Summary Of The Poem By Justin Vernon

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In the first stanza, the artist, Justin Vernon, wishes for a thinned out and broken love to heal. Vernon is deeply hurt about his partner not being who she pretended to be. The pouring of salt mentioned in the second line fits in with this theme because many people revere salt for its healing and preservative properties. Ultimately, Vernon believes that this metaphorical salt can fix and preserve his relationship. A veneer “covers something’s true nature” and in this context veneer refers to the face, or fake persona, the artist’s partner put on for him. When this veneer crumbles, and the artist realizes that things were not as they seemed, it hurts him just as much as a physical blow that would draw blood. The sink containing blood and crushed …show more content…

In the first few lines, the artist lists expectations he had for his partner which she was unable to fulfill. Unfortunately, the artist’s partner displays the veneer that she possessed the traits he expected of her which caused the artist to become infatuated with a fictitious person. This deceit results in wariness between the couple until finally the communication between them develops into nonexistence. They wake up in the same bed, but they’re not together in the kind of way a couple would be; they are just sharing the same space as strangers would. Delineating the way he feels cheated, Vernon then comments that he’s holding “the tickets” and she owning the “fines.” In essence, the artist paid “fines” to his partner in the form of attention and love, while she just gave him “tickets” in return, falsely promