To be in love

byGwendolyn Brooks

About the poet

• Gwendolyn Brooks is an African-American poet.• Born in Kansas on 7 June 1917 and educated in Chicago,

United States of America.• Published first volume of verse in 1945, called A Street in

Bronzeville which focuses on the Black urban poor.• Many of Brooks' works display a political element,

especially from the 1960s and later, many reflect the civil rights activism of that period.

• Her 1949 book of poetry, Annie Allen, received a Pulitzer Prize, the first won by an African American.

• Died 3 December 2000.

TO BE IN LOVE by GWENDOLYN BROOKS

1. To be in love2. Is to touch things with a lighter hand.

3. In yourself you stretch, you are well.

4. You look at things5. Through his eyes6. A Cardinal is red.7. A sky is blue.8. Suddenly you know he knows too.9. He is not there but10. You know you are tasting together11. The winter, or light spring weather.

12. His hand to take your hand is overmuch.13. Too much to bear.

14. You cannot look in his eyes15. Because your pulse must not say16. What must not be said.

17. When he18. shuts a door-19. Is not there-20. Your arms are water.

21. And you are free22. With a ghastly freedom.

23. You are the beautiful half24. Of a golden hurt.

25. You remember and covet his mouth,26. To touch, to whisper on.

27. Oh when to declare28. Is certian Death!

29. Oh when to apprize30. Is to mesmerize

31. To see fall down, the Column of Gold,32. Into the commonest ash.

Summary

The poem is about being in love. It is about the feeling of love a couple has for each other BEFORE they have even declared their love.

The poet tries to describe that in-love-feeling people have.

Themes

• Love

• Confusing abilities of love

• Regret

• Devastation

Structure

• Irregular form and rhyme.

• Emphasises the confusion of being in love.

To be in loveIs to touch things with a lighter hand

You are more relaxed, less serious, more gentle.

Lines 1-2

Line 3

In yourself you stretch, you are well.

METAPHOR = You don’t just focus on your own desires. You accommodate somebody else’s feelings and ideas. You become less selfish. You grow because you learn more about someone else.

experience a general feeling of happiness

Lines 4-5

You look at things

Through his eyes.

METAPHOR = The way you look at things in life changes. You begin to see things from the perspective of the one you love.

Line 6

The poet gives you examples of what you can see. You know this bird is red but because you are in love the colours seem new to you.

A Cardinal is red

A Cardinal is a bird in North America, colour same as robe of a Cardinal: red

Cardinal in the Roman Catholic church

A sky is blue

The poet uses “a” instead of “the”. With the “a”, the poet seems to say that not all skies are blue.

Through the eyes of one who is in love, the sky may appear more blue.

Line 7

Line 8

The relationship is developing. The poet says that you will suddenly know that he knows that you are in love with him. A couple will know that they both are fond of each other.

Suddenly you know he knows too.

Lines 9-11

He is not there but

You know you are tasting together

The winter, or light spring weather

Figuratively you are experiencing things together.

You and he will experience winter and spring the same way. You will experience the same seasons although you are not together. This also means you will always think of him.

His hand to take your hand is overmuch

Too much to bear.

Lines 12-13

The emotional feelings created by the touch are too much to cope with.

Lines 14-16

You cannot look in his eyes

Because your pulse must not say

What must not be said

You cannot say I love you, too early in a relationship. You cannot allow your physical response to his touch to betray your feelings to him.

When he

Shuts a door –

Is not there –

Your arms are water.

Lines 17-20Refers to the partner leaving.He is not in the presence of the other person.

If you are not in the presence of the other person: your arms are water.METAPHOR = Your arms become like water. Useless, unable to do anything, weak.

Lines 21-22

And you are free

With a ghastly freedom

horrifying, shocking, upsetting

This freedom comes to you with a shock. You don’t want to be free like this.OXYMORON = contrast between ghastly and freedom.

Lines 23-24

You are still beautiful but you are only a half. When you were with your loved one you were two beautiful people that formed a whole.

You are the beautiful half

Of a golden hurt

METAPHOR and OXYMORON = Love is compared with gold. Gold is one of the purest metals found. The hurt is called golden because you have been and could possibly be hurt in a love relationship. Being in love is as precious as gold.

Lines 25-26

Covet:

It is also the word used for desire in the Ten Commandments, which could mean that you desire your loved one so much it edges on sin.

You remember and covet his mouth,

To touch, to whisper on it

want to have something very much

Being apart, you remember your physical closeness. You miss it.

Lines 27-28

METAPHOR = The poet says to declare your love is certain death. Not literally the death of a person, but figuratively the death or end of the relationship.

Oh when to declare

Is certain Death!

Lines 29-30

Oh when to apprize

Is to mesmerize

You must inform the person you love at exactly the right moment or you could spoil the relationship.

To fascinate someone or absorb all of his attention. When you inform a person that you love him you will get all the attention of that person. That person will be mesmerised by what you have said.

Lines 31-32

The moment you declare your love the relationship may become something common.

The gold is turned into ash, common ash.

It becomes nothing.

To see fall down, The Column of Gold,

Into the commonest ash.

METAPHOR = the feeling of being in love.

destroy