Ah, How Sweet It Is To Love

Ah, How Sweet It Is To Love Analysis

The poem starts with "ah", indicating that there is a sense of relief that the poet wishes to emphasize. From the following lines, it becomes exceeding clear that the poet wishes to glorify young love and talk about the innocent follies of youth.

The poet reiterates the ideas like "sweet" and "gay" to show the positive connotations that the poet associates with love. It is also interesting that the sentences end in exclamation mark, indicating that the poet feels cathartic. He talks about the "pleasing pains", using both oxymoron and alliteration to appeal to the senses and talk about the innocence of youthful love at the same time. The "pleasing pains" bring together two contrasting ideas, projecting the idea of duality of love onto the writer.

The poet further talks about the resilience of love, saying that "Pains of love be sweeter far", indicating that he feels that in love, even pain feels far sweeter than all the pleasures of the world. A parallel can be drawn between "The Sunne Rising" and this poem in that they both talk about the supremacy and potency of love.

Through the following lines, the poet talks about how even the tears shed in love have the power to cure. He reiterates the idea of youthful love throughout these lines. From youthful love, he slowly transitions to the idea of time, and how the ravages of time weaken the potency of love.

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