Love After Love Love Quotes

Ouch—this title gives us an ice-cream headache. It’s deliberately ambiguous, we think. What is the difference between the first “love” and the second “love,” apart from when they take place? Or is there even a difference? We tend to talk about love in many ways: good, bad, complicated, simple. But is there really a difference when it comes right down to it?

Stand aside, Shmoopers. This one we can handle. It’s pretty clear that our speaker is talking about self-love here. Not loving yourself—either because you’re too busy loving someone else, or because you can’t find anything to love in yourself—makes you a “stranger” to yourself. And that’s not good.

The good news, according to our speaker, is that you have a #1 fan right there with you at all times: it’s you. Sure, you may lose track of yourself (by being too self-critical, or by putting all of your energy into a relationship with someone else). At the end of the day, though, we all have the capacity for self-love.

Who is this “another” the speaker mentions? We just don’t get any other info. Our best guess? It’s a by-now-ex-girl- or boyfriend. Haven’t we all been in, or witnessed, a relationship where one person totally abandons themselves and focuses on someone else? That’s never a healthy thing to do. Luckily, this poem is here to pick “you” up and dust you off after making that mistake.

Who knows you better than you, right? You practically hang out with yourself 24-7, which is why you know yourself “by heart.” If anyone can find something about you to love, then, it’s got to be you.

Does anything say “bad break-up” more than holding on to a bunch of old love letters? We know it’s harsh (and hard), but you have got to get those things to the recycling bin right this very minute. (Hey, just because your love life takes a hit doesn’t mean you can pollute the environment.) The only way to move on, to start to love yourself, is to rid yourself of the reminders of past loves gone wrong.