Leonard Cohen

Did I Ever Love You

Did I Ever Love You - meaning Summary

Questions in a Quiet Room

The poem stages a speaker repeatedly asking whether a love ever existed, using a steady series of questions to convey ambivalence and unreliable memory. Ordinary domestic images — an old table, November rain, blossoming lemon trees and withering almond trees — suggest seasonal cycles and contrast between flourishing and decay. The repetition implies unresolvedness: the relationship may never have been settled or may persist in a quiet, suspended present.

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Did I ever love you? Did I ever need you? Did I ever fight you? Did I ever want you? Did I ever leave you? Was I ever able? Or are we still leaning Across the old table? Was it ever settled? Was it ever over? And is it still raining Again in November? The lemon trees blossom The almond trees wither Was I ever someone Who could love you forever? Did I ever love you? Does it really matter? Did I ever fight you? You don't need to answer Did I ever leave you? Was I ever able? And are we still leaning Across the old table?

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