"Variations on the Word Love" by Margaret Atwood
The poem "Variations on the Word Love" by Margaret Atwood describes the wide range of different types of love. Each is uniquely different as described by the poet. The poet is saying that love shouldn’t be just a “word we use to plug up holes with."
Atwood divides her poem into two concrete sections, which in turn represent two different ways of looking at the word love. The first stanza is dedicated to expressing love as a word and the second focuses on love as a feeling. There is a drastic change in Atwood’s tone between the two stanzas; in the first stanza, her attitude about love is expressed quite bitterly. This sourness is evident in her description of love as “a word we use to plug holes with.” This description makes the word “love” seem insignificant, expressing how casual the word has become. Within the same stanza, she expresses the idea that love has become too commercialized, such as with heart-shaped Valentine’s Day cards that “look nothing like real hearts.” In these lines, Atwood expresses that love has lost all of its meaning because it has been misrepresented and exploited.
