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Love Calls Us to the Things of This World
by
Richard Wilbur
Home
Poetry
Love Calls Us to the Things of This World
Analysis
Intro
The Poem
Summary
Analysis
Themes
Quotes
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Table of Contents
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Love Calls Us to the Things of This World Analysis
Symbols, Imagery, Wordplay
Form and Meter
Free Verse or Blank Verse in Six Stanzas At first glance, it would be easy to call this a free verse poem and be on our merry way. There's no rhyme scheme, and when we read it aloud, it's hard to h...
Speaker
We bet it's not everyday you read a poem in which a soul—a human soul—is the speaker. Well congratulations, Shmoopers, you've just done just that. In "Love Calls Us to the Things of This World,...
Setting
The setting of "Love Calls Us to the Things of This World" should be a pretty familiar one. Imagine your own bedroom, with a clothesline just outside. Imagine early morning, when the light just bri...
Sound Check
If you're all about the assonance and alliteration, well, so was Wilbur. And this poem is chock full of both of those poetic devices. The first line, for example, has the internal rhyme of "eyes" a...
What's Up With the Title?
To really get the most out of this title, you'd have to know a bit about an old guy named St. Augustine. Never heard of him? Never fear. Shmoop's got the scoop. St. Augustine was a Christian thinke...
Calling Card
Ah, the Beautiful UniverseWilbur is concerned with linking our everyday lives to the greater spiritual world. His poetry is not religious, but it investigates human existence, and all the beautiful...
Tough-o-Meter
(4) Base CampThis poem takes a few close reads to get the full hang of. But once you get some of the major ideas worked out, things start to fall into place. Visibility is a little low in this thic...
Trivia
Richard Wilbur served in the army during World War II. So he probably saw his fare share of non-joyful stuff. But hey, he's got this poem to make up for it. (Source.)Good ol' Richard was no strange...
Steaminess Rating
GYou can bring the kiddos to this poem; there's nothing sexy going on at all.
Allusions
Historical References:Saint Augustine's Confessions (Title)