Pure Trust
Poem About Loving Someone No Matter What
Love PoemsSong to Celia
Drink to me only with thine eyes,
And I will pledge with mine;
Or leave a kiss but in the cup,
And I’ll not look for wine.
The thirst that from the soul doth rise
Doth ask a drink divine;
But might I of Jove’s nectar sup,
I would not change for thine.
I sent thee late a rosy wreath,
Not so much honouring thee
As giving it a hope, that there
It could not withered be.
But thou thereon didst only breathe,
And sent’st it back to me;
Since when it grows, and smells, I swear,
Not of itself, but thee.
Overview Short Summary
The poem treats the beloved's glance, breath, and presence as more valuable than wine or divine nectar. It fits unconditional love poetry through its idealized loyalty and devotion.
Core Ideas Main Themes
- Devotion: The speaker values the beloved above worldly or divine pleasures.
- Spiritual desire: The thirst is described as rising from the soul.
- Idealization: The beloved's breath seems to preserve even a wreath.
Emotional Effect Tone and Mood
The tone is elegant, admiring, and romantic. The mood is refined and affectionate.
Craft Literary Devices
- Metaphor: Love becomes a drink that satisfies the soul.
- Hyperbole: The beloved's breath appears to keep a wreath alive.
- Classical allusion: Jove's nectar elevates the beloved above mythic pleasure.
I Am Not Yours
I am not yours, not lost in you,
Not lost, although I long to be
Lost as a candle lit at noon,
Lost as a snowflake in the sea.
You love me, and I find you still
A spirit beautiful and bright,
Yet I am I, who long to be
Lost as a light is lost in light.
Oh plunge me deep in love—put out
My senses, leave me deaf and blind,
Swept by the tempest of your love,
A taper in a rushing wind.
Overview Short Summary
Teasdale's speaker longs for complete union while still recognizing the self. The poem fits deep unconditional love poems because it imagines love as surrender into another light.
Core Ideas Main Themes
- Surrender: The speaker wants to be lost in love like light in light.
- Identity: The poem balances selfhood with the desire for union.
- Intensity: Love is imagined as a tempest that overwhelms the senses.
Emotional Effect Tone and Mood
The tone is lyrical, vulnerable, and passionate. The mood is intense and searching.
Craft Literary Devices
- Simile: The speaker compares surrender to a candle at noon and snowflake in the sea.
- Imagery: Light, sea, storm, and wind make love feel overwhelming.
- Repetition: Lost repeats to emphasize longing for total union.
To Lucasta Going to the Wars
Tell me not, Sweet, I am unkind,
That from the nunnery
Of thy chaste breast and quiet mind
To war and arms I fly.
True, a new mistress now I chase,
The first foe in the field;
And with a stronger faith embrace
A sword, a horse, a shield.
Yet this inconstancy is such
As you too shall adore;
I could not love thee, Dear, so much,
Loved I not Honour more.
Overview Short Summary
The speaker explains that duty and honor do not cancel love. The poem is useful for steadfast love poems because it asks the beloved to understand a love tested by absence and duty.
Core Ideas Main Themes
- Loyalty: The speaker claims that honor strengthens rather than weakens love.
- Duty: Love is placed beside public responsibility.
- Trust: The poem asks Lucasta to trust the speaker's deeper integrity.
Emotional Effect Tone and Mood
The tone is formal, persuasive, and honorable. The mood is tender but restrained.
Craft Literary Devices
- Paradox: The speaker argues that leaving can prove deeper love.
- Metaphor: War is presented as a rival mistress.
- Couplet ending: The final lines deliver the poem's central idea sharply.
To Her Father with Some Verses
Most truly honoured, and as truly dear,
If worth in me or ought I do appear,
Who can of right better demand the same
Than may your worthy self from whom it came?
The principal might yield a greater sum,
Yet handled ill, amounts but to this crumb;
My stock’s so small I know not how to pay,
My bond remains in force unto this day;
Yet for part payment take this simple mite,
Where nothing’s to be had, kings loose their right.
Such is my debt I may not say forgive,
But as I can, I’ll pay it while I live;
Such is my bond, none can discharge but I,
Yet paying is not paid until I die.
Overview Short Summary
Bradstreet writes to her father with gratitude and humility. The poem fits unconditional parental love because it presents family love as a lifelong debt of care and honor.
Core Ideas Main Themes
- Gratitude: The speaker acknowledges what she has received from her father.
- Family devotion: The poem treats the parent-child bond as lasting and serious.
- Humility: The speaker offers a simple poem as partial repayment.
Emotional Effect Tone and Mood
The tone is respectful, sincere, and humble. The mood is affectionate and dutiful.
Craft Literary Devices
- Extended metaphor: The poem uses debt, bond, stock, and payment to describe gratitude.
- Formal diction: Legal and financial language emphasizes obligation.
- Couplet rhyme: The rhyme gives the poem order and dignity.
I Hid My Love
I hid my love in field and town
Till e’en the breeze would knock me down;
The bees seemed singing ballads o’er,
The fly’s bass turned a lion’s roar;
And even silence found a tongue,
To haunt me all the summer long;
The riddle nature could not prove
Was nothing else but secret love.
And that’s the way that love began,
I felt it through the days of spring;
A little bird upon the tree
Seemed ever singing songs to me;
And every thing I looked upon
Had love’s own colour in the sun;
The trees seemed waving on the hill,
And every whisper told me still.
The cowslips then were in the fields,
And buttercups were shining bright;
The thrushes sang a morning song,
And every bird was full of light;
The brook was laughing down the glen,
And leaves were dancing on the tree;
But still I hid my love from men,
And kept the riddle all with me.
Overview Short Summary
The poem describes a love so strong that nature itself seems changed by it. It fits emotional unconditional love poems because love quietly colors every part of the speaker's world.
Core Ideas Main Themes
- Hidden love: The speaker keeps love private while feeling it everywhere.
- Emotional intensity: Small sounds become overwhelming because of love.
- Nature: Fields, birds, trees, and flowers reflect the speaker's feeling.
Emotional Effect Tone and Mood
The tone is innocent, secretive, and enchanted. The mood feels tender and quietly overwhelmed.
Craft Literary Devices
- Personification: Silence, trees, brook, and leaves seem to speak or move with feeling.
- Imagery: Birds, flowers, fields, and sunlight make love vivid.
- Hyperbole: Tiny sounds become huge, showing love's emotional force.
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