In the Thirtieth Year (Masterplots II: Poetry, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: J. V. Cunningham
- First Published: 1960
- Type of Work: Satire
- Genres: Satire, Poetry
- Subjects: Wives, Love or romance, Self, Marriage, Self-confidence, Loneliness, Consciousness, Mind and body, Heart
The Poem
The title of “In the Thirtieth Year” is clearly significant. It points to the time and moment of choice when the speaker elects to take his “heart to be his wife.” It also indicates that the normal search for someone to give his heart to has been ended. It is a choice, instead, of solitariness and self-sufficiency. The reason this choice comes at the “thirtieth year” is not explained, but it suggests a deliberate choice after earlier failures in love, failures to find someone to whom his heart may be given.
The speaker of the poem is not the poet, J....
[The entire page is 1444 words long]
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