True Love

English 200 Poetry Explication: â€Å"True Love† by Wislawa Szymborska This paper is an essay is an analysis of Wislawa Szymborska’s poem â€Å"True Love. † When I first read the poem, I was struck by its sheer simplicity and passion at what Szymborska feels that it means for two people to be in love. However; upon further contemplation, I see how she uses the lovers to represent change in an otherwise boring and regimented world where all actions must be taken for the betterment and advancement of the state. True Love† is a powerful piece that is told through the persona of an anonymous authoritarian bureaucrat who questions the value of love when compared to the needs of the state. â€Å"True Love† was written at a time when Soviet control was strangling the Eastern Bloc countries, particularly Poland. In this situation, citizens were expected to devote their lives to the advancement of the State – personal needs were secondary. In light of this situation, Szymborska forces the reader to examine the poem on a number of levels including the socio/political level and also at the base level of two people brought together as one. I will discuss how Szymborska, very cleverly, uses the lovers to illustrate how individuals can make effect change from within a system when they are passionate about their beliefs. I will also discuss that love, the most primal of mans’ needs, can be so complex in its simplicity that it can overwhelm and frighten those who misunderstand it. The first stanza of the poem consists of four lines: â€Å"True love. Is it normal, is it serious, is it practical? What does the world get from two people Who exist is a world of their own? † (lines 1-4) Szymborska begins by asking questions about love; however, is she actually asking about love or is she questioning whether it is practical for a society to acknowledge love? As an emotional human being, one would be able to answer these questions in the affirmative that, yes, love is normal and serious and practical. When people are in love, they are happy and probably more productive because of their commitment to the other person. However, when one looks at these first four lines with the jaded eye of, say, an authoritative, repressive bureaucrat then, perhaps, love serves no purpose but to get in the way of serving the state. This person might answer these same questions by saying that, though love might be normal and serious, it is not practical because how can one dedicate his/her life to society if they are more concerned about the person that they love? To this person, the world (state) would get nothing from two people who exist is a world of their own so this should not be allowed to happen. In lines 5 – 13, Szymborska uses the persona of the bureaucrat to begin casting dispersions and snide comments about the audacity that two people would have to dare fall in love. â€Å"Placed on the same pedestal for no good reason, rawn randomly from millions, but convinced it had to happen this way – in reward for what? For nothing. † (lines 5-8) In these lines, the reader begins to understand that he is now hearing the voice of the faceless bureaucrat whose soul interest is the betterment of the state. Or, perhaps, we are hearing the words of someone who has suffered through bad relations hips in the past. I believe it to be the former. Szymborska wrote this poem in 1972 in a Poland that had been under the authoritarian rule of the Soviet Union since 1945. In the six years before the Soviets, Poland was ruled by the occupational forces of the Nazi Third Reich. I am convinced that the persona that we are hearing is the voice of an authoritarian government representative – a cold, uncaring Orwellian figure. This is the section of the poem where the jaded voice of the person rings through loud and clear when he states; â€Å"it had to happen this way – in reward for what? For nothing. † (line 7-8) Of course, the person in love would disagree vehemently with this for their reward is garnered each time they look into the eyes or feel the touch of the one they love – that is part of the reward, the reciprocal love shared between two lovers. They would answer; â€Å"yes, it did happen this way and here is my (our) reward. † The persona continues his lament when he states; â€Å"The light descends from nowhere. Why on these two and not on others? Doesn’t this outrage justice? Yes it does. Doesn’t it disrupt our painstakingly erected principles, and cast the moral from the peak? Yes on both accounts. † (lines 10-13) In these lines, not only does the persona question the value of two people being in love but he also questions the existence of a higher power (God); â€Å"The light descends from nowhere. And why on these two and not others? † (lines 10-11) The persona refuses to believe God or faith could play a role in determining who falls in love or why love happens but, then wonders why these two people have been chosen to be with each other. Seemingly taken aback for a moment, the persona then falls back into his numbing, bureaucratic role when he asks the questions, and then answers his own questions, in the affirmative, about how love how love would disrupt the â€Å"painstakingly erected principles† and would the moral be cast from the peaks. The persona typifies the cold, uncaring demagogues who reveled in the Soviet occupation of Eastern European countries, never questioning those in power and ensuring that all rules were followed. â€Å"Look at the happy couple. Couldn’t they at least try to hide it, fake a little depression for their friends’ sake! Listen to them laughing – it’s an insult. † (lines 14-18) With these lines, the persona is now drawing attention to the lovers, trying to castigate them and make the other citizens, presumably those who experience