Poem Essay

India Williams
Mrs. Holzmeister
English 1102
February 8, 2010
The Theme of Love in Helen Farries “Magic of Love” and John Frederick Nims “Love Poem” The word Love is a strange feeling that can be one of the most exciting things someone will ever experience. It’s a feeling of warm, personal deep affection that one has for another person or thing. In Helen Farries poem “Magic of Love” she is very straightforward about how love makes someone feel “It can comfort and bless/ it can bring happiness” (601). But in John Frederick Nim’s poem “Love Poem” he uses metaphors to talk about love and you have to pay close attention to what he is saying. The theme of these two poems is love and the opposing views of the author’s views of love. Helen Farries creates the image of love being magical. Love can make people feel good; make you feel bubbly and all warm inside, “like the sun, it can warm your hearts” (601). She goes on to create an image that love is a gift, one that you can give and receive, “ It’s a gift you can give every day that you live/ And when given, it comes back to you!” (601). In John Frederick Nims poem he creates the picture of a clumsy person, “ My clumsiest dear, whose hands shipwreck vases” (601), but people still see her beauty. Even though she is very clumsy he loves her anyway. In the first stanza of the poem you start to think that maybe this poem isn’t talking about love because of how he describes her as “ a bull in china” and “ a bur in linen” (601). Just when you think the poem isn’t about love, he changes directions and give her some praise, “The refugee uncertain at the door/ You make at home; deftly you steady/ The drunk clambering on his undulant floor” (601). He loves her in spite of her flaws. In “Magical Love”, Farries uses informal diction. She uses plain, common, everyday kind of language that we all can understand. There are no riddles to try to decipher or to understand the meaning “When love lights the way, there is joy in the day” (601). In Nims “Love Poem” he uses formal diction. With formal diction the poem comes across, as it should. He is seen as almost arrogant. He can do no wrong but his lovely lady has a lot of flaws but nonetheless he loves her in spite of them. He uses metaphors, “ In traffic of wit expertly maneuver/ And keep us, all devotion, at your knees” (602) to get his point across. In both of these poems the common ground is Love. One-poem talks directly about how magical love makes you feel, and the other indirectly talks about love. They both say the same thing in two different ways. All the ups and down makes love between two people very beautiful.

Works Cited
Farries, Helen. “Magic of Love.” The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. Micheal Meyer. 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/ St. Martin’s, 2009. 601.
Nims, John Frederick, “Love Poem.” The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. Micheal Meyer. 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/ St. Martin’s 2009.601-602.

Cited: Farries, Helen. “Magic of Love.” The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. Micheal Meyer. 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/ St. Martin’s, 2009. 601. Nims, John Frederick, “Love Poem.” The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. Micheal Meyer. 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/ St. Martin’s 2009.601-602.