Countee Cullen- The loss of Love

All through an empty place I go,
And find her not in any room;
The candles and the lamps I light
Go down before a wind of gloom.
Thick-spraddled lies the dust about,
A fit, sad place to write her name
Or draw her face the way she looked
That legendary night she came.

The old house crumbles bit by bit;
Each day I hear the ominous thud
That says another rent is there
For winds to pierce and storms to flood.

My orchards groan and sag with fruit;
Where, Indian-wise, the bees go round;
I let it rot upon the bough;
I eat what falls upon the ground.

The heavy cows go laboring
In agony with clotted teats;
My hands are slack; my blood is cold;
I marvel that my heart still beats.

I have no will to weep or sing,
No least desire to pray or curse;
The loss of love is a terrible thing;
They lie who say that death is worse.

Countee Cullen

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-loss-of-love/

I really like this poem because it is true. Now I cannot say that I have lost love but I have had break ups and they are definitely hard to lose someone. This poem was written somewhere around the 1920s and 1930s which means that it was written during the Harlem Renaissance. During the Harlem Renaissance, many poems were repetitive and focused on concerns and issues of the time. I do not feel like this poem focuses on a huge issue of the time. The issues more likely to be focused on were the racial discrimination and other more severe problems. Harlem Renaissance pieces also contained a fragmented structure. This poem does not seem to contrain any major fragments either. I feel like this poem is simply a love and grief poem. “The Loss of Love” is talking about losing someone you love and it sounds like this person died. No one in my close family has ever died therefore, I have never quite felt Cullen’s despair. According to Cullen, it is very difficult to recover from a loss. “I have no will to weep or sing, no least desire to pray or curse, the loss of love is a terrible thing; they life who say that death is worse.” Losing someone would be very challenging and would cause the despair Cullen expresses.