The Different Aspects of the Theme: Love from 5 Works of Art

Introduction

Wagner notes that love makes the world go around (31). The true expression of romantic love lies in how it is communicated between two people. Literary artists have created several works of art to embellish this expression. Some of the most common forms of literary expressions are songs and poetry. Poems and songs on love appear to have similar theme and one would almost find them similar in other aspects as well. However, despite being love songs and poems, these works of art portray slightly different ideas and style on the same subject matter. A critical look at the following poems and songs reveal that they all have the same theme of love, yet, share different perspectives on the matter. The songs include; “This can’t be love” by Ella Fitzgerald, “How Sweet It Is (To be Loved by You)” by Marvin Gaye, and “Here Comes the Sun” by The Beatles. The poems also include; “Beautiful Us” by Monica Jeevan as well as “My one, My Only my everything” by D. Lancaster.

This Can’t Be Love by Ella Fitzgerald

“This Can’t Be Love” is a song composition by Fitzgerald who shares how she feels so well as a result of being in love. To her, the feeling of love is so unique from what she knows before and this comes out in her repetitive usage of “this can’t be love” on stanza one, two, four and six (Fitzgerald, line 1). In her expression of love, she disputes conventional definitions and symptoms of being in love. For example, she says. “I get no dizzy spells and “my head is not in the skies” (Fitzgerald, 2: 2). These verses mean that love, according to Fitzgerald can come in any number of forms. Regardless, she asserts that, “But I still love to look in your eyes” (Fitzgerald, 6: 3).

How Sweet It Is (To Be loved by You) by Marvin Gaye

While Fitzgerald shares about different feelings of being in love from the subject’s point of view, “How Sweet It Is (To Be loved by You)” portrays the gratitude of a lover. Gaye artistically shares the sweet feelings of being in love by a desire he has, “I want to stop (stop) and thank you baby” (Gaye, 4: 1). This line is repeated severally in the song to stress the value of gratitude in love. According to Stobaugh, love is what we give to others (10). This song depicts the theory of Stobaugh by showing how Gaye remarks at the sweetness of being loved (11). The repetition of “stop” in the song brings out the real of actually stopping and expressing this gratitude.

Here Comes the Sun by The Beatles

The Beatles on the other hand produced a love song “Here comes the sun” to accentuate the beauty and glamour of returning to love. The usage of the sun as a symbol of love illustrates the light that comes with being in love. This light is also evident when the artist says, “Little darling, it’s been a long cold lonely winter” (The Beatles, 2: 1). This example relates closely to the seasons in the geographical location of the author and how the community values summer as opposed to winter when there is much loneliness, and cold. This metaphor of being in love relating to the sun brings out a new dimension of love that the artists affirm in the last stanza as “it’s all right” meaning, it’s perfect.

Beautiful Us by Monica Jeevan

The poem by Jeevan also illustrates a different aspect to love in how she shares qualities of being in love. The poem begins with, “Sweetheart, have you ever thought about how beautiful our relationship is…?” (Jeevan, 1:1). This kind of statement invites the reader to a reflective space of love. This dimension of reflection to what love is and can be reveals yet another dimension to love in this poem. Some of the values of acceptance, honesty, playfulness, and openness are similar to the values shared by Fitzgerald and Gaye. The poem ends with “our love is a mixture of all relationships...” (Jeevan, 4) which illustrates the uniqueness of love being all-encompassing. It ends by marveling at the beauty of such love.

My One, My Only, My Everything by D. Lancaster

Finally, Lancaster, in “My one, my only, my everything” reveals yet another dimension to love that is unique in itself. While other artists have expressed their feelings on what love is and Jeevan shared various qualities of love, Lancaster, defines love as finding his soulmate again. In Stanza 2, he says “when then that day came, when I found you again.” (Lancaster, 2:1). This line closely connected to the subsequent one indicates that people can make mistakes in love and the bliss lies in finding each other again. He ends the poem with, “my one, my only, my everything” to show the singularity and focus one gets into when in love (Lancaster, 5:2).

Conclusion

In conclusion, the theme of love contains various aspects to it that can be expressed in various ways in literary compositions. As we can see in the 3 songs and 2 poems, each artist shares about love in a different perspective using various figures of art. These differences ultimately add to the beauty of art regardless of similar themes they may all be communicating.

Works Cited

Fitzgerald, Ella. “This Can’t Be Love.” Genius. 2nd August 2018. https://genius.com/Nat-king-cole-this-cant-be-love-lyrics. Accessed on 9th Dec 2018.

Gaye, Marvin. “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)” Genius. 5th August 2018. https://genius.com/Marvin-gaye-how-sweet-it-is-to-be-loved-by-you-lyrics. Accessed on 9th Dec 2018.

Jeevan, Monica. “Beautiful Us” Family Friend Poems. 10th June 2017. https://www.familyfriendpoems.com/poem/beautiful-us. Accessed on 9th

Dec 2018.

Lancaster, D. “My one, my only, my everything” Whatpad. 12th January 2017. https://www.wattpad.com/164486256-love-poems-my-one-my-only-my-everything. Accessed on 9th

Dec 2018.

Stobaugh, James P. Handbook for Literary Analysis: How to Evaluate Prose Fiction, Drama, & Poetry. Cork: BookBaby, 2015. Print.

The Beatles “Here Comes The Sun” Genius. 12th

Jan. 2018. https://genius.com/The-beatles-here-comes-the-sun-lyrics. Accessed on 9th Dec 2018.

Wagner, Patrick. Poetry Analysis. Clayton, South Vic: Learning Essentials, 2016. Print.