Universal Love- Parting Withou
Love is a universal concept that has survived through the ages. With time, though, it also has become more complicated. Although, the concept of love becomes more complex, the story remains the same. In the poem, “Parting, Without a Sequel,” by John Crowe Ransom, the story of love is almost over, and the reader becomes a part of it at the end of the affair. The poem begins with a woman finishing a letter, “with characters venomous and hatefully curved,” to be mailed to the man she once loved. This letter, assumed by the reader that its purpose is to break off the relationship, gives the woman a sense of power and relief when it is completed. Although, as soon as she hands it “to the blue-capped functioner of doom,” she begins to regret what she has done and hopes her love will never see the letter. Upset and woeful, she goes to her father for comfort. Still regretting what she had done, she watches the postman bike away, carrying her future within his hands. This poem shows an honest look at the truest emotions of people. Almost everyone has experienced the story within this poem; saying something during a time of pure hatred towards another that they will most surely regret in the future. They know that their feelings must be heard, but do it in a most inappropriate way. The woman, in a fit of rage wrote a letter to a soon to be ex-lover. She knew her mistake of writing such a harsh letter, but there was nothing she could do after she gave it to the postman, other than go to her father. Ransom refers to the father as a “vaunting oak” to show that he is a steadfast and wise father. The daughter knows she can depend on him for the support she needs during this time of her life, and he gives it to her. He was quiet during his daughter’s relationship, but now that she has come to him, he finally can speak and tell her what he feels. Rubbing his old dried up hands, “rasped his sere leaves,” he