Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

"An Invitation" by Theophile Gautier draws upon the metaphor of a romantic sea voyage to explore the elusive nature of love and fidelity. The poem begins with an invitation from the speaker to his beloved, asking her to choose their romantic destination. The sea journey stands as an allegory for the complexities of love, and it employs rich symbolism-sails made of a dove's wings, a helm of ivory, and the god of love as the helmsman-to paint a fantastical, almost Edenic picture of love's possibilities.

In the initial stanzas, the speaker presents love as a lush and dreamlike experience, with "bulwarks glisten[ing] with jewels bright and red gold." The ship is more than a mere vessel; it's a realm of beauty and fantasy, guided by Cupid himself, "Blithe and bold." The extravagance of this description serves to heighten the reader's expectations. Where will they go in such a fabulous craft, driven by such a divine force? The choice of destination is left to the woman, underlining her agency in shaping the love journey.

The speaker offers various alluring options for their destination-from the cold "Baltic's foam" to the exotic "rose-strewn Eastern bowers." Each choice represents different facets of love, whether it's adventure, exoticism, or pure aesthetic beauty. It suggests that love can be whatever one desires it to be, a chameleon-like emotion that can adapt to various wishes and environments.

However, the woman's answer takes a surprising turn. She wishes to go "To the land where never I've journeyed yet, / To that shore / Where love is lasting, and change unknown, / And a man is faithful to one alone / Evermore." Her desire points towards an idealized, perhaps naive, view of love-one where fidelity and eternal affection are guaranteed. It's as if the woman seeks a utopia where the complex, ever-changing nature of love and human relationships is simplified into something constant and unchanging.

The speaker's response reveals the crux of the poem. He tells her that such a land doesn't exist, stating, "'Tis a country unlettered in map or in chart, / 'Tis a country that does not exist, sweetheart, / I'm afraid!" His words shatter the idyllic image of love as something that can be eternal and unchanging. He asserts that the kind of love she seeks is as fictional as the jeweled and golden ship they are supposedly sailing.

In this way, Gautier cleverly subverts the romantic tropes he himself set up. While the poem begins as an invitation to an extraordinary journey, it ends with the revelation that the journey's ultimate destination is unattainable. Love, in its many shades and complexities, can offer many things, but it cannot offer certainties. The woman's yearning for an unchangeable, perfect love serves as a critique of romantic idealism, reminding the reader that while love can be a grand and beautiful journey, it's one without a final, perfect destination.

Thus, "An Invitation" serves as a poignant commentary on the human quest for a perfect, immutable love-a quest that, the poem suggests, is as fanciful and unrealistic as a ship made of jewels and piloted by the god of love. It's a reminder that while love can be beautiful, magical even, it is not, and cannot be, free from the complexities and uncertainties that define the human experience.

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