“Love Cycle” - Chinua Achebe

  

At dawn slowly

the sun withdraws his

long misty arms of

embrace. Happy lovers

 

whose exertions leave

no aftertaste nor slush

of love’s combustion; Earth

perfumed in dewdrop

fragrance wakes

 

to whispers of

soft-eyed light…

Later he

will wear out his temper

ploughing the vast acres

of heaven and take it

 

out of her in burning

darts of anger. Long

accustomed to such caprice

she waits patiently

 

for evening when thoughts

of another night will

restore his mellowness

and her power

over him.

Glossary

1.     dawn – sunrise

2.     embrace – hug/hold in arms

3.     exertions – efforts

4.     no aftertaste nor slush – no memory left by an event/experience

5.     combustion – burning (here warmth of love)

6.     soft-eyed light – refers to the early morning

7.     wear out – tired of losing his temperament

8.     caprice - a sudden change of mood

9.     restore - bring back

      mellowness – relaxed and pleasant

Analysis

“Love Cycle”, a poem by Nigerian poet Chinua Achebe, focusses on the power of nature while relating it to human life. It explores the interaction between two natural entities - the sun(an angry male) and the earth(a tolerant female). The poem personifies the sun and the Earth and uses them as a metaphor for a couple.  

The sun leaves from the Earth at dawn like a lover who has just said goodbye.  The Earth is left with a “dewdrop fragrance” and wakes up to the soft light. Later, the sun gets angry from working in the sky and displaces it on the Earth. The Earth is used to the caprice and waits patiently for the evening when the sun calms down. 

The earth’s endurance of the sun’s scorching rays is compared to a woman’s tolerance for her husband’s “darts of anger”. The sun's anger represents the conflict that can happen in a relationship. The Earth's patience represents the power of love to overcome challenges.

Earth tolerates the harshness of the sun during the day. At night, sunlight becomes gentle through the reflective surface of the moon. This subdued nature of the sun gives Earth free reign over her partner. Earth tolerates the sun for these moments of freedom and relief.  The cyclic phenomena of sunrise, sunset, and Earth’s reaction to it indirectly implies that love is a cycle.