Love in Poetry

She does not remember them as a tree in winter does not remember the many which sat upon its branches (9-10). The only thing her lyrical hero realizes is that her “boughs [are] more silent than before”, meaning that the amount of love has left her lonely now that it is gone. The poem is full of longing and a desire for what has gone to return, but not for any particular one of her lovers, but for the feeling itself, as if it were a drug she could not do without.

A paragon of classical virtue would shrug and say that the author wished to give a cheap lesson in morality, showing what comes of such frivolous love, and of the egoistic self-absorption that she obviously displays. But if the two poems are examined closer, there may be noticed a certain similarity in the way love is portrayed in both of them, though not one critic would accuse Shakespeare of infidelity. Let us compare: It is the star to every wand'ring bark, Whose worth's unknown, although his heighth be taken (Shakespeare, 7-8)

There is little doubt concerning the value of love for Shakespeare: priceless, though its power is far enough from limitless (line 8). Meek, it triumphs over the strong; losing battles, it always wins the war. We must also note here, that Shakespeare does not make mention of Love as personalized: he does not sing of any particular person's virtues. He speaks of Love as an essence unto itself, as something almost independent of humans. Now let us look upon St. Vincent Millay's depiction of love: I only know that summer sang in me A

little while, that in me sings no more St. Vincent Millay, 13-14)

For her, love is an element unto itself – and very much alike in the feeling like that of Shakespeare. For her, the power of love is unquestionable as well as for Shakespeare. It raised her to the utmost of heights, it plunged her into the deepest low when it went away. And it is worth more than all of the other things in the universe, because it defined what she feels. Thus we can say that the understanding of love is similar to a degree: it something which deeply touches humans, something the power of which cannot be denied.

It is a thing unto itself, one which humans have the joy and sadness to share, but which lords over them. Yet there are noticeable differences in their portrayals. Of these, I would say the least profound is the one that Shakespeare speaks of one lover, while St. Vincent Millay speaks of a multitude. It all does not matter when dealing with Love as an essence. In different people it may surface in different ways, but both poems are essentially introvertive, dealing with how the poet's hero is tangoing with the element of Love, with their understanding of it.

And here the quality of time's power is not lessened or diminished by the amount of lovers. Rather, it is merely a different manifestation. The more serious difference lies in the temporality of love. For Shakespeare, love is essentially timeless and cannot be interrupted, it almost takes place beyond Time. In St. Vincent Millay, we see a clear seasonal metaphor, the contrast of summer and winter: her

love is condemned to belong to these cycles, to obey them.

Whether it will return – when summer returns – is unclear, though likely, as she would probably have used a more final death were this not the case. If it is so, Shakespeare and St. Vincent Millay are even more alike: Love is eternal and enduring through Time for both of them. It can be defeated, it can die when a particular love interest fails, but the very feeling of Love is eternal, as is eternal the cycle of the seasons. In the end, it is the very matter and the fabric of life, the most precious commodity available to a human being.

In this way, two poets from very different centuries and very different backgrounds, even of different genders, show us how the theme of Love is universal. We can see how even the most diverse forms can hide a meaning that is essentially the same, though outwards it seems so different. Love is recurring, just as its portrayal is. The poems inspire to believe in the constancy of love, against all odds, and offer a consolidation to the one who may have lost the feeling of love by making them remember the feeling and know that Love is eternal and enduring.