Eros

Louise Gluck
page 509


This poem caught my eye with it's one line opening, "I had drawn my chair to the hotel window, to watch the rain". This first line stands alone in the poem, and I thought it was a good hook because the ambiguity of it made me wonder where this poem was going. After reading the poem, the reader gets a sense of what woman is going through and the relationship between her and her lover, although the poem states no actual details of their relationship. The author uses very simple words to describe her very simple setting in a hotel room. I think that the choice of words is appropriate for the poem because it exudes a sense of emptiness and being barren. In fact, she states in the end that she is "naked", perhaps stripped of all emotion that she ever felt for this man, freeing her from all of the emotional baggage of the relationship. This woman is finally beginning to let go of her lover and knows exactly what she feels about it; she is not going through the various, complicated emotions of love, a case in which more complex words would have been appropriate. Other details can confirm that she is ready to let go, such as "I could let you live as you needed to live" and "afterward, I took off my wedding ring". Not too many objects/nouns are mentioned in the poem, which further helps to paint a simple picture. The only things that the reader may "see" in the scene is the room with the woman, a chair, and a window overlooking a rainy city. I also thought that the use of rain in the poem added to the woman's emotional state. As she watched out her window, the rain went on. "At dawn the rain abated", and it is at this time that the woman starts to do things, which leads up to her taking off her wedding ring. The rain may have symbolized some sort of cleansing, having a fresh new start afterwards. The poem is written in first person, and when read aloud, I can imagine myself in her shoes, especially since it deals with relationships and gaining the confidence of moving forward. Another thing I noticed is that this poem mentions the woman's wants and needs, using those actual words a couple of times. By the end of the poem, she realizes that she neither wants or needs him anymore.