The Definition of Love 

(analyzed by A. Burkovska)
BY  A N D R E W M A R V E L L
My love is of a birth as rare
As ’tis for object strange and high;
It was begotten by Despair
Upon Impossibility.

Magnanimous Despair alone

Could show me so divine a thing
Where feeble Hope could ne’er have flown,
But vainly flapp’d its tinsel wing.

And yet I quickly might arrive

Where my extended soul is fixt,
But Fate does iron wedges drive,
And always crowds itself betwixt.

For Fate with jealous eye does see

Two perfect loves, nor lets them close;
Their union would her ruin be,
And her tyrannic pow’r depose.

And therefore her decrees of steel

Us as the distant poles have plac’d,
(Though love’s whole world on us doth wheel)
Not by themselves to be embrac’d;

Unless the giddy heaven fall,

And earth some new convulsion tear;
And, us to join, the world should all
Be cramp’d into a planisphere.

As lines, so loves oblique may well

Themselves in every angle greet;
But ours so truly parallel,
Though infinite, can never meet.

Therefore the love which us doth bind,

But Fate so enviously debars,
Is the conjunction of the mind,
And opposition of the stars.
SIFTT strategy of analyzing a piece of poetry:
Symbols, images, figurative language, tone, theme.
Theme: the poem gives us the idea of the concept of love but it does not name it; it
expresses the pain of a person who is in despair because he can`t be with the woman
he likes; the people who are perfect matches – ‘two perfect loves’ - can`t be together
because of the fate.
Themes: love, sadness.
Meter: octosyllabic iambic quatrain
Rhyming: ABAB rhyme scheme (first stanza that is ABAC)
Tone: sad, melancholic, depressed, lugubrious.
Figurative language:
Epithets: divine thing, feeble Hope, extended soul, jealous eye, perfect loves,
tyrannic pow’r, giddy heaven, truly parallel,
Simile: My love is of a birth as rare

As ’tis for object strange and high;

Us as the distant poles have plac’d;
As lines, so loves oblique may well
Metaphors: But Fate does iron wedges drive;

Personifications: Despair, Impossibility, Fate

Oxymoron: ‘Magnanimous Despair’
Anastrophe: ‘And yet I quickly might arrive’;
‘But Fate does iron wedges drive’;
‘For Fate with jealous eye does see’;
‘Their union would her ruin be’;
‘Us as the distant poles have plac’d’ and others.
Alliteration:
Stanzas 1, 5 – ‘s’
Stanzas 2, 3 – ‘d’
Stanza 8 – ‘th’
 Assonans:
Stanzas 1,2 – ‘a’ and ‘i’
Stanza 3 – ‘i’
Stanza 4 – ‘e’
Stanzas 5, 6 – ‘e’, ‘o’
Stanza 7 – ‘a’, ‘o’, ‘e’
Stanza 8 – ‘i’, ‘o’
Enjambment:
- My love is of a birth as rare
As ’tis for object strange and high;
- It was begotten by Despair
Upon Impossibility
- Magnanimous Despair alone
Could show me so divine a thing
Where feeble Hope could ne’er have flown,
But vainly flapp’d its tinsel wing.
and others.
Imagenery:
- astronomical objects:
‘opposition of the stars’
- fate is a villain as it opposed to the inion of two kindred spirits:
‘Their union would her ruin be,
And her tyrannic pow’r depose’
Metaphysical conceits:
- “begotten by Despair Upon Impossibility” – the union of ‘despair’ and
‘impossibility’ produced the love
- Conditions when lovers can be together are impossible:
Unless the giddy heaven fall,
And earth some new convulsion tear;
And, us to join, the world should all
Be cramp’d into a planisphere.
- Comparison of two lovers and two poles that can never be together as a union:
Us as the distant poles have plac’d
- platonic love
Symbols:
- the North and South Poles;
- the parallels
 My personal opinion about the poem:
This poem reminds me of John Donne’s metaphysical poetry. The poet managed
to convey the idea of love between souls or minds that is distinct from the physical
body. What I like the most is vivid imaginary and similes especially the one about
poles and parallels. It is said the literary persona and his love are like two opposites,
two poles that will never meet. Only when conditions stated in the poem are fulfilled,
only then they can be together. But the thing is that satisfying this demands would
lead to destruction of the Earth and as a result bringing together those two poles – the
poet and his beloved one. Not only they are opposite poles, but also parallels that can
never meet. As we know from geometry, under no condition or circumstances can
this type of lines meet.
In the first stanza, the speaker makes an odd and striking claim – that his love is
so unique and “rare” it must have been born of “Despair” and “Impossibility,” which
is a surprisingly dark and tragic formulation of love. I pity the lyrical persona because
the only way that allows him and his mistress be together is mentally. They can never
unite as a couple in real life because of the fate.
In the final stanza, Marvell delivers two definitions of the speaker’s love: it is
both “the conjunction of the mind” and the “opposition of the stars.” So, as we
understand from these lines, their love id f dual nature. On the one hand it is endless
and with harmony but on the other hand it can never be turned into reality. The lovers
can never meet in the real life.
All in all, I really liked the poem. What I liked the most is the emotion that the
author manages to transmit. The very feeling he feels… At some point of time when
reading, I thought these were my own feelings. I just it felt so good, and sensual. I
thoroughly enjoyed the poem and that’s why I sincerely recommend it to every lover
of good rhymes.