Love is Rare

Katelyn Hayes

Composition and Literature

Professor Brady

Paper #4

“Love is as much of an object as an obsession, everybody wants it, everybody seeks it, but few ever achieve it, those who do will cherish it, be lost in it, and among all, never…never forget it,” Curtis Judalet. This quote clearly expresses the idea that love is rare, unforgettable, and should be cherished. Shown among the poems Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone by W.H. Auden, To My Dear and Loving Husband by Anne Bradstreet, and Champagne written by myself, Katelyn Hayes, with the use of tone, the themes exemplified throughout each of the poems express only a few of the various types of love.

            “He was my North, my South, my East, and West, my working week and my Sunday’s rest, my noon, my midnight, my talk, my song, I thought that love would last forever: I was wrong” (Auden 471). Throughout the poem Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone, author W.H. Auden expresses the theme being that of lost love. Expressed throughout this poem, Auden conveys the idea of grief of the unfortunate loss of his loved one. To convey the idea of grief, Auden creates a depressing tone throughout the poem to clearly exemplify the agony in which the person is feeling. Throughout Auden’s first stanza, he states “stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone, prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone, silence the pianos and with a muffled drum bring out the coffin, let the mourners come,” (Auden 470). Auden’s intentions for this stanza can be best interpreted as wanting to express the idea of abolishing all distractions throughout the world, only to create silence so the whole world can mourn the death of his loved one. Relating back to the quote “he was my North, my South, my East, and West, my working week and my Sunday’s rest, my noon, my midnight, my talk, my song, I thought that love would last forever: I was wrong,” the love portrayed throughout this stanza is strong enough to be compared to every point of the globe, however the love is not everlasting, and like everything else in the world it must come to an end.

            Ending with hopelessness, Auden conveys the message that life is no longer worth living without this man. “The stars are not wanted now: put out every one; for nothing now can ever come to any good,” (Auden 471). The world without its sun and moon would create a lifeless and pointless world, by demanding the disappearance all of the oceans forests, the speaker expresses the idea of life being unbearable and pointless to live with the now loss of the speaker’s loved one. “For nothing now can ever come to any good” (Auden 471). With the speaker’s final statement, the author aimed to express that with the death of this man nothing in his life can come to any good, and life is no longer worth living. As seen throughout the poem Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone with the agony throughout the tone, the speaker clearly exemplifies the theme being that of pain resulting in a lost love.

            To My Dear and Loving Husband by author Anne Bradstreet exemplifies irreplaceable, unpriceable love. For instance, Bradstreet states “if ever two were one, then surely we. If ever man were loved by wife, then thee; if ever wife was happy in a man, compare with me ye woman if you can,” (Bradstreet 471). This quote expresses the speaker’s love for her husband, and conveys the message that they were meant to be together. Their minds and hearts act as one, as well as their desires. The speaker clearly expresses her desire to be with her husband. Bradstreet goes on to express, “I prize thy love more than whole mines of gold, or all the riches that the East doth hold,” (Bradstreet 471). With this quote, the speaker expresses the idea that the love for her husband is impossible to price, and is the most valuable commodity in her life. Although irreplaceable love is but one type of love, author Anne Bradstreet clearly expresses her need to be with her husband, how they are meant to be together and no obstacle can come between them.

            As seen throughout the poem Champagne, the themes portrayed are also that of rare and irreplaceable love. For example, the first stanza states “champagne resting amongst the two, as they simmer, gazing upon each other’s irreplaceable second half.” The imagery is clearly shown throughout the first stanza; the deep stare describes the idea that they were made for each other as they analyze each other in deep stare. Describing the idea of creating an irreplaceable love, the champagne resting on the table in the poem is used to symbolize the idea of toasting happiness. Following after the first stanza, the second stanza is used to describe the memories shared amongst the two. The second stanza states: “Every tickle, every touch, every giggle, and every rush. Every smile, and every dream is shared amongst the two, it would seem.” Every blithe memory is expressed throughout the second stanza, creating a warm, bubbly, and happy tone. “The magnetic waves declared in the deep stare. The desire, unimaginable. The passion, rare. The love, irreplaceable.” Throughout the previous quote, the final message sent creates the idea that the speaker and her loved one’s bond is magnetic, and irreplaceable. They were ultimately made for each other and will never find anyone else to replace the void if the other is lost.

            It has been said that it is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. One can agree with this idea that love creates the butterflies in the stomach feeling, one to act completely bare as well as real, and in most cases love is irreplaceable and unforgettable. As shown throughout the poems Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone by W.H. Auden, To My Dear and Loving Husband by Anne Bradstreet, and Champagne written by myself, Katelyn Hayes, with the use of tone, symbols, and metaphors, the themes expressed throughout the poems express only a few of the various kinds of love.