The Amulet - A poem by Ralph Waldo Emerson

Your picture smiles as first it smiled, The ring you gave is still the same, Your letter tells, O changing child, No tidings since it came. Give me an amulet That keeps intelligence with you, Red when you love, and rosier red, And when you love not, pale and blue. Alas, that neither bonds nor vows Can certify possession; Torments me still the fear that love Died in its last expression.

Comment 7 of 9, added on June 26th, 2007 at 4:14 AM.

This is a wonderful poem by Emerson and very modern in its approach -- don't you agree?

The first stanza examines how mementos like photos and rings may not change and even the old lines in a letter (or poem) -- you can almost trick yourself into beleiving they will preserve and protect your love for all time...

The second stanza fascinates me in its non-traditional approach -- contentwise, he's asking for something like a "mood ring" so he can tell how she is feeling now that she has dropped her correspondance. He is pining for news of the beloved.

Finally, in the last stanza, he despairs, knowing that the "keepsakes" do not keep (guarantee) anything and admits he is afraid he has lost her, which no doubt it true, if that's what he feels.

(btw, I like Robert Creeley's poem entitled "Amulet" but it doesn't hold a candle to this one, even though it rhymes. lol)

ea

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