A Love Story By Jeremy Cronin Analysis

While the conversation between the poet and his partner is uncommon, the poem A Love Story by Jeremy Cronin is formed like a dialogue. It is a discussion that may seem simple at first, but once dissected it deals with some interesting complications. Some of these complications include the rejections of slightly cliché comparisons, the role of the woman and the idea of ‘opposites attract’.

The poet tries to comparing his partner to nature in attempt to be romantic, while his suggestions are being dismissed by her. His first attempt describes her as an “unnamed succulent of the veld” (line 1). It implies that while she is beautiful despite her growing up in rough circumstances. The adjective “unnamed” gives the impression that this succulent

“I write … of the veld” (line 1) and “[s]he says … really flat” (line 2) is the first place we notice their difference. The most obvious difference is that the poet is a man and his partner is clearly a woman. This makes the equality in their relationship more noteworthy, because women are, even today, seen as ‘lower’ than men. While he writes, she speaks—this gives the impression that she has the stronger voice in the relationship. It could also relate to how she critiques him; she critiques his poetry as he writes it. This is also the reason he only writes one sentence at a time: she critiques him so quickly that he cannot finish. There is also the contrast between “feel” (line 3) and “think” (line 4). The two are not often associated with one another. Feelings are passionate and instinctive, whereas thinking is logical and involves planning. Here we also find that he is the more romantic and emotional person, whereas she is more realistic and focused. This is also seen when in line 9 and 10 she says, “[i]t wasn’t a flower that taught you how to drive.” His references to nature are purely metaphorical, but she looks at it in a literal sense. There is also a contrast between his two descriptions of her. “[T]he veld” (line 1) which is a dry, barren plane and “two dark pools” (line 6) which refer to deep bodies of water. This is to show that not only are they different, but opposites do attract.

The problems discussed in A Love Poem by Jeremy Cronin are viewed in a very modern way, especially considering the era it was written in (around the early 1980’s). In its dialogical structure, it’s also unique and gives two different perspectives on the discussion. The problems revealed after careful analyzation are universal and still dealt with