Not My Enemies Ever Invade Me
Not My Enemies Ever Invade Me - meaning Summary
Vulnerability to Beloveds
The poem contrasts the speaker’s emotional resilience against enemies with a complete surrender to those he loves. Enemies do not wound his pride, but lovers disarm him, rendering him open, helpless, and weakened. The speaker characterizes this loss of dignity as involuntary and extreme—falling to the ground, abject before beloveds—emphasizing love’s power to undo self-possession rather than external foes.
Read Complete AnalysesNOT my enemies ever invade me—no harm to my pride from them I fear; But the lovers I recklessly love—lo! how they master me! Lo! me, ever open and helpless, bereft of my strength! Utterly abject, grovelling on the ground before them.
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