History of the poem
"You Have the Lovers" was written in 1961, at the very beginning of Leonard's career, and was published in his first collection of poems. It has been suspected that since the poem deals with such raw passion, that maybe he actually wrote it at around 17 or 18, when he wouldve had insatiable sexual needs, and no actual love.
What is going on?
The poem is written in a third person point of view, which I interpret to be Leonard talking to himself. It is almost like a daydream or flashback that has so much vivid memory but the speaker being disconnected from this experience. The couple in the poem are in such deep romance, and have so much passion between them, that we have to believe this is real. They have an ongoing romance, "Their lips are bruised with new and old bruises". One thing that we may find strange is how the poem goes from almost watching the couple, to being apart of the couple and their act, "You stand beside the bed.../you carefully peel away the sheets/ from the slow-moving bodies.../You climb into bed and recover the flesh./...you wonder how many multitudes are lying beside your body."
No comments:
Post a Comment