"Love and sleep"
A brief of review of one of the sexiest poems of all time IMHO
Dear beloved subscriber of A Poet’s Work,
I hope this finds you somewhere you won’t be disturbed. Buckle up, because I am about to review one of my favourite poems, and it’s kind of a rude one.
(Platonic) poetry love,
Rachel
P.S. If you haven’t already…
Love and sleep by Algernon Charles Swinburne
I often think about how many scenes a poem can successfully contain. I find it tempting, when writing a poem, to try and stuff it so full of event that it bursts at the seams. This poem is fourteen lines for one kiss on the neck, as I read it, which is a perfect and actually quite restrained quantity of action.
It’s a Petrarchan sonnet so it has that ABBA ABBA CDE CDE rhyme scheme, which is executed here entirely in full rhyme. That isn’t easy to pull off in English (it’s a rhyme scheme originally designed for Italian, which has more rhymes). I respect this poem formally and its form gives us its subject matter in a jewel-like little room.
Sonnets are supposed to have turns on the ninth line, where the action shifts or the concept changes, adding a contrasting note. This one has an “And” - no “but”, no sadness, no reflection on mortality, just more headlong delight.
You have to read this poem aloud. Its vowels in particular sparkle all the way through. It’s basically a song singing itself, it’s so full of joy. “Too wan for blushing and too warm for white” is probably my favourite line sonically, unless it’s the rhythm of “I wist not what, saving one word.” The internal rhymes and repetition add to all this - “And all her..”, “And all her…” and “asleep between”, “love lean”. So does all that shamelessly playful alliteration - “long lithe”, “bare … bite”, “splendid supple”. Nothing is ever too much.
I first met this poem in an anthology of love poetry I was given as a teenager. I am usually very sceptical of “love” poetry but I would argue this is a lust poem more than a love poem. I also wore a lot of glittery eyeshadow at that time so I particularly enjoyed the last line.
Do you like this poem? Why / why not? Let me know in the comments.