Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

In "What Loves, Takes Away," Eleanor Wilner meditates on the paradoxical nature of love and preservation, exploring how the very act of cherishing can lead to destruction. The poem opens with evocative imagery: the shiny, worn nose of the pig statue in Florence, the mosaic saint eroded by the feet of pilgrims, and the Venus de Milo's arms reclaimed by time. These images illustrate how physical touch and time's passage, driven by admiration and reverence, inevitably lead to wear and decay.

Wilner then shifts to a harrowing scene of a mother hiding from death squads, pressing her child to silence him. The mother's desperate act, meant to protect, tragically results in the child's suffocation. This brutal paradox underscores the theme that love, in its most intense and protective form, can unintentionally cause harm.

The poem further examines this theme through the lens of art restoration. The restorer, in an attempt to perfect and preserve, risks wiping away the enigmatic smile of a masterpiece. This act of preservation, ironically, carries the potential for irreversible damage.

Wilner’s central thesis is articulated: love’s intention to protect and preserve often leads to the very opposite outcome. The poem suggests a profound humility in the face of this realization. Wilner advises silence and caution, recognizing our limitations in preserving what we cherish without causing harm. The image of wearing down the marble steps to the altar symbolizes devotion that slowly erodes what it venerates, while the act of smothering the fire to protect it from the wind extinguishes its warmth and light.

The closing lines of the poem offer a stark metaphor: lifting the lid from embers, only to release a flight of sparks into the night, underscores the delicate balance between preservation and destruction. The sparks, while beautiful and brilliant, signify the potential for unintended consequences, prelude to cold and ash. This imagery encapsulates the poem's meditation on the fragile nature of beauty and the inherent risk in our attempts to hold on to what we love.

"What Loves, Takes Away" is a poignant reflection on the complex interplay between love, preservation, and loss. Wilner's use of rich, contrasting imagery serves to illustrate the tragic irony that sometimes, the more we try to protect and cherish, the more we risk causing harm. The poem ultimately calls for a reverence tempered with awareness of our limitations, urging us to recognize and respect the delicate balance required to preserve the essence of what we hold dear.

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