Below is an experiment in verse based on Tennyson's
In Memoriam, A.H.H. I used the same verse form and tried to imagine a spiritual/romantic dialogue in line with the insistence of Tennyson's poem. The last line inverts the typical "two become one," not just for the necessity of the rhyme, but also because I was concerned with the philosophy of God's spirit consuming and inhabiting believers and the transmission and transformation of fear into love.
SURRENDER
You ask for more; I hesitate,
For how am I to bear the strain?
To forfeit life for dubious gain?
To brave the darkness, trusting fate?
You say your love will garner force
From all my failings, all my fears,
When my heart sickens, you’ll be near
To feed on sorrow at its source.
I falter; yet, if love prove true?
I swallow flame and hope to live.
Myself the only gift to give.
I am consumed – one becomes two.
2 comments:
When my heart sickens, you’ll be near
To feed on sorrow at its source.
This seems a strange sentiment: makes the addressed sound like some emotional vampire, who thrives on the misery of others... Ugh but, then again, many relationships are rather twisted aren't they?
Yes, I intentionally wanted an image that was a bit dark, like parts of Tennyson's poem. In my study of it, I was a little disturbed by how demanding the speaker seems. Though, in this case, I meant the phrase more as one who would feed on sorrow in order to remove it, almost like sucking poison from a wound, rather than feeding for pleasure.
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