I am alone, in spite of love,
In spite of all I take and give—
In spite of all your tenderness,
Sometimes I am not glad to live.
I am alone, as though I stood
On the highest peak of the tired gray world,
About me only swirling snow,
Above me, endless space unfurled;
With earth hidden and heaven hidden,
And only my own spirit's pride
To keep me from the peace of those
Who are not lonely, having died.
The last lines convey the unfeeling and unaffected dead, 'having died' and so 'are not lonely' anymore. The contradiction of emotions here means the writer suffers dual personalities -unable to feel happiness when she should, and feeling unhappiness when she should not. Writng them out gives us a picture of ourselves as writers.
I did not realize I was reading a classical poet- with simplicity in language, powerful emotions, and flowing and coherent thoughts. Thanks, Poemhunter, for introducing us to this great poetess, Sara Teasdale.
With earth hidden and heaven hidden, This may relate to the feelings of being lost that many people who are depressed feel. They often feel neither alive (with the earth) nor dead (with the heavens) , unsure of where they belong in this universe. And only my spirit's pride To keep me from the peace of those Who are not lonely, having died. Here she is alluding to the option of suicide for ending her loneliness. The dead no longer feel lonely, and though she longs to put an end to the loneliness, something in her is holding her back. From the way she describes it, as her spirit's pride, it seems like something inside of her doesn't want to go through with it. There are many depressed people who often say I want to die, but I don't want to be an embarrassment. This might be the pride she speaks of. She was a classical poet and many respected her, and she most likely didn't want to tarnish her name. Despite all of this, the author did end up committing suicide in 1933. I believe this poem explains the turmoil she felt throughout her life.
and the difficulty we all face in life and death. Tony Giannotti
Love this poem by Sara. Honest, with true emotions on the Human condition and
The sadness manifest in most of the poems of Sara Teasdale is more pronounced in this poem. Here her poetry finds expression, I believe, to her feelings when she is torn between her love for her husband Ernst Filsinger and her long time lover, poet Vachel Lindsay.
Part 4. The concluding lines convey the ultimate sadness the poet experiences while penning down this poem, indicates that death is her only solace, that could redeem her from her loneliness.
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
FOR ALL COMMENTERS: - When we try to pass judgement on a great American classical poet and try to give numerical ratings to a 1918 Pulitzer Prize winner, we only reveal our massive ignorance! -Raj