Lucas’s Reviews > Poems of Love > Status Update

Both “Mid-Rapture” and “I Loved You First” were incredibly enjoyable, but to pit the two against each other, I connected more with “I Loved You First.” Really enjoyed the feeling, rhythm, and message of the poem.

“Sonnet XLIII” by Elizabeth Barrett Browning has a certain simplicity to it that builds to the loving punch at the end. Very strong, it made me feel. I felt like I was in her place, understanding her, being her.

My GOSH, “Remembrance” by Emily Brontë. Good Lord, that is a sad (yet beautiful) poem of grief. It’s made all the sadder by *literally* just earlier today before reading this poem, my brother going into detail about the Brontë family and how they practically all died before they hit 40, some significantly younger. Dear goodness talk about tragedy. This poem shows how love shows through grief.

“Regret” by Charlotte Brontë.

I enjoyed how this showcased life and love lost, and the willingness to return to love if given the chance. Much more to it that would benefit me from re-reading, I’m sure.

Leigh Hunt puts it in “A Love-Lesson” on page 26.

“Not that I’d have my pleasure incomplete,
Or lose the kiss for which my lips beset you;
But that in suffering me to take it, sweet,
I’d have you say, “No, no! I will not let you!”

Need I say more?

How scandalous! 90% joking, 10% not, especially in regards to “The Kiss” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge.
“The whispered “No!” — how little meant!
Sweet falsehood that endears consent!”
Then later,
“And tempts with feigned dissuasion coy
The gentle violence of joy.”
Wow, Mr. Coleridge.
I understand and relate, regarding the “playfully non-consensual consensual play” but more so in the way that

Oh, “The Tide of Love” by Thomas Hood on page 17, bravo! Hooray! Magnifico!

What an excellent display of artistry, painting a scene of steadfast similitude, then driving home the point to his love. “My tide of life is true to thee.” Just excellent. Undying, unyielding, true, steadfast love personified in a poem. Wonderful and beautiful.

considering Shelley’s relationship with his literary titan of a wife and their open marriage. I can see the poem being charming and cheeky in a committed relationship, however, but it reads like a flirt, rather than a genuine expression of love.

I enjoyed the symmetry and pairings of each duo though and how he painted the various pictures.

Just read “Love’s Philosophy” on page 16 by Percy Shelley. I quite liked the pairings throughout, the rhyme scheme, the poetic imagery, but the final line of each stanza has just the slightest tinge of misogyny that, not so much taints the poem, but rather prevents it from being the best it could be in my mind. It does, as paradoxical as it sounds, offer a certain charm due to it, and all in all, it makes sense

Just realizing I skipped pages 16 and 17! I’ll have to go back to them next!

I quite enjoyed “How Many Times.” A particular picture of an undying eternal love. Uplifting and beautiful.

I’m afraid I might need a more critical reading of “Vivien’s Song” to properly appreciate it, but I did enjoy reading it.

I truly enjoyed “Invitation to Love” as it mirrors how I always wish for my Love to be near.