Love Cycle by Chinua achebe

Love Cycle

Chinua Achebe

The poem "Love Cycle" is known for its symbolic description of both the sun and Earth as passionate lovers. This poem is written by Chinua Achebe, a famous African writer. The poem begins with the description of dawn and ends with the description of the approaching night and the mellow afternoon.

It is going to be the dawn of a new day. The poet sees both the sun and the earth as passionate lovers. He also sees the dawn as the result of the departure of those lovers. The mist is removed by the rays of Sunlight. The poet thinks that it is because the lover, the sun, is harsh towards his lady love, the earth. He leaves her hands. They do not remember the happy hours that they have spent together. The poet describes the early morning dew drops are removed by early light. The poet compares those dew drops to perfume and their removal by the warmth of early daylight is described by the anger of the lover. Later, in the midday, the sun let the heaven open to extend its hot rays to punish his lady love, the earth.

The earth, on the other hand, instead of her lover's openly expressed anger, waits patiently. She, the earth waits for the evening which renews the character of her angry lover, the earth. The evening is expected to restore the tender or the soft feeling of the angry lover, the earth. It also renews the earth's power over her lover, the earth.