Always use the old sense of the word

The representation of love in After Love, by Randy Hurst and Sonnet 23 by William Shakespeare

The poem After Love holds an ambiguous tone as Hurst allows the reader to interpret the poem the way they want to.

The poem is about a couple who have split up and through the poem Hurst allows us to follow him through his journey of getting over his loved one…

All these splintered memories
Are razor shards of hope
Little brittle fragments of
Sugar sweet iced dope

Our lies are dreams we manifest
While shuffling through the clouds
The futile leaden steps we crave
Just barely sweep the ground

We stumble lurched and lonely
In frantic fixed desire
In glass our flowers frozen still
Were once a flaming pyre

On the shell of the interior
The sole sensation, tense
Firing nerves and buzzing skin
Indict our common sense

These walls we have assembled
Our prison and our home
Are all that we resemble
In step and dream and poem

Randy begins by presenting his poem with quite sharp and blunt words in the first stanza. “Splintered, razor, brittle.’ All of these give the reader the image of harshness and this could immediately gives the reader the idea of pain as he refers to memories. The memories he refers to and the way in which he refers to them highlights that the lover in his life has left and so this is post-break up.

As the poem goes on we see how Hurst approaches dealing with a break up. “lies are dreams we manifest.” This gives us the impression that their lies are things they are trying to make happen as they were both unhappy being in the relationship. “Shuffling through the clouds” makes the reader think of the effects the breakup has had on both of the individuals as maybe now they are left to think on their own and this has become difficult because before the decisions they made were made together. This all shows how a split between loved ones can affect individuals and Hurst’s message is becoming clearer as he emphasizes how different things are when they’re not together.

The third stanza stands out to be quite different from the rest. This, to me is one of the most ambiguous verses within the poem as there is no direct image of what they are talking about. My own interpretation lead to Hurst reminiscing of the individuals in the poems wedding. “in glass our flowers frozen still,” the fact that the flowers are frozen still, gives the idea of their wedding being a moment in time that they want to last forever. Therefore the flowers symbolize that special momentous day for the pair in the poem and nothing can essentially take that memory away regardless no matter how hard they try. The emotions described in the third stanza also signify an exhilarating  moment for the couple at the time, “tense…buzzing skin.” Hurst is able to recollect these feelings and bring them back to him as if they are reliving the moment once again. Personally I think he is stating that regardless of what happens there will be memories and moments within their relationship that neither of them will ever forget.

The last stanza enforces reality into the poem. Throughout the poem we gather that the poem is a reflection of a relationship that has passed. All the memories which will forever last are revisited and Hurst describes just how love can be. However in the last stanza we realize that despite there being memories kept, the couples was unhappy “our prison and our home.” Hurst, referring to their home as a prison is a clever technique in which the reader can understand that they pair were unhappy. A prison is something associated with anger, hatred and isolation, and if the couple had one another and felt these feelings, it’s clear that the split was needed. 

As well as giving us an inkling into what drove them apart, the last two lines of the stanza stand strong and are a good way to end the poem “Are all that we resemble, In step and dream and poem.” This leaves us as the reader with a lasting impression of their relationship and the poem as a whole. We gather that despite the pair being apart maybe Hurst still holds onto the love that they had. What is also interesting is that Hurst implies that the poem is another memory of their relationship and this could lead us onto think that the purpose of the poem is to give life to a relationship which has ended, and unlike the relationship the poem will last forever.   To be totally honest, i'm not actually sure if this is Randy Hurst, it was the first image that came up on Google and i thought i'd take a gamble.

Another poet who writes of love is the famous William Shakespeare. I decided to pick a Sonnet randomly and I ended up with Sonnet 23 which, persomally to me has an intricate view on love.

As an unperfect actor on the stage,

Who with his fear is put beside his part,

Or some fierce thing replete with too much rage,

Whose strength's abundance weakens his own heart;

So I, for fear of trust, forget to say

The perfect ceremony of love's rite,

And in mine own love's strength seem to decay,

O'ercharged with burthen of mine own love's might.

O! let my looks be then the eloquence

And dumb presagers of my speaking breast,

Who plead for love, and look for recompense,

More than that tongue that more hath more express'd.

O! learn to read what silent love hath writ:

To hear with eyes belongs to love's fine wit.

Considering this poem was written in Shakespearean times it took me about half an hour to actually understand what was going on in the poem, but when I eventually got to grips with it all I thought it was a perfect poem to compare ‘After Love’ with.

One immediate and clear difference between the two poems is that Sonnet 23, surprisingly is a sonnet! Therefore it has 14 lines. This sonnet however, is one stanza long with no breaks.

Now after doing a bit of research on the Sonnet it was interesting to find out that is not actually addressed to a woman, it is in fact addressed to a lovely boy. The poem was written by Shakespeare to show the awkwardness he himself feels towards the boy. This awkwardness is due to depth of emotion that the speaker has for the young man. The speaker's nervousness prevents him from expressing himself with his usual way while in the young man's presence. The speaker begs the young man to read the words that he has written, so that the young man will know how the speaker feels about him. 

Immediately we see a difference in the presentation of love between the two poems. Firstly. Hurst’s poem essentially talks about the pain that love brings to individuals in a relationship. The poem is realistic in the way that it reminds the audience that nothing lasts forever, however, you can always hold onto memories and these can never be taken away or destroyed if the strong love you have for someone is still there regardless of whether you are together or not. Shakespeare on the other hand represents love as a shy emotion. He speaks of the poet being nervous to talk to the boy and that when around the young man, he can’t be himself. The sonnet is applicable to life today as we all know the feeling of butterflies and legs like jelly!

Most of Sonnet 23 compares the poet's role as a lover to an actor's timidity onstage.

The first two lines of the sonnet, "As an unperfect actor on the stage… Who with his fear is put besides his part," are linked with the first two lines of the second part of the sonnet, "So I, for fear of trust, forget to say… The perfect ceremony of love's rite."

The Sonnets final couplet begins with "O," which is commonly used to exaggerate a preceding emotion. The speaker in the poem once again begs the young man to read what his silent love has written. The poet also introduces a paradox: love allows for one sense (sight) to do the work of another sense (hearing).

Overall, we can see that the two poems I chose to compare are different in several ways. If I had to choose, I would say the representation of love in Shakespeare’s sonnet is better and well portrayed, as it is written in a way that connects the reader with the poem. Saying that, both poems tackle issues which are frequent in love and both poets are able to present their feelings into their poem successfully.

The theme of a forbidden love is dominant in Shakespeare’s sonnet as their love could be considered off-limits and offensive; either because they are from different social classes or because they are both men. Whereas Hurst deals with the issue of broken love, as the pair are no longer together. 

  And we all know who this spice is... its Mr William Shakespeare himself! 

Thanks for reading....peace out, Despicable Lea