The Lie
The Lie - meaning Summary
Smothered Rage and Restraint
The poem shows a speaker who contains intense anger and grief when a partner threatens to leave. Violent, bodily imagery describes private, imagined revenge, while tears and screams are physically checked. Outwardly the speaker offers polite, practical help and a perfunctory farewell, masking inner turmoil. The contrast between internal fury and composed civility highlights themes of restraint, dignity, and the emotional cost of maintaining appearances in a painful separation.
Read Complete AnalysesToday, you threaten to leave me. I hold curses, in my mouth, which could flood your path, sear bottomless chasms in your road. I keep, behind my lips, invectives capable of tearing the septum from your nostrils and the skin from your back. Tears, copious as a spring rain, are checked in ducts and screams are crowded in a corner of my throat. You are leaving? Aloud, I say: I'll help you pack, but it's getting late, I have to hurry or miss my date. When I return, I know you'll be gone. Do drop a line or telephone.
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