What Lips My Lips Have Kissed Flashcards
“What lips my lips have kissed, and where, and why,”
The use of “what” instead of the expected “whose” already suggests a distance between her past loves and herself
Repetition reduces the former men in her life to a kiss, indicating that there was no meaningful love between them
The speaker may feel regret over the absence of an emotional attachment as she realises that physical intimacy cannot compensate for her lack of emotional intimacy
Caesura slows the pace of the poem. The speaker is thinking deeply about her past in a contemplation tone
“And my heart there stirs a quiet pain”
Verb suggests that the conflict felt about her relationships either wasn’t there previously, or it was unnoticed and is now painfully throbbing beneath the surface
Adjective emphasises her feelings of extreme loneliness. However it seems as if she’s trying to (or had already) repress her emotions. Internal conflict continues to grow within the speaker
“Thus in the winter stands the lonely tree,”
Connotations of death, loss and change. The speaker believes she has come to winter of her life
The speaker feels emotionally cold and depressed
The speaker uses a metaphor to describe herself- bare and lifeless. There is a sense of inadequacy as she now feels unattractive to others
Potential themes and comparisons
Loss of loved ones; Easter Monday, Poppies, Vergissmeinnicht
Memory; Easter Monday, Mametz Wood
Inner conflict; Easter Monday, Poppies
