Poem XIII Journal 1

What is the poem about?

This poem expresses the emotions that a man feels about a woman he has a sexual connection with. There is great distance between the two of them and a sense of sadness is established because they cannot be together. The man has a difficult time of expressing to the woman what he wants to or what he is trying to say about the situation because they are so far from each other. Because of the fact that the man cannot express what he wants, there are consequences he must face.

Who is speaking and to whom are they speaking?

The speaker in this poem is a man that is very far away from the woman he wishes he could be with. The man speaks to this woman and expresses his discontent about the distance between them. He almost objectifies her, though, and he refers to her as if she is a doll or a toy, instead of a person. The poet makes it clear that the speaker is not as interested in the deeper meaning of their relationship as he is in the physical aspect of it. This establishes the negative side of their relationship. Without this woman around, his "heart closes like a nocturnal flower" and he is left to suffer the consequence of wasting away.

Why and how was it written?

This poem was written to express the heartache people feel when those that comfort them are not around. He makes this clear because the poem allows the reader to see how much this woman's absence has affected the man. The poet does this by contrasting the ideas that contribute to happiness and life, like a fruitful season or water and thirst, with things that contribute to the idea of death, like burning or a heart closing. He ties this in to the relationship between the man and the woman when he says, "In you, behind you, timid, driven by thirst". The poet mentions thirst because he wants to show that when the speaker is engaging in this physical experience with the woman, there is a sense of life within him. However, when the poet mentions "burn, flee, like a belfry at the hands of a madman", he is expressing that it is almost as if the relationship is wasting away because by saying 'burn', which contrasts with the idea of life because it is something that can kill if it gets out of hand, it shows he is not as alive as he is when he is with the woman that satisfies his sexual desires.