There’s a million poems and poets out there. Additionally, there are an infinite number of themes. In this way, poetry and love are forever intertwined. Love is hard to describe, and poetry always finds the words–maybe it’s the exceptional person wielding the pen who makes it look so easy and not the form after all. Yet the question remains as to why poetry seems to be in league with love. There are a couple of poets whose unique looks create an understanding between the two topics: Carl Sandburg, and Emily Bronte.

Viewing the world through Sandburg and Bronte

Poetry and love with Carl Sandburg

Poetry can invoke a very romantic language, as poetry fits so perfectly for pining after somebody. Additionally, just observing the folly of love or the “give and take” of romance can so perfectly obfuscate meaning in an interesting way. Take for instance, Carl Sandburg‘s poem “Offering and Rebuffing,” which so delicately plays with love and feelings toward love.

Sandburg writes: “I could love you/as dry roots love rain,” Sandburg writes. “I could hold you/as branches in the wind/brandish petals./Forgive me for speaking so soon … Love is a fool star” (Sandburg). There’s some cynicism there, which is probably warranted when it comes to love. Cynicism and love are also a perfect pair for the lovelorn. Though, not all poems are so cynical and many actually give us keen insight into how relationships operate on some level.

Poetry and love with Emily Bronte

For instance, Emily Bronte’s “Love and Friendship” invokes the duality of marriage and love when we get our most sour. “Love is like the wild rose-briar,/Friendship like the holly-tree–/The holly is dark when the rose-briar blooms/But which will bloom most constantly?” Bronte’s poem reminds the reader that marriage is a partnership between two friends even if love can seemingly fizzle out sometimes. Only through poetry can we really see this complexity of love in a different way.

Conclusion

Readers must thank the elucidating powers of poetry because poems have a way of conveying the most difficult feelings. Love is certainly one of those difficult feelings, but poetry adeptly explains the mystery of sparks igniting in our brains. So, whether the holly is dark or the roots dry, sometimes it’s just nice to have an explanation to the most complicated things in life … if only to make our feelings just a bit more clear.