The Influence of Emotion in Relationships

Each of the pieces, “This Is Just To Say”, “Love Medicine”, and “l(a” share a similar theme that relates to the unique bonds that form within relationships as well as the ways in which emotion influences them. “This Is Just To Say” presents a literal demonstration of this theme, as the speaker reveals that he ate a plum that did not belong to him. Along the same lines, Lipsha in “Love Medicine” allows different aspects of human emotion to overtake him when he obtains frozen turkey hearts instead of fresh ones for his grandmother’s Love Medicine. The poem “l(a” presents a more abstract portrait of this theme, as Cummings displays the story of a leaf falling, and how that embodies elements of human emotion such as loneliness. In many ways these pieces share a common tie because they all feature unique relationships that involve the influence of emotion.
William Carlos Williams’ “This Is Just To Say” is a brilliantly simple and modern poem that captures several emotions. In this poem, the speaker describes the action of eating plums that were not his. In the second stanza he recognizes that another individual was saving them for breakfast, and apologizes while noting that they “were delicious so sweet and so cold” in the final stanza. The simple form as well as the title lends the idea that maybe this poem is a note or apology. However, as a result of the ambiguous tone, it is difficult to distinguish whether the speaker is apologetic, humorous, or smug. Despite, it is relatively easy to discern that the emotions of forgiveness and temptation were evident in the relationship, which is what the poem could be symbolizing.
The piece, “Love Medicine”, by Louise Erdrich tells the story of a boy, Lipsha and the role he plays in attempting to aid his grandmother in rebuilding her relationship with her senile husband. According to the ancient Indian traditions of their tribe, Lipsha’s grandmother believes that eating turkey hearts will help bring her heart closer to her husband. Lipsha has a difficult time grappling with the reality of killing two turkeys for something he knows is a tribal myth. Thus, in the end of the story Lipsha learns that “the real actual power to the love medicine was not the goose heart itself but the faith within the cure”. While the grandfather was physically deteriorating, the grandmother suffered a similar emotional deterioration as she lost her husband to senility as well as another woman, Lamartine.
The emotion illustrated in E.E. Cumming’s “l(a” is a different, and more abstract form of emotion in contrast to the human emotion of the other pieces. In addition, Cummings’ poem is also a piece better understood by reading than speaking. The form in particular is unique as a means of illustrating the theme because the poem is about a falling leaf, and the words “leaf falls” are inserted in the word loneliness. Although a leaf does not have human qualities, it is like a single individual, an essential part of a relationship. However, for a leaf this relationship is the one formed between the parts of a plant or tree that work together to sustain life. As a result, when one leaf withers and falls to the ground, it inevitably takes on human characteristics. Loneliness is an obvious emotion such a leaf would embody because it is leaving the parts that sustain it, and that it sustains in turn. In many ways this emotion is one that is universal, evident in nature and felt by all humans at one point in their lives.
Human emotion plays a powerful role in determining the course of meaningful relationships. Emotion affects the ways in which individuals think, speak, and act which can result in a greater impact on others. Each of the works, “This Is Just To Say”, “Love Medicine” and “l(a” identify different types of relationships and the role of emotion within them. While at first glance it may appear difficult to discern a greater theme common among these pieces, the emotions of forgiveness, loneliness, and selfishness are three radically different emotions, that embody the common theme bonding them together.