Alan Dugan's Love Song: I And Thou

Things like imagery, metaphor, and diction allow poetry to have the effect on the reader that the poet desires. Without these complex and abstract methods, poetry would not be the art form that it is. In Alan Dugan’s poem “Love Song: I and Thou”, he uses extended metaphor and line breaks to create tone and meaning in this chaotic piece.
Dugan’s entire poem carries an extended metaphor for a shambly, half-broken down house which represents how he sees his life. He uses this metaphor to convey how he is reflecting on his decisions and the construction of his life, calling it a “house-warming”. From lines 1-7, he sets up the stage for how he feels about his life. He says, “nothing is plumb, level, or square: / the studs are bowed, the joists

/ are shaky by nature” (lines 1-3) and “bent nails / dance all over the surfacing / like maggots” (lines 5-7). In these lines, he explains how he feels that nothing in this house, or his life, has been completed or done correctly. Absolutely every part of the construction is uneven or in someway wrong. However, by saying that the joists are “shaky by nature”, he implies his belief that this mess of a house was out of his control, a part of nature. Through the metaphor, this translates to him believing that the decisions that lead him to a chaotic life were not his doing or his choice, a belief that is somewhat selfish and close-minded. This mentality continues with the idea that the bent nails could not penetrate the surface, despite being strong and metal, the surface being him. However despite that, he compares these broken nails to maggots, which adds some self-deprecation to the speaker's view of himself, implying that he is rotting, filthy, or ill in some way- not as perfect as previously suggested.
The next section of metaphor continues this self-deprecating tone while introducing the theme of religion within the poem.

Dugan writes, “By Christ / I am no carpenter. I built / the roof for myself, the walls / for myself, and got / hung up in it myself.” (Lines 7-12). By saying that he is no carpenter, the speaker explains that they know the house, or their life, could not have been perfect. Dugan writes this right after, “by christ” which creates a double meaning, as he is both simply exclaiming, “By Christ” and referencing Christ as a carpenter himself. This allows the reader to see that the speaker does not consider himself as highly as was implied earlier in the poem. This continues with the next few lines, as he explains that he made all of his bad decisions, or built the house poorly, for himself and not for anyone else. In other words, his dislike for himself led to a poorly constructed life. If he built the house for himself and cared very deeply about himself, he would have made it with care and attention to detail and structure. These lines also explain that he does not actually blame others, or nature as previously stated, for the chaos he lives in, allowing for these lines to show a more vulnerable side to the speaker. These lines help the tone of the metaphor by shifting it further from selfishness to insecurity and

self-deprecation.
The next section of the poem shows this tension between anger, vulnerability, and responsibility. It also acts as the climax for the tension within the poem through imagery. Dugan writes, “I danced with a purple thumb / at this house-warming, drunk / with my prime whiskey: rage.” (Lines 12-15). Through these lines, Dugan explains that he is at a moment of realization for what his life has become. The reader knows this through the idea of this ironic “house-warming”. At this point, anger is introduced into the piece. Upon seeing the decisions he has made, the speaker has become furious with himself, or perhaps whatever else he blames for what his life has turned into. The purple thumb implies that he hurt himself during this house's construction, helping to transition to the vulnerability of the next few lines. Dugan continues, “Oh I spat rage’s nails / into the frame-up of my work: / it held. It settled plumb, / level, solid, square and true / for that great moment.” (Lines 16-20). Whereas earlier in the poem the speaker explained himself as impenetrable by nails, now in his moment of rage and perhaps breakdown, his anger’s nails cut into him and hold him together. This difference, even just within this short section, conveys the tension within the speaker between blame and responsibility. These lines also explain that the passion he has through his anger gives the house stability. This tells the reader, and the speaker, that if he had cared this much about his decisions earlier in his life, his house would be much sturdier.
However, the next lines show that rage towards himself is not the way to go. Dugan writes, “Then / it screamed and went on through, / skewing as wrong the other way. / God damned it. This is hell, / but I planned it, I sawed it, / I nailed it, / and I will live in it until it kills me.” (Lines 20-26). These lines settle upon an acceptance of responsibility. The speakers finally fully accepts that no one is to blame for his decisions but himself, this is seen through, “I nailed it / and I will live in it until it kills me”. Right before this realization, the speaker blames God for his misfortune, yet quickly takes it back. “God damned it”, just like “By Christ” earlier in the poem has a double meaning. Again, it can be interpreted as an exclamation, like “god damn it”. Yet with the addition of two letters, it carries the meaning gives God responsibility, comparing the speaker to that humble carpenter, to the martyrdom of Christ. Sending rage’s nails into himself, which can be seen as a crucifixion reference, although actually working for a moment, makes the whole construction of the house even worse than before once it collapses. This part of the metaphor explains to the reader that anger towards himself or towards God got him nowhere, and instead created more of a mess in his life. This conveys the idea that while it is healthy to look back on your life, to have a “house-warming”, it is not healthy to great your past decisions, no matter how bad, with anger and self hatred.
The final section of the poem contains a big shift and explains the complete meaning of the metaphor. As the only lines truly relating to the title, the end allows the reader to understand the importance of the vulnerability that the speaker has struggled to find and accept throughout the poem. While taking the blame for something that one did to himself can be incredibly painful and heavy, like a house collapsing on top of you, this poem is a love song because it reaches the conclusion that this is why love exists, as a partner can be the support that keeps one going despite all else. Dugan writes, “I can nail my left palm / to the left-hand crosspiece but / I can’t do everything myself. / I need a hand to nail the right, / a help, a love, a you, a wife.” (Lines 27-31). While this ending is still self-deprecating and sarcastic, as he continues to compare himself to Jesus and his crucifixion, the speaker is not considering himself to be a martyr in a holy sense, only in the sense that he is giving himself up to his life by accepting his past. This is the first time in the poem that another person is mentioned, with the last line being nothing like the rest, romantic and gentle opposed to violent and chaotic. Dugan manages to end such a bitter and sad poem with beauty and optimism, explaining that the speaker's love is the only good thing in his life, but as long as she is there to help him in his vulnerability, in his crucifixion, he is fine with it.
The line breaks in this poem use enjambment and very short lines, creating a visual structure. The poem itself looks like a tall, unstable structure. Every other line is indented and it is long and skinny. This structure allows the reader to feel both the chaos and instability of the poem, as reading it creates an uneasy feeling, as your eyes dart from short line to short line. Alan Dugan also uses a lot of enjambment throughout this poem. For example, he writes, “I built / the roof for myself, the walls / for myself” (Lines 8-10) and “the joists / are shaky by nature, no piece fits / any other piece without a gap / or pinch” (Lines 2-5). While he has a tendency to separate lines so that they start with the speaker, I, and to separate the subjects from their affect, such as in the lines shown above, there is not enough of a pattern in his enjambment to say anything absolute. The largest effect of his enjambment is chaos, the same chaos that the structure of the poem causes. By using enjambment and short lines, Dugan creates a physical experience for the reader as well as a visual one with his extended metaphor.
A very well crafted poem, Alan Dugan’s “Love Song: I and Thou” leads the reader on a journey ending in a statement about the human condition. The idea that support from others, support from those we love, is what allows us to keep going despite our poor decisions and the chaos of our lives. A different kind of love song than most would expect, Dugan frees the reader from expectation and allows them to feel the chaos as he describes it through structure. Everyone can relate to feeling overwhelmed and upset at their own choices, and everyone can imagine a house poorly built. This poem is a wonderfully constructed example of extended metaphor and line breaks, certainly not falling apart itself.