Love Song I And Thou Analysis

The poem “Love Song: I and Thou” by Alan Dugan is centered on the imperfections of a love relationship, and this idea is explained through the imperfection of the speaker's own marriage. This theme is brought to life in the poem with various figurative language such as imagery and metaphor.

The speaker of this poem is described to be unhappy with the way his marriage has impacted his life. He describes the severe imperfections of his house when he says that “Nothing is plumb, level, or square” (l 1), but figuratively he is also talking about the mistakes and downfalls of his life and marriage. He feels that everything that he has done is wrong. He honestly believes that there is not anything he could possibly do to be proud of himself for. Also that he does not nor will he ever have proper stability in his life. When he writes, “the joints are shaky by nature” (ll 2-3), this shaky nature of the joints is pointing towards Dugan’s unsteady and insecure life. The speaker reveals how incompletely and unsatisfyingly he feels he has lived his life so far when he says “No piece fits any other piece without a gap or pinch” (ll 3-5),

Using the image of the crucifixion image of Jesus is an example of an allusion. Dugan uses both the metaphors of carpentry and of crucifixion to symbolize the marriage of the speaker, a marriage as imperfect as the house on which was built. This imperfection, and the speaker's frustration and anger, are realized by the house he builds that symbolizes his marriage. The speaker uses the imagery of nails to build a wooden cross: "bent nails' and with pieces that do not fit properly since it was hastily constructed. He also compares himself figuratively to Jesus by saying, “by Christ/I am no carpenter” (ll 7-8), which Jesus was, and how crucifixion awaits the both of