Lullaby Love

This is a really intimate way to begin a poem. It's almost as if we're overhearing the speaker whispering to his lover in bed.

The speaker knows that his beloved isn't perfect. Instead of being a problem, his mortality and guiltiness is what makes him worth loving. It's what makes him beautiful to the speaker.

It seems here like the lovers are all tangled up in each other, both physically and emotionally.

The speaker imagines a message of love sent to the lovers from Venus, the Roman goddess of love and beauty. Yet this message is "grave"; it's serious and maybe even a little morbid. Love in this poem is not sparkling all the time because there's always the threat of death. Also, it's noteworthy that the speaker uses the word "ordinary" to describe the embrace of the lovers. Their love is nothing special; it's the love that every human experiences.

The speaker declares that he'll remember everything that has happened on this night. He won't forget a single second of this love-filled experience.

The speaker whispers a prayer-like wish for his sleeping beloved. He wants the world to treat him well, and he wants his lover to find what he needs on earth, not in the heavens.

The speaker declares that he'll watch over his lover completely. He'll make sure that he's fed in times of famine, and protected from all harm. Instead of looking to God for help, the speaker essentially says, his beloved should look to him.