no love in their lives, hate the lovers as much as he does. The persona’s hate, though, does not stem from a true dislike but from fear – fear that if more people began to feel love then they would not be so beholden to the state and the power of the state would be diminished. The persona states that the lovers’ laughter is an insult, though to whom is the insult directed? It is an insult to the state because, through all of the dreariness that is their life, the lovers have found something that the state cannot control (their love for each other) and they relish that. Their laughing is not an insult; quite the contrary, they are laughing because in their world they are one and that makes their world an idyllic place. The third stanza ends with the line; â€Å"And their little celebrations, rituals, the elaborate mutual routines – it’s obviously a plot behind the human race’s back! † (lines 19 – 21) To any regime, the ultimate fear is that they lose control of the citizenry – the cogs in an unemotional machine. When the persona cannot explain (or accept) how love can occur, the only â€Å"logical† answer is that it must be a plot against the state (the human race. Why else would these disrespectful citizens waste their energy on each other rather than towards the advancement of the state? Stanza four finds the poem’s persona beginning to panic as he wonders what would happen if, God forbid, more citizens begin to follow the lovers’ example and experience love for themselves; â€Å"Itâ €™s hard to even guess how far things might go if people start to follow their example. What could religion and poetry count on? What would be remembered? What renounced? Who’d want to stay within bounds? † (lines 22-26) Historically, oppressive regimes have worked hard to strictly limit what people can read, see, hear or say. This repression of free expression, it was (is) thought, helped to keep the people in line. The government begins to take on the role of a strict parent, ensuring that their naive child remains ignorant of what takes place outside their home (borders. ) However, how can that same government oppress a population that is aware of basic human rights? Therein lays the rhetorical question; how ‘ya gonna keep 'em down on the farm? (after they've seen paree. ) The persona is pondering this very question and fearing the worst possible outcome that a bureaucrat could imagine; â€Å"Who’d want to stay within the bounds? (line 26) The fear of seeing two people in love, walking out of step from the rest of the automaton-like population, has pushed the state (our persona) to a point of hysteria. Rather than accept that love happens, that people are unique as individuals, the persona continues to present reason to reject love; â€Å"True love. Is it really necessary? Tact and common sense tell us to pass over it in silence, like a scandal in Life’s highest circles. It couldn’t populate the planet in a million years, it comes along so rarely. † (lines 27-32) Once again, the persona, having pondered the worst that can happen, deflects from acceptance of love and, instead, questions its relevance in a big-brother type society. â€Å". . . pass over it in silence, like a scandal. . . † (line 28), or â€Å"Perfectly good children are born without its help. † (line 29) direct the â€Å"good† citizens that love is an aberration. If they should ever encounter it (God forbid) they should hold their nose and walk past because it is no better than a scandal that would tear at the very fibre of the society that is looking after their needs. In fact, love is not ever required for the creation of â€Å"perfectly good† children. They state is the ultimate provider who will take care of all your needs from cradle to grave. Yes, to the poem’s persona, everything is for the advancement of the state even if that means the dehumanization of the state’s citizens. The poem ends with three chilling lines; â€Å"Let the people who never find true love keep saying there is no such thing. Their faith will make it easier for them to live and die. † (lines 33-35) According to the persona, ignorance is bliss. By continuing to march along to the state’s cadence, the â€Å"faithful† will have easy lives and nice, quiet, easy deaths. However, it is never â€Å"easy† for a thinking, rational human to simply go through the motions each day; living a meaningless life, existing only for the betterment of a faceless, emotionless entity; just another cog in the great machine. Will it have been worth it? For those who never knew that love existed, or chose to ignore love’s existence, then their lives would have been no different than those of a school of fish; simply going along to get along. For those who have experienced love and passion then their lives would have been lived to the fullest and their deaths mourned and celebrated by those whose lives they had touched with love. The â€Å"true love† mentioned in this poem is represents two principles; the first is the love that is found between two people and how, through that love, they can overcome obstacles in their lives. The power of faith and love can be powerful assets when two people are walking a path together through life. The second principle is that of social accountability that should be the responsibility of every compassionate and free thinking person. The era in which Szymborska wrote this powerful poem is testament to the poem’s social meaning. Soviet oppression was the norm and the â€Å"Big Brother† mentality among both bureaucrats and citizens alike encouraged both conformation to the rules and divulging the identities of those who would not conform. Szymborska’s poem forces the reader to identify which group he/she belonged(s) to and how their lives are affected by that decision. Works Cited Schlib, John and John Clifford, eds. Making Literature Matter: An Anthology for Readers and Writers. 