dark. . . .What did they mean?
What sinister threat of power? What hint of beauty?
Prelude to what gigantic music, or subtle?
Only I know these things leaned over me,
Brooded upon me, paused, went flowing softly,
Glided and passed. I loved, I desired, I hated,
I struggled, I yielded and loved, was warmed to blossom . . .
You, when your eyes have evening sunlight in them,
Set these dunes before me, these salt bright flowers,
These presences. . . .I drowse, they stream above me,
I struggle, I yield and love, I am warmed to dream.
You are the window (if I could tell I'd tell you)
Through which I see a clear far world of sunlight.
You are the silence (if you could hear you'd hear me)
In which I remember a thin still whisper of singing.
It is not you I laugh for, you I touch!
My hands, that touch you, suddenly touch white cobwebs,
Coldly silvered, heavily silvered with dewdrops;
And clover, heavy with rain; and cold green grass. . .
Editor 1 Interpretation
The Bitter Love-Song: A Masterpiece of Melancholy
When it comes to Conrad Aiken, one can expect nothing less than a whirlwind of emotions, a passionate outpouring of words that leave the reader reeling with intense feelings. In "The House Of Dust: Part 04: 05: The Bitter Love-Song," Aiken unleashes a torrent of melancholy and heartache, weaving together a tale of lost love and bitter yearning that is sure to leave a lasting impression on anyone who reads it.
At its core, "The Bitter Love-Song" is a poem about the pain of unrequited love, about the longing for something that can never be. The speaker of the poem is consumed by his love for a woman who does not love him back, and his anguish is palpable in every word he speaks. He paints a picture of a world that is bleak and empty without the object of his affections, a world that is devoid of all meaning and purpose.
One of the most striking things about this poem is the way in which Aiken uses language to convey the speaker's emotions. The language is rich and evocative, filled with vivid imagery and powerful metaphors that bring the speaker's pain to life. Consider, for example, the opening lines of the poem:
"I am singing again, / Singing the bitter love-song."
Here, Aiken sets the tone for the rest of the poem, using the word "bitter" to convey the speaker's sense of loss and heartache. The fact that he is "singing again" suggests that he has been in this situation before, that he has loved and lost before, and that this pain is a familiar one.
The speaker goes on to describe the woman he loves in great detail, using language that is both romantic and tragic. He speaks of her "golden hair" and her "eyes like stars," painting a picture of a woman who is both beautiful and unattainable. He speaks of his love for her in terms of fire and passion, describing his heart as a "burning pyre" that consumes him from within.
As the poem progresses, the speaker's pain becomes more and more palpable. He speaks of his longing for the woman he loves, describing it as a hunger that cannot be satisfied. He speaks of his desire to be with her, to touch her, to feel her presence near him. But even as he speaks these words, he knows that his love is doomed, that he will never be able to have the woman he desires.
The final lines of the poem are perhaps the most haunting of all. The speaker speaks of his desire to die, to be released from the pain of his unrequited love. He imagines himself lying in the dust, listening to the sounds of the world around him, and he knows that even in death he will never be able to have the woman he loves.
Overall, "The Bitter Love-Song" is a masterpiece of melancholy, a poem that captures the pain and longing of unrequited love in a way that is both beautiful and haunting. Aiken's use of language is masterful, and his ability to convey the speaker's emotions is truly remarkable. This is a poem that will stay with you long after you have finished reading it, a testament to the power of poetry to capture the complexities of the human experience.
Editor 2 Analysis and Explanation
The House Of Dust: Part 04: 05: The Bitter Love-Song by Conrad Aiken is a classic poem that explores the complexities of love and the pain that comes with it. In this article, we will take a closer look at the poem and analyze its themes, structure, and language.
The poem begins with the speaker addressing his lover, expressing his bitterness towards her. He accuses her of being unfaithful and betraying him, saying that she has broken his heart. The speaker's tone is angry and resentful, and he seems to be lashing out at his lover for the pain she has caused him.
As the poem progresses, the speaker's bitterness turns into despair and sadness. He realizes that he still loves his lover despite her betrayal, and he is torn between his love for her and his anger towards her. The speaker's conflicting emotions are evident in the lines, "I hate you, yet I love you too, / And love you till I die."
The theme of love and betrayal is central to the poem. The speaker's lover has betrayed him, and he is struggling to come to terms with it. He is torn between his love for her and his anger towards her, and he cannot seem to reconcile the two. The poem explores the pain and confusion that comes with being betrayed by someone you love.
The structure of the poem is also worth noting. It is written in free verse, with no set rhyme or meter. This gives the poem a sense of spontaneity and raw emotion, as if the speaker is pouring out his heart without any filter. The lack of structure also reflects the speaker's confusion and turmoil, as he struggles to make sense of his emotions.
The language used in the poem is simple yet powerful. The speaker's words are direct and to the point, conveying his emotions with clarity and intensity. The use of repetition, such as in the lines "I hate you, yet I love you too," emphasizes the speaker's conflicting emotions and adds to the poem's overall impact.
One of the most striking aspects of the poem is the imagery used to describe the speaker's emotions. The house of dust, which is mentioned in the title of the poem, is a metaphor for the speaker's heart. It is a place of decay and ruin, a symbol of the pain and suffering that the speaker is experiencing. The image of the house of dust is powerful and haunting, and it adds to the overall mood of the poem.
Another powerful image in the poem is that of the "bitter love-song." The speaker is singing a song of love, but it is bitter and filled with pain. The image of a love-song turned bitter is a poignant one, and it captures the essence of the poem perfectly.
In conclusion, The House Of Dust: Part 04: 05: The Bitter Love-Song by Conrad Aiken is a powerful and moving poem that explores the complexities of love and betrayal. The speaker's conflicting emotions are conveyed with clarity and intensity, and the imagery used in the poem is haunting and evocative. The poem is a testament to the power of language and its ability to capture the most profound human emotions.
Editor Recommended Sites
Rust Community: Community discussion board for Rust enthusiastsDeveloper Levels of Detail: Different levels of resolution tech explanations. ELI5 vs explain like a Phd candidate
Nocode Services: No code and lowcode services in DFW
LLM Finetuning: Language model fine LLM tuning, llama / alpaca fine tuning, enterprise fine tuning for health care LLMs
ML Privacy:
Recommended Similar Analysis
Apologia Pro Poemate Meo by Wilfred Owen analysisSpring is like a perhaps hand... (III) by e.e. cummings analysis
Revelation by Robert Lee Frost analysis
The Caged Skylark by Gerard Manley Hopkins analysis
Poets to Come by Walt Whitman analysis
To William Wordsworth by Samuel Taylor Coleridge analysis
A Lovers' Quarrel by Robert Browning analysis
The Conqueror Worm by Edgar Allan Poe analysis
Life In A Love by Robert Browning analysis
A Hand-Mirror by Walt Whitman analysis