Voices in Contemporary Love Poetry

Critiquing or simply reading contemporary love poetry from any era can reveal a multiplicity of different voices speaking through the contemporary love poet. At times, this can be difficult to comprehend or interpret in a truly meaningful way. Does a contemporary poet not have just one voice?

Every contemporary love poet has a voice, but that voice can convey the voice, words or messages of others too. In other words, he or she may speak on behalf of others. For example, a contemporary love poet may initiate a dialogue in his or her contemporary love poetry, as one voice speaks to the other, like in the words of a play. A contemporary love poet may also resolve his or her own personal conflict, crisis or dilemma through a discourse with the divine in conjunction with his or her own conscience.

The contemporary love poet may reflect the thoughts and feelings of others, including large numbers of people, in his or her contemporary love poetry. The romantic contemporary love poet may introduce the voice of his or her beloved.

Being alert to voices in critiquing contemporary love poetry is important in every era. A potential leader's voice can influence a lot of people, often very quickly, when his or her voice conveys the thoughts and feelings of the majority, or even a minority voicing a protest.

Freedom of speech is often difficult to suppress when many voices speak as one unity in contemporary love poetry. Many contemporary love poets receive tremendous criticism and may even be silenced by those who interpret his or her words from a negative perspective. Freedom of speech may not be allowed at times, and sometimes the only way to convey a message is through contemporary love poetry.

The joy and laughter of children, the agony and ecstasy of teenagers, adults or the elderly, may be heard, so to speak, in the words of a contemporary love poet. One of the things that often makes a poetic work enjoyable is the diversity, multiplicity and complexity of love expressed in contemporary love poetry.

A wide range of voices of the times, rings out throughout the course of literary history. At times, that is revealed to academics who are astounded at its significance for a particular era.

One might ask whether it is the sanity of the individual contemporary poet that is questionable. At times, it may appear that way as the contemporary love poet swings back and forth from a voice of reason, at least as it is understood in a particular era, to one of non-reason.

The transitions from agony to  ecstasy, or the opposite in contemporary love poetry, may cause the critic of any era to question the mental and emotional stability of the contemporary love poet. At the same time, he or she may be projecting his or own agony or ecstasy onto the work of the contemporary love poet.

The contemporary love poet may participate in an active dialogue back and forth with his or her muse in any era, or any collection of his or her contemporary love poetry. Different voices break through his or her words revealing the depth and intensity of his or her contemplation.

It is not up to the contemporary love poet to explain the voices reflected in his or her love poetry in any era, including the present one. He or she is in an indomitable position of knowing which voice is speaking through his or her contemporary love poetry. Everyone else can only guess. The mystery remains to be solved in time and often is, from an historical perspective or in comparative literature of different eras.