Sharon Olds Sex Without Love

Jeannine Johnson concurs, confirming, “The poet argues that wisdom and age do not determine one 's power to love deeply and honestly. Even though Annabel and her lover were young, the speaker contends that their feelings surpassed those of all others” (1). In matters of love, age is an insignificant factor for those who cannot see past the passion in each other’s eyes.

In Twenty-Something Women and the Paradox of Sexual Freedom by Leslie Bell we follow the stories of three women contradicting the environments they were raised in, as an act of rebellion and individuality. These three women are distraught and confused about their identities and individuality due to conflicting obligations between traditional family values and their own desires. The environment each woman was brought up in was a catalyst in producing a “reactive decision.” As a result, their reactive choices lead to a greater sense of self and individuality. These three women display how their inner convictions are revealed and explored, as a result of the faith and beliefs that surrounded them. The oppressive expectations of their environments

The third stanza goes on to define the pain, only now in more emotional terms, such as "It hurts to thwart the reflexes / of grab, of clutch" (14-15), as well as the pain of continuously having to say good bye, each perhaps as if for the last time: "to love and let / go again and again" (15-16). These lines reinforce the impression that the first stanza's definition of "to love differently" is in fact an anti-freedom or state of emotional anarchy, now using words like "pester" to describe any separation; the poet is compelled "to remember / the lover who is not in the bed" (16), hinting at obsessive tendencies as being possible components of the relationship. We also learn that she believes love requires work, which she cannot do without her partner's assistance, and that this lack of cooperation frustrates her. She believes this neglected effort is the other party's fault by his failure to do his fair share, thereby leaving her own efforts ineffective, the whole of it characterized as an effort "that gutters like a candle in a cave / without air" (19-20). Her demands of this work are quite broad, encompassing being "conscious, conscientious and concrete" in her efforts and optimistically calling this work "constructive" (20-21) before ending the stanza.

She writes “The One Girl at the Boy’s Party” as a representation of reaching the full potential and understand the power and beauty of an individual's mind. Having an alcoholic father that often would use cruel and unfair punishments, left Olds and her family afraid to express themselves. As Olds neared adolescence she joined a church choir, where she would find a new passion to pursue. She fell in love with sonnets and poetry, her favorite book was composed of hymns and passages. As she furthered her education she became passionate about writing free verses. In this free verse poem she discusses the theme of aging and maturing. Due to the fact that she did not experience a ¨normal” childhood, she writes to inform the reader that it is okay to want to be older and to essentially grow up. She tells the story from a mother’s perspective, allowing the reader to see it from different point of view. The mother is scared and nervous for her daughter, but we cannot stop time, everyone

A more disturbing perspective that the poem can take on is that the speaker wants to be the slave to this woman he admires. As mentioned before, the speaker considers the girl as a confidante, but then follows on to say that he wants to undress and take her virginity. “O she’ll give pleasure! in future, no grown man will deny it! But tonight, to me, this chaste girl bares unthinking the delicate blush/Of a most secret landscape, her woman’s body” (9-14). These lines also gave me pedophilic vibes because he calls the female figure “a girl” and it was interesting

Most of the poem is sweet, but also tells them to hurry and enjoy life right now before they run out of time. Also that their bodies are energized now and later on they won’t be able to do what they would do when they were younger. In comparison to “To His Coy Mistress” the author tells them to get married also because they have something that time will sooner, or later take away and that would be sad that they didn’t get to enjoy it just because they wanted to

In Edna St. Vincent Millay’s “Love is Not All (Sonnet XXX),” the poem’s writer originally discredits the value of love, claiming that it is not essential because it does not support life; however, later Millay describes that love has some value.

'Sex Without Love,' by Sharon Olds passionately described the author's disgust for casual sex in which she vividly animates the immorality of lustful sex through the variety of her language. The sarcasm used in this selection can easily be misunderstood and quite confusing if the words and lines are not analyzed with specific construction. Olds' clever use of imagery and frequent uses of similes, to make the reader imagine actual events, makes this poem come to life. For example, Olds describes making love as 'Beautiful as dancers.' (Line #2) in this line, she questions how one can do such a beautiful act with a person whom one is not in love with. Olds also describes sex as 'gliding over each other

The poem, “sex without love” by Sharon Olds portrays the issues in the society today. Casual sex is on the rise and Olds is puzzled how one can have sex without loving the other partner. She states, “How do they do it, the ones who make love without sex?” (Line 1). She, however, describes sex with beautiful imagery of dancers, making it appealing but the eventual feeling of loneliness is inevitable. Olds choice of words, imagery, and symbolism throughout her texts is contrasting; sex without love is possible but is exemplified as a selfish empty act if love is absent.

Sex Without Love has a theme of how a person can not understand how someone can have sexual relationships without being in love. In this poem Olds is puzzled to how and why a person can share such passion and intimacy with another when there is no love or special bond that holds the two together. Although there is no kind of emotional connection she is not empathetic of the loveless physical connection that is shared between the two beings as they engage in sexual contact. Olds is appalled with casual sex and believes that people misinterpret "I love you" to simply just "loving sex". She feels if there is no love shared that the sex is only a selfish act between two.

Love is the greatest human emotion one can experience. In the poem "Leaving the Motel" by W. D. Snodgrass and "Sex Without Love" by Sharon Olds each poet shares different views on the theme of love. Snodgrass' poem focuses on a couple having an affair in a motel. As they are leaving they go through a checklist to make sure they keep their secrecy. While, Olds' poem focuses more about how people have sex without being in love. Both of these poems illustrate a strong sense of love in different ways with the help of point of view, mood, and symbolism.

The poet points out that losing her virginity is not a sin. "A sin, nor shame, nor loss of maidenhead" He tries to reverse her views that both society and herself share. He is very persuasive in this poem and uses the flea many times as a symbol of their sexual union and uses many metaphors. He uses many sly phrases also which could easily win his argument and I feel it is making her feel guilty and starting to make her confused and think about the prospects of them having sex.

Sharon Olds’ poem “Sex Without Love” wonders at the ability for two people to have sex and not involve emotions or pretenses of love. The poem argues that it is better to have sex without love under the premise that love is a false savior for people, and everyone is all alone anyhow. In other words, the claim is that personal interactions do not serve a purpose other than being a distraction, and they will inevitably end. However, the notion that attachment and love are false hopes for people and each person is all alone does not account for the inevitability of human interactions and the underlying importance of relationships. While the poem does not give its definition of being alone, complete isolation is virtually impossible and leads

The tone is increasingly felt in this stanza. It is depicting a sixty years old person who could be as a symbolical time of a community or a person should be in the lower classes. To continue with his or her boss is a young girl and she or he should call her “ma’am”. The person keeps laughing, but now the laugh is not only for his or her self. The laugh is in the system that make the person’s life become in irony for a long

My first and immediate explanation for the poem was an address from one lover to a