I am not yours, not lost in you,
Not lost, although I long to be
Lost as a candle lit at noon,
Lost as a snowflake in the sea.

You love me, and I find you still
A spirit beautiful and bright,
Yet I am I, who long to be
Lost as a light is lost in light.

Oh plunge me deep in love — put out
My senses, leave me deaf and blind,
Swept by the tempest of your love,
A taper in a rushing wind.

Analysis, meaning and summary of Sara Teasdale's poem I Am Not Yours

12 Comments

  1. SK says:

    Maybe her relationship with Vachel Lindsay(1879–1931)could be a little helpful in understanding this poem. He who once was her friend and married with another has haunted her more or less during her life time.

  2. Michael Barrett Dixon says:

    Just FYI, As a composer and songwriter, I was so taken by my recent discovery of Sara Teasdale’s music in 2009, that I have devoted an entire album to her work. Ten poems will be set to popular music (tastefully, of course). I Am Not Yours is one of those tracks. You can get a sneak preview of this and four other songs on my artist page: myspace.com/michaelbarrettdixon

    I hope you enjoy the songs as much as I enjoyed creating them.

    –Mike

  3. Anonymous says:

    A thought, Sarah’s long time male friend had always been in love with her. She knew he was good for her, but could never love him, even though she wanted to. Instead she was getting married to another man. For some reason she was never attracted to her friend as more than a friend. And you must remember as well, Sarah was emotionally and mentally imbalanced for most of her life… eventually she killed herself. She wrote this poem for the man who loved her, and she could never love in return.

  4. anj says:

    i read in a book once that true love starts when being “in love” ends; when the intense emotion is gone but you still CHOOSE to love someone. maybe it’s that blind passion that sara wants to experience: “yet i am i, who long to be lost as a light is lost in light” but it’s not that she detests her husband-to-be: “and i find you still a spirit beautiful and bright”. she expected love to be like that, passionate, and i guess her experiences fell short.

  5. Salma says:

    It is so sad. I wonder if somebody forced her to get married?

  6. Chii says:

    She isn’t saying she wants to be loved, and feel all the passion of love she is saying she wants to feel love and passion deeper. When she says “Put out my senses, leave me deaf and blind.” She is saying leave me deaf and blind so I can feel love more deeply. And if you still don’t get what I mean, it’s like when one of you senses goes your other ones get stronger, she wants her heart to be stronger.
    Chii, 16 years

  7. Joy says:

    first of all can anyone here spell? secondly why do you have to analyze every little detail of the poem? its an excellent poem, and if you are going to talk about it, at least do it coherently. btw, this poem reminds me of her other poem, “Alone.” same recurring theme.

  8. ilene novick says:

    teasdale is saying that she wants to be loved and to feel all the passion that goes with love….she also wants to remain her own person and not give the rest of who she is to anyone….if she were writing in the present day of womens’ lib, many would think this was possible….it may be, it may not be….she died in the 30’s and i think many people today would think she was ahead of her time but there always were people who had thoughts, many times hidden, which expressed today’s sentiments… most men need women and most women need men and as long as this remains, which i think is biological, nothing can really change…

  9. Mac. says:

    A very sad poem indeed albeit beautfully written with great feeling. It is indeed surprising to hear that she wrote this on the night before her wedding day.

  10. gabby says:

    i like your poem it was really good have you ever thought about getting it put in a book. well any way you should write more and post them.

  11. Margaret Min says:

    do u noe when she wrote this? she wrote this right before her marriage! she was doomed to be miserable with the doubt of love in her heart

  12. Neptune says:

    I like it so much,it is so sad,sad for “I” and “you” both,If some one said to you “I am not yours.” He does’n love you. A good irony poem.

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