Song By Cynthiaia Zarin Summary

Throughout the following essay, Cynthia Zarin’s poem “Song” will be critically analysed and assessed. Cynthia Zarin is an American poet born in 1959. She published a poem named “Song” in 1993 to show her compassion to her lover. The poem consists of 3 stanzas whereby each stanza contains 3 lines. The poem is written about a woman’s love relationship with a man. The poem consists of words that have symbolic meaning which depicts how the relationship is. The relationship is depicted as a very loving and caring relationship while the disadvantages of the relationship are discussed as well. In essence, the poem implies that the advantages in a true love experience overpower the challenges in a true love experience.

The first stanza starts off gently to the likelihood of what seems to be great. The love is categorized as a deeming and damning affection therefore mastering the hardship of what love is or is perceived to be. Looking at the first stanza, one is able to notice that it starts off very romantically. In line 1 the poet,

‘moonshell’, ‘sea-swell’, ‘manatee’ and ‘emerald’ in lines 4-5 are examples of precious stones. Precious stones in the context of the poem create the deep relationship the poet has with her lover as she regards him as out of the ordinary. Precious stones are hard to come by and once obtained, it must be well looked after which lies the responsibility on the poet. ‘Shining back at me’ in line 5 refers back to the precious stones which reflect the relationship the poet has with her lover and gives reassurance that it is all worth it. ‘Nutmeg’ in line 6 is a spice that takes seven to nine years to harvest whereas the tree reaches its full age at twenty years old. This creates the impression that the relationship will take time to reach its peak and even longer to reach its full