4th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2009. Print. True Love Alex True Love This is something that divides us as humans, with quite a lot of gray area in the middle. You will find people that swear to the truth of this and others that try to finally prove it false. Right now I see myself in the grey area, questioning. Does true love exist? Is it possible for everyone? I am not sure even what this is seeing as I have yet to be in love. I have often asked myself if there was a one true love for me and if someone somewhere was pulling the strings just right so that I would meet them or not. In recent years the divorce rate in America has gone up.Some say this is because women have become more independent and no longer feel the need to stay with a man in order to survive. I think that Americans have lost faith in an Ancient belief, true love. Or maybe the problem is that we are searching for something that doesn’t exist. Can true love scientifically be proven? Is there something in our body that tells us when we are in love? If we could fin d a way to prove that true love exists can we tell when two people are really in love? Do we really want to know? If someone that we love dies can we get married again?Love PoemCan there be more than one person in your life that you have loved, love, or will love? I want to look into why this is different for everyone. I expect to find what makes us believe in something when most of us can say we have never experienced it. How did this belief come about? Is it possible to fall in love no matter the appearance, gender, or race? I know we all have our prejudices but perhaps true love is the bridge over these barriers. Polygamists treat their wives like property but still say they love them. If you truly love someone how should you treat them?I think that scientific research will show that love does exist and that you can fall in love multiple times in a life. Fate is something that can’t really be proven. I also am hoping to find how the idea of a true love came about. I donâ⠂¬â„¢t think that an interview will help much because it varies so much from person to person. What I want to accomplish is to focus on three main points for my paper. First, can true love be scientifically proven? I also want to go into how it has proved the existence of love? (I believe they have)Second, why do we believe in true love in the first place?Third, has America lost sight of the idea of true love or are we focusing on it too much? There is a lot more I could go into but these are my main three. To begin, I first need to establish what true love is. While I am trying to figure out if this proposed phenomenon actually exists, for this section I will assume that it does. This basis will allow for proof or disproof. Getting everyone to agree on one definition is impossible, so I hope to highlight a couple. First, I wanted to find an article on the Christian view of how to find true love.Since most of the population in America is made up of Christians, I felt that it was imp ortant that this view was included. It begins with the famous verse from Corinthians, â€Å"Love is patient, love is kind†¦Ã¢â‚¬  This is a view that many people hold dear to their hearts. This article is more of a guide for Christians on how to find true love and tells that in order to find true love that we need to do three things. First, the article says to read the bible and find what to look for in love. Next, honesty is needed with ourselves and the one we love. Finally, to be ready to commit for a lifetime and understand what this commitment means.The view of this article is that love lasts forever and that unless you are looking for the right qualities that you won’t ever find it. While this is only one opinion, it is quite standard. The next definition needed comes from the opposite direction, science. This article from CNN states that researchers from Stony Brook University have proved the existence of lasting love. Their research focused on new lovers and co uples that have been together for around 20 years. They analyzed the chemical reactions when the person was shown a picture of their loved one.Old research had found that the chemical reaction in new lovers fade within 15 months and is gone after 10 years. Somehow, these scientists managed to find a few couples that defied these statistics. !0 percent of the couples that had been together for twice the amount of time that their love was supposed to fade by had reactions the same as a new couple. This definition of true love is based on time and fact but it is just as real as an immeasurable definition. This next source is called â€Å"7 Myths of Happily Ever After† by Blair Justice. This is an article about how Americans view perfect relationships (incorrectly).Instead of looking at a definition, this looks at common misconceptions. The first is about how all people look for that person to live happily ever after with. It states that we all are searching for that unconditiona l love, futilely. We shouldn’t have that unconditional love between us and our partner in order to have that â€Å"perfect relationship. † Then, that when there is true love between two people that they should not have to tell the other what they want. Third we search for someone with the same problems that we have and that will make both of our problems disappear.Maybe he/she will even understand and that will be enough. Fourth, don’t go to bed angry. An unhealthy relationship would be if you never slept away from your partner after an argument. As long as you are not running away and can try and put the heat of the argument behind you. Fifth, we never talk. We actually talk a lot but we need to learn how