The passive voices of line 2 shows how the woman, in her immature stages, understands love as something that she does not need to work for. Instead, it is the person on the other end of the line that does the work. Also, “me” in line 3 being the object and receiver shows how the woman expects the love and does not find the need to reciprocate love first.
O what to me my mother’s care, / The house where I was safe and warm; / The shadowy blossom of my hair / Will hide us from the bitter storm.
The arrangement of words in the first line of the second stanza highlights how the woman questions the need to rely on past upbringings. Beginning the first line with the letter “O” qualitatively makes the first line an apostrophe, where the woman calls out her “mother’s care,” a rather abstract idea, and expresses her nonchalance and detachment towards it by rhetorically asking “what to me my mother’s care.” By following this with the second line, the woman highlights the link between her “mother’s care” and her own home. The use of the linking verb “was” shows that this idea of her “mother’s care” was an idea of the past, that she was previously nurtured in a homey environment but no longer needs it. Though there is a sense of detachment, the appreciation for it is still there but there is also an understanding that it is no longer a necessity to be provided. The third and fourth stanza emphasizes the woman as a viable substitute as an instrument to provide the same feeling of sanctuary as “my mother’s care.” The use of hair instead of any other body part stresses the ability of the woman to provide the same kind of care. Hair is a powerful asset to a woman and in this poem the persona mentions its capability to protect the “us” from a “bitter storm.” “Shadowy blossom” may have highlighted that the woman is experiencing various kinds of growth that is faintly perceivable. She shows that this growth, which could be emotionally, makes her readily capable to impart the same nurturing and love to her partner. This denotes that the woman is at her best shape to protect the “us” from the various “bitter storms,” probably any challenges or difficulties, they will be experiencing in the future, denoted by the use of the word “will.”
When expressing the whole stanza through voice or resonance, the persona sounds as if she is arguing to the other person who is part of the “us” that the partner in the relationship does not have to find something identical to the love a mother gives to children, reassuring that feeling of security, because the woman is there to provide her partner that same security her mother once gave her. She shows the willingness to be a caretaker and protector at the same time and therefore is perceived to be a nurturing yet strong-willed woman. In the second stanza, there is already the gain of a sense of maturity in the woman.
O hiding hair and dewy eyes, / I am no more with life and death, / My heart upon his warm heart lies, / My breath is mixed into his breath.
The action of “hiding” is an attempt to conceal her very strong-willed perception of love in the second stanza and how she now finally understands the real meaning of love with the use of the word “dewy” which denotes freshness. The second line of the third stanza presents two extreme situations, life and death. The persona saying that she is “no more with life and death” denotes that she has just recently learned to find middle ground and is now able to compromise. She knows that in order to love she does not have to go to the extremes. Presently, she learns how to express love in just the right amount. She won’t go as far as loving a person that the other end will keep on relying on her, similar to how one relies on others for life, as well as not love someone to the point that the other end is suffocating and feels strangled in the relationship. Compared to the fourth line of the first stanza, the exchange of affection is now more mature and in a sense deeper because of the use of the words “heart” replacing the words “breast.” The context of the action is still there, however, the change of words shows the growth of the woman. The fourth line of the final stanza literally presents passionate kissing but the use of the word “mixed” shows the oneness of the woman with her partner. Similar to how mixing is used to form one substance; their breaths are mixed in order to show that they are one in emotion for each other.
Overall, the poem expresses the growth of the way the woman loves. It presents three stages, arranged chronically by stanzas, of how a woman perceives and expresses love: immaturity, overly strong-willed, and finally a matured understanding of the abstract concept.
by
andiebartolome (student)
