Generosity

Symbol Analysis

The speaker of this poem is a poor guy. He doesn't have much to give his beloved besides his poem. But the point is that, even though he is poor in material goods, he is rich in spiritual and literary goods. The poem puts an emphasis on giving and generosity—not the generosity of 100 bucks (though we would all want some of that), but rather the generosity of love. We're poor? So what? We can always give love to those around us. That's the message of this poem (and we think it's a good one).

  • Lines 1-2: The speaker says that he has "nothing else" to give his beloved besides his poem. The poem begins with the speaker "offering" something to his beloved, even though this something isn't material. 
  • Line 8: Here again, the speaker repeats that he has "nothing else" to give his beloved. But we're beginning to see that a poem is a pretty great gift. It may not have material value, but it has spiritual value. 
  • Line 24: Here we learn the real value of the speaker's generosity. He may just be giving a poem, but it's "all anyone needs to live." That's because it can allow the beloved to live happily when the world is stacked against her. 
  • Lines 7, 13, 23, 30: The speaker repeats the refrain "I love you" to his beloved in these lines. So this is what the speaker is generously offering to his beloved (through the poem): love, sweet love.