to communicate better. Sixth, he will change after we are married. We need to get rid of the illusion of changing our partner later. This entire article tells pretty much what Americans view as true love.The question that is brought up by all these wrong belie fs is, if we change how we think about love can we find it? What the focus needs to shift to is recognizing this love. When you fall in love you head in full force. You devote all of your attention to that one person and nothing else. The passion and heat takes over. This is not true love, though. True love is the kind that lasts; this heat we all feel in the beginning of a relationship will always fade. If there were a device to prolong this feeling, it would be coveted by all. How do we act when we are truly in love?In this article from Christian Answers gives a list on how to know when you are in love. The first step to having a true relationship is establishing that what you have is exclusive. By telling your partner that you want to be with them and only them shows that you are ready to commit fully. Next you say that this is the best relationship that you have had. It is like starting a new chapter in your life where you can only go forward. Then, once you are past the lets go anywhere stage and the stage where you stand up for yourself, this article says that you can accept the other person’s interests to partake in them sometimes as well.The article says that you must accept the other person’s beliefs enough to not oppose them. You also have to just be able to enjoy the other person’s company enough that doing nothing together is like a break from the rest of the world, even though you are with him/her. Lastly, it lists that you have to show that you are comfortable being yourself in front of them. Overall I believe that this is a good list of how to recognize true love. There are many people loosing the sight of true love and this can be represented by the amount of divorces in the United States. When two people get married, most say that they will be married forever.Some hold on to the view of happily ever after, while others are more realistic about their life after marriage. One thing that we have to accept is the ending of mar riage. While many people say that 50% of all marriages in America end in goodbye, this is not entirely correct, this article states. The facts do show that if the current trend continues that we may even surpass this number. We loose sight of the hope for true love for many reasons. The main reason in this short article is childlessness. â€Å"The absence of children leads to loneliness and weariness†¦Ã¢â‚¬  This last article is called â€Å"True Love?Forget it! † This article argues that true love does not exist. The author, Lynn Truss, says that we often use the non-existence of a perfect partner as an excuse to not find love at all. If someone was â€Å"just looking for the right person† they might pass up on several people that might not be perfect, but are perfect for them. The definition of love is given as what you do with what you’ve got. We often have unrealistic views of love and this is because of two things. First, love is deeply placed in hum an nature and we see love as something we find. Actually, he states, love is something we create, an achievement.So this article is saying that we make up true love to fill a void in our life that everyone has. Love is something we make not something we just bump into. To turn this last topic around I would like to highlight a girl that never gave up on love, even if it hurt. Nancy Rue says in her book, Coping with Dating Violence that abuse happens in many ways. Sometimes the guy doesn’t want to lose the girl and sometimes he has anger issues. What I was interested in was why women tend to stay with these men when they aren’t treating them right. This book states that women often blame themselves for the abuse.What I am interested in is the fact that some stay because, in the beginning, it was perfect and they were so in love. Was this true love that just went wrong or a facade from the beginning? When girls fall in love with this boy they are really falling in love w ith him, she states. When a girl is being abused by the â€Å"mental illness† that the boy has. During this process I learned a lot, but not as much as I wanted to. Next year I will have to write a ton of papers. While this project was interesting, I don’t see it preparing me for the future. I already know how to research, so hat was one of the easiest parts. The main thing that I learned from this project was MLA format. I have worked with many kinds of formats before so it was good to be able to focus on just this one. What I really liked about what I did was the quality of research although I wish that I had the time to get more. I also make summaries daily for other classes which made it easier to do the summaries in here. One thing that I really need to work on is my citations. Most of the times they need a little bit of tweaking, in order to be fully correct, there aren’t too many problems.What I learned in both this area and in MLA format will most certai nly help me in later projects. During this particular project I liked it simply because it was different. It is not like the typical high school paper. One thing it could have benefited from was a little less structure. We were able to pick out our own topic which was nice but turning in our summaries every due date was a little confining. I believe that more freedom would have also been more responsibility, so I understand the structure somewhat. I began this paper with an idea. Actually, I had many ideas but my main one was my favorite.This idea has become a growing question in my own life. Does true love exist? Some people believe they can answer this