Nov 04 2024 1 mins
Theme:
The theme of "Love After Love" by Derek Walcott is self-rediscovery and self-love after a period of loss or heartbreak. The poem is a gentle and reassuring meditation on the importance of reconnecting with oneself, emphasizing the need for self-acceptance and the idea that true love for oneself can be found within.
Walcott writes about a future moment when you will meet "yourself arriving at your own door," symbolizing a reunion with the parts of yourself that may have been neglected or forgotten. The poem encourages readers to "feast on your life"—to cherish their own experiences, memories, and identities rather than seeking fulfillment solely from external relationships.
Ultimately, "Love After Love" speaks to the healing process of learning to love oneself again after facing the pain of separation or emotional hardship. It beautifully conveys the idea that wholeness and peace come from within.
Poem:
The time will come
when, with elation
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror
and each will smile at the other's welcome,
and say, sit here. Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you
all your life, whom you ignored
for another, who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,
the photographs, the desperate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life.
Credits: Derek Walcott - Written: approx. 1970 / Published: approx. 1976 in the author's collection 'Sea Grapes'.