Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

César Vallejo's poem "Forbidden Love" offers a complex exploration of love in a world where societal norms and moral codes often deem certain relationships as sinful or unacceptable. Vallejo's passionate voice confronts these taboos, delving into the intricacies of love as both a heavenly and hellish experience.

The opening lines, "You rise, sparkling of lips and dark ringed eyes! / I rise through your veins, like a wounded mongrel," immediately present love as something elemental yet outlawed. The "wounded mongrel" metaphor encapsulates the urgency and vulnerability of forbidden love, akin to a stray animal searching for a sanctuary. In a way, the speaker admits to feeling marginalized, akin to a wounded dog, yet finds lifeblood in the love that is deemed unacceptable.

"Love, you are a sin in this world!" This exclamatory sentence serves as a lamentation and an acknowledgment of the love's taboo status. This idea is further intensified with the line "my kiss is the scintillating tip of the horn / of the devil: my kiss that is a sacred creed!" The kiss, the most basic expression of romantic love, becomes diabolical, likened to the "horn of the devil." But in the same breath, it is also a "sacred creed," suggesting that the love, however forbidden, possesses a divine purity in the eyes of the lovers.

Intriguingly, the poem turns to metaphysical reflections as it states, "Spirit is the horopter of the eye that passes -- / pure in its blasphemy! / the heart that engenders the brain!" These lines blend anatomical, philosophical, and religious imagery, with "horopter" referring to the limit of one's field of vision. The poem implies that love, as a spiritual act, transcends vision, engendering both heart and mind, and that it remains "pure in its blasphemy," a paradox encapsulating the complex nature of forbidden love.

The phrase "Platonic stamen / that exists in the calyx where your soul exists!" refers to a biological reproductive part of a flower, yet it is described as 'Platonic,' referencing Platonic love, which is spiritual and not sexual. This complex metaphor captures the irony of forbidden love: it is at once primal and ethereal, rooted in both the body and the soul.

Towards the conclusion, the lines "Some penitent sinister quiet? / Perhaps you hear it! Innocent flower!" evoke an atmosphere of somber reflection. The "penitent sinister quiet" can be read as society's judgment, ever looming, whereas the "innocent flower" refers to the purity of love itself, untouched by societal stigma.

The closing lines, "...And know where there is no Ourfather, / Love is a sinning Christ!" are especially poignant. They point to a love that is so transcendent it becomes almost sacrilegious. The "sinning Christ" serves as a final, complex metaphor for forbidden love, imbuing it with a divinity that is simultaneously sanctified and profane.

Through vivid metaphors and emotional intensity, "Forbidden Love" encapsulates the contradictions and complexities of a love deemed unacceptable by societal standards. It challenges the reader to contemplate the nature of love itself-whether it is a sin or a sanctity, a diabolic temptation or a divine call. Vallejo forces us to confront the moral ambiguities surrounding love, suggesting that even in its forbidden forms, it holds a sacredness that defies easy categorization.

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