In Paris With You. Paris is referred to as the city of love, which may indicate that this is a love poem. The narrator of the poem sounds like a woman.

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In Paris with You

        The title of the poem establishes that the poem is set in Paris. Paris is referred to as the city of love, which may indicate that this is a love poem. The narrator of the poem sounds like a woman.

        The poem starts with a morose tone and imagery suggestive of a break-up. The speaker starts with the negative imperative 'don't talk to me of love' which immediately tells the reader that love is a difficult subject for the speaker. The speaker goes on to explain how they get tearful when they have had a drink, punning the phrase 'walking wounded' which is a military phrase referring to someone who is hurt but can carry on fighting, with the phrase 'talking wounded' implying that despite their broken heart and bruised feelings, the speaker will continue to look for love, or at the very least, some company. The speaker continues to develop the theme of surviving heartbreak by comparing his or her situation with that of being marooned or being a hostage. Presumably, the reference to being marooned invokes a sense of isolation and vulnerability, just as the word 'hostage' suggests that they are trapped, perhaps trapped in their feelings for an old relationship. The last line of the stanza, 'But I'm in Paris with you' suggests a contrasting set of emotions, whereby the speaker's unhappy feelings are somehow tempered by the fact that he or she is with someone special in Paris. Either way the structural purpose of the opening stanza helps to establish a point of comparative contrast with the rest of the poem as it beings to develop and challenge ideas about love and romance.

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        Stanza two continues to develop some of the context or backstory to the poem. The reader, learn that the speaker is unhappy, that they've been through a mess. We learn that they could be on the rebound, which means that having had their heart broken they have stumbled into a new relationship very quickly not because they are in love but that they are unhappy and want some tender loving care. The poet plays with the notion of rebounding off one relationship and into another by rhyming the words 'rebound' and 'bound', both notably at the end of consecutive lines ...

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