Poem Analysis - O Tell Me The Truth About Love

A Humorous and Earnest Inquiry

W.H. Auden’s "O Tell Me The Truth About Love" is a charmingly whimsical poem that grapples with the elusive nature of love. The poem adopts a lighthearted and almost comedic tone, posing a series of absurd questions about love’s characteristics. However, beneath the surface of humor lies a genuine yearning to understand this complex emotion. The mood shifts subtly throughout, moving from general observations to personal inquiry and finally to hopeful anticipation, revealing the speaker's growing vulnerability.

The Unreliable Narratives of Love

One central theme in the poem is the subjectivity of love. The opening stanza establishes this immediately, presenting a multitude of conflicting opinions: "Some say love's a little boy,/And some say it's a bird." This suggests that there is no single, universally accepted definition of love, and that its meaning is shaped by individual experiences and perspectives. The encounter with the "man next-door" whose wife shuts down the conversation further emphasizes the difficulty in obtaining a clear, objective understanding of love. The poem subtly critiques the oversimplification and romanticization of love often found in popular culture, highlighting how such narratives often fail to capture its true complexity.

Absurd Imagery and Love's Unconventional Form

Auden uses absurd and unconventional imagery to explore the intangible nature of love. The questions posed in the second and fourth stanzas, such as "Does it look like a pair of pyjamas, / Or the ham in a temperance hotel?" and "Does it howl like a hungry Alsatian, / Or boom like a military band?" are deliberately ridiculous. This outlandish imagery serves to highlight the inadequacy of language and conventional descriptions in capturing the essence of love. By comparing love to such disparate and unlikely things, Auden suggests that it defies easy categorization and exists outside the realm of normal human understanding. The use of humor makes the subject more approachable, drawing the reader into the speaker's quest for understanding.

The Quest for Love's Location

The fifth stanza presents a search for love in tangible locations, further emphasizing the speaker's desire to find concrete evidence of its existence. The speaker actively seeks love in various places: "I looked inside the summer-house;/ It wasn't over there; / I tried the Thames at Maidenhead,/ And Brighton's bracing air." This physical search, however, proves futile. The speaker’s inability to locate love in these familiar settings underscores its abstract and elusive nature. The contrast between the speaker's active searching and the absence of love creates a sense of yearning and highlights the difficulty in pinning down something so intangible. The futility is somewhat humorous, but also poignant.

Anticipation and the Unpredictability of Love's Arrival

The final stanza shifts to a tone of hopeful anticipation mixed with anxiety. The questions become more personal and introspective, focusing on the potential impact of love's arrival. "When it comes, will it come without warning/Just as I'm picking my nose?" This image is both funny and revealing, suggesting a vulnerability and a fear of being caught off guard. The series of questions about the nature of love's arrival – "Will it come like a change in the weather? / Will its greeting be courteous or rough? / Will it alter my life altogether?" – reflects a deep longing for connection and a recognition of love's transformative power. The ending leaves the reader with a sense of uncertainty, emphasizing the unpredictable and potentially disruptive nature of love.

Final Thoughts on Love's Unfathomable Mystery

In conclusion, "O Tell Me The Truth About Love" is a witty and insightful exploration of a complex emotion. Through its use of humor, unconventional imagery, and personal inquiry, the poem highlights the subjective nature of love, the inadequacy of language in capturing its essence, and the hopeful anticipation of its arrival. While the poem never provides a definitive answer, it ultimately suggests that the truth about love lies not in concrete definitions or tangible locations, but in its unpredictable and transformative potential. The open-ended nature of the poem invites the reader to reflect on their own experiences and perceptions of love, acknowledging its inherent mystery and enduring power.