Love is the world’s greatest mystery. It is a feeling that holds the most happiness and the most extreme sadness or anger. “Somewhere I have never travelled” by e. E. Cummings and “Psalm 183” by Joseph Zitt show love in their individual way, ways we can all connect to. BY comparing and contrasting these two poems, we recognize that many interpretations of love exist. Moreover, it is clear that love can hold various definitions
These poets effectively use imagery as an important instrument to depict their perspectives of love. Firstly, the open up or the reveal of emotion in “Somewhere” is compared to spring: “You open always petal by petal myself as spring opens”. It tells reader how his muse can easily open and close the doors of his emotions; whereas raw emotions are illustrated in “Psalm”, sometimes even associated with pain: “cracked reflection howl to me from pools of molten glass” reflects on the emotion he obtains when the persona thinks of his previous encounters to love. Love does not give the person a sense of security, but often pain. Secondly, aspects of nature, such as the beauty and power of rose are compared to eyes in “Somewhere”. The poet expresses his feeling “Only something in me understands the voice of your eyes is deeper than all roses”, he could never explain the women’s effect on him and that no matter how hard he tries to compare the women every aspect of nature, he knows that he still will not be able to define or more so explain it .However, “Psalms” fully compares the body to aspects of the world to express a feeling of a temperature world of their own. For examples: “pulse is rhythm of rushing of the waves”, “breaths as the passage of clouds against a bright and empty sky, and “The gentle motion of your breasts as the soft processional of continents”. They reveal the emotions of the poet towards his muse. Lately, “Somewhere” adapts aspects of the nature to compare with love. “Psalm” adapts aspects of the world to compare with love. Therefore, both poems dramatically adapt aspect of the environment as an instrument of the imagery comparing to love.
The personas in both poems often lose control often lose control of his love. Firstly, in “Somewhere”, the persona is more affected by his love and what she represents so than how he affects her. The sense of appreciation, “my life will shut very beautifully, suddenly, as when the heart of this flower imagines the snow carefully everywhere descending” shows that the poet is willing to sacrifice what he truly feels if that is his muse’s desire. For “Psalms” readers can feel an obsessive tone that the poet carries. Too much obsession from the poet results in a feeling of confusion: “I burden you with too much honor. I know you are no goodness, simply human”. Therefore, this causes disorder in the feelings of the man regarding to his viewpoints toward to the women. Secondly, a sense of wonder haunts the poet of “Somewhere”. He doesn’t understand why he is so drawn to the women. The expanses “I do not know what it is about you that closes and opens; only something in me understands the voice of your eyes is deeper than all roses” he cannot clarify the feeling, but he can only compare her to beautiful elements such as roses. This feeling seems to be beyond any word of description. For “Psalms”, through the poet’s thoughts of love, he is selfish and focused on what he wants. This feeling of the poet “pardon me if these songs of praise defile you but I will try to keep my hosannas to a quiet whisper” is a casual result of the influence of love. The feeling of infatuation is often fierce and cannot be limited. Therefore, according to the poet, this action is considered selfish. Lastly, the two poems all have a feeling towards love that cannot be controlled, forming a persona within the poets. They both obtain an obsessive tone. However, “Somewhere” seems, more idealistic rather “Psalms, which has a more realistic tone.
The mystery of the feeling of love has