William Blake, "Love'S Secret"

William Blake, "Love's Secret"

Monday, March 6, 2006

William Blake's poem "Love's Secret" can be interpreted for many readers as a simple explanation of why love should be expressed. That is in fact one of the purposes of the poem, but there are other ways to interpret this poem. Reading and analyzing the poem can take the reader to a completely different interpretation and to the real meaning and the theme of it. The theme of this poem is deeper than a simple explanation; it expresses the mysteries of love. In the following paragraphs of this essay each line will be explained in order to prove the theme.

In the first stanza of this ballad, the author expresses the strong feelings he is having. He also expresses the pain that he is feeling keeping this emotion to himself. The first two lines of the stanza are, "Never pain to tell thy love / Love that never told can be". These two lines state that he is in love to the point that keeping this feeling in secret is causing him pain. He continues saying, "For the gentle wind does move / silently, invisibly" (3-4). In these two lines the poet is describing his love, comparing it with the wind. The wind is part of nature like love is part of a human being's life. Sometimes the wind is strong and can be noticeable. In this case the wind is quiet, gentle and invisible. He is comparing his love with this gentle wind because at this point he has not expressed his love. His love is been kept in secret which makes it like the gentle, invisible and silent wind.

The second stanza is very powerful because it describes the moment of a love confession. In the first two lines of this stanza the author describes the moment he confessed his love to his loved one. The lines are, "I told my love I told my love / I told her all my heart'. Ones again he is showing how strong his love is. He shows it by repeating the phrase twice "I told my love". It is evident that he has the urgency to express his love. Then he opens his heart and tells everything he is feeling in the second line of this stanza. The last two lines of this second stanza are more controversial. The lines are, "Trembling in ghastly fears / Ah she doth depart". In the fist of these two lines he can be talking either about himself or the person he loves. The line describes the reaction of a person during a love confession. A person who is expressing love can feel nervous to the point of feeling sick. This reaction can be caused by the fear of rejection. The word ghastly in this line expresses the power of the feeling the person is feeling during this moment. In this line the author can also be talking about the love one's reaction to the confession. A person can be shocked when somebody is confessing love to him or her. There is the possibility that these two people are good friends and she is not expecting such a confession. The confession could have caused her fear because she is not feeling the same way he is feeling. What is inevitable is the fact that no matter what he feels she leaves. This is expressed in the last line of this stanza, "Ah she doth depart". The word "Ah" in this line expresses the strong disappointment, pain and surprise of losing

his loved one.

The last stanza

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