Decade by Amy Lowell

Decade by Amy Lowell

When you came, you were like red wine and honey,

And the taste of you burnt my mouth with its sweetness.

Now you are like morning bread,

Smooth and pleasant.

I hardly taste you at all for I know your savour,

But I am completely nourished.

Amy Lowell produced the majority of her poems after her acquaintance

with the actress Ada Russell, a widow eleven years older than Lowell,

with whom she shared the last thirteen years of her life. Russell

became Lowell’s beloved companion, secretary, and nurturing muse. They

lived together in a “Boston marriage” until Lowell’s death and many of

Lowell’s most poignant love poems, including Opal, Madonna of the

Evening Flowers etc. were written for Ada Russell.

The poem “Decade” was written as a celebration of the ten-year

anniversary of Ada and Amy’s relationship. However, there is no gender

specification of a lover so one could dedicate it to someone of the

opposite sex. Simple in its form, rich in imagery and symbolism the

poem depicts powerfully the deep emotional bond between two people

after ten years of relationship.

At the beginning of the relationship, the beloved was “like red wine

and honey”, and his taste burnt with its sweetness. The “red wine”

symbolizes the passion felt in the beginning. Red is a color that

denotes something sudden, passionate and strong and wine is

intoxicant, making someone dizzy with its sweetness and alcohol. The

red wine alludes to the forcefulness and passion of love.

Gradually, the sweet red wine has become “like morning bread”, “smooth

and pleasant”. The taste of the bread is familiar and the poetess

hardly tastes it. Nevertheless, she is completely nourished. Morning

bread is something vital for our everyday nutrition. It is an

invaluable article of food and keeps us full and nourished. We need it

every day and a meal is incomplete without it. So, now the lover is

essential to the other’s life. Life cannot exist without him. Perhaps

the passion and the burning sweetness have gone, but what remains is a