Words! Words!

Words! Words!
How did it happen that we quarreled?
We two who loved each other so!
Only the moment before we were one,
Using the language that lovers know.
And then of a sudden, a word, a phrase
That struck at the heart like a poignard's blow.
And you went berserk, and I saw red,
And love lay between us, bleeding and dead!
Dead! When we'd loved each other so!
How could it happen that we quarreled!
Think of the things we used to say!
"What does it matter, dear, what you do?
Love such as ours has to last for aye!"
--"Try me! I long to endure your test!"
--"Love, we shall always love, come what may!"
What are the words the apostle saith?
"In the power of the tongue are Life and Death!"
Think of the things we used to say!




My reactions toward the poem, “Words! Words!” By Jessie Redmon Fauset is that I really enjoyed reading it. It’s about two couples that are going through a tough situation how things can start off by going great but then just a simple word can ruin the adulation of the relationship. When Jessie Redmon wrote “And then of a sudden, a word, a phrase. That struck at the heart like a poignard's blow. And you went berserk, and I saw red, and love lay between us, bleeding and dead!” it explains how a word, a phase created a feeling of bleeding and dead to their love. We can see that’s she also in a lot of pain because she tells the reader that her heart felt like a poignard’s blow. At first, I didn’t understand the ending at all. It states, “"What does it matter, dear, what you do? Love such as ours has to last for aye!" --"Try me! I long to endure your test!"--"Love, we shall always love, come what may!" What are the words the apostle saith? "In the power of the tongue are Life and Death!" Think of the things we used to say!” What first came to my mind was that I think Jessie was trying to tell us is that the love was too strong to be driven apart, and that she’s trying to remind her partner that they had many strong memories that are not worth being forgotten just because of some little argument or rapacious words. When she meant life and death, it seems like she telling us that the stronger the words hurts, it confuses her whether she wants its something worth life or death. She seems to be warning or saying to be careful about the words he wishes to speak. It damages her feeling inside creating someone she doesn’t want to be.

By : Annie Huang