question with a yes or no. This is not the answer that I want. I want a reason, explanation, but most of all information. I’m not researching that feeling you get when you see that cute guy a couple rows over in class smiling at you. I am looking at actual, forever love. I was hungry for information and began searching from m any different angles. I found scientific evidence and put it right along side the religious. I read stories about terrible abuse and tales of enchanting love.The scientific evidence claimed its existence, if rare. Just by looking at divorce rates in America shows how wrong we can be about love. These are some of my favorite sources. My absolute favorite has to go to the book I read. This story speaks to me in a way that none of the articles could. One of the stories from this book tells of a girl that fought so hard for love, she almost died. The desperation that she feels is what makes this the best in my eyes. After all of this time I think I can finally say that I have an answer that makes sense to me.True love is out there for everyone somewhere. It is just up to you to find it and hold on tight. There will never be a world where everyone will find this connection but the first step is knowing what to look for. At the very least, you should know what to stay away from. This conc lusion has helped me with my own life, even if it never helps another person. I wish that I could not change my question but instead write a follow up piece. If I could it would be on the history of love, how it has evolved. That topic intrigues me but the one I wrote this paper on was just right for me. True Love Every moment we spent togetherHas touched our lives, our souls foreverThe things that we shared and learnedIs permanent growth that we've earned. The person that I have grown into todayDid not get there by chance, no wayI am who I am partly because of youAnd you are YOU because of me, tooThe changes I seeand what I have learned about meare a response to how we affected our livesand what we discover in each others eyes. It is uncertain if we have to part or one day live together Either way, we have touched our lives forever! No matter what the future will showNo matter what we are told.We are connected on such a deep levelsThat no one can remove that, not even the devil. Our feelings might be different a year from nowBut you are part of me forever somehowA part of me will always be you and a part of you will always be me. no matter what happens ,that much is certain our souls are one until life closes the curtain. I will love your foreverFor worse or for betterYou are tattooed in my h eart And nothing can tear our souls apart. Source: Forever Connected, True Love Poem http://www. familyfriendpoems. com/poem/forever-connected#ixzz2RErIYwFpwww. FamilyFriendPoems. om Every moment we spent togetherHas touched our lives, our souls foreverThe things that we shared and learnedIs permanent growth that we've earned. The person that I have grown into todayDid not get there by chance, no wayI am who I am partly because of youAnd you are YOU because of me, tooThe changes I seeand what I have learned about meare a response to how we affected our livesand what we discover in each others eyes. It is uncertain if we have to part or one day live together Either way, we have touched our lives forever! No matter what the future will showNo matter what we are told.We are connected on such a deep levelsThat no one can remove that, not even the devil. Our feelings might be different a year from nowBut you are part of me forever somehowA part of me will always be you and a part of you will always be me. no matter what happens ,that much is certain our souls are one until life closes the curtain. I will love your foreverFor worse or for betterYou are tattooed in my heart And nothing can tear our souls apart. Source: Forever Connected, True Love Poem http://www. familyfriendpoems. com/poem/forever-connected#ixzz2RErIYwFpwww. FamilyFriendPoems. om Every moment we spent togetherHas touched our lives, our souls foreverThe things that we shared and learnedIs permanent growth that we've earned. The person that I have grown into todayDid not get there by chance, no wayI am who I am partly because of youAnd you are YOU because of me, tooThe changes I seeand what I have learned about meare a response to how we affected our livesand what we discover in each others eyes. It is uncertain if we have to part or one day live together Either way, we have touched our lives forever! No matter what the future will showNo matter what we are told.We are connected on such a deep levels That no one can remove that, not even the devil. Our feelings might be different a year from nowBut you are part of me forever somehowA part of me will always be you and a part of you will always be me. no matter what happens ,that much is certain our souls are one until life closes the curtain. I will love your foreverFor worse or for betterYou are tattooed in my heart And nothing can tear our souls apart. Source: Forever Connected, True Love Poem http://www. familyfriendpoems. com/poem/forever-connected#ixzz2RErIYwFpwww. FamilyFriendPoems. com True loveMy first true love was Zachery Kyle Sutterfield I remember the day we met When I first met you, I felt like I had known you forever Both shy, but wanted to talk. Every moment we have spent together Has touched our lives and souls forever The things that we share and learn Is permanent growth that we earn. The person that I have grown into today Did not get there by chance, no way I am who I am partly because of you You are YOU becau se of me, too. The changes I see What I have learned about me A response to how we have affected out lives What we discover in each other eyes. We are connected on a such a deep level