Love Poetry Essay

Poetry has been a mode of expressing feelings for thousands of years and probably one of the most beautiful types of poetry is love poetry. Poetry allows the writer to take their feelings and express them in such a way that their emotions are conveyed more desirably than in traditional speaking or writing due to the use imagery, symbolism, allegory and other poetical tools. Love poems have the ability to show the beauty of love and give life to feelings. Love poetry goes back in history thousands of years. In Egypt visual depictions and writings were found on shattered pottery and papyrus that were as old as 1000 B.C. The love poetry discovered had distinct similarities to the poetry found in the Bible in the Song of Solomon or the Song

In the selection “My god, my lotus” both the girl speaks and then the boy. This poem is full of symbolism. In the title which is also the first line of the poem, the girl calls the boy her god and lotus (Puchner 28). In Egyptian culture the lotus flower was very meaningful. It was considered to be the symbol of rebirth, purity, peace and serenity because it comes from muddy waters yet still clean and unblemished. It was often found with royalty in paintings found in Egypt. The lotus was very important to other ancient cultures besides Egypt such as India and China (Newsfinder.org

It is possible she meant for it to be an amulet for them. Amulets were often represented by small animals and were carried for protection or for some kind of power from the gods (Patch 2000). This could have been her idea of protection from their parent’s wrath if they were caught in a tryst. She offers the fish-the amulet to her lover in pure adoration. The girl finishes her part in the poem with a plea. “O my hero, my beloved come and see me!” While this poem is not explicit in its imagery, it is still deeply sensual. The desires of the young woman and her lover are clear their love is pure not filthy. She calls him her hero and beloved. It is possible he had done some heroic deed to win her affections (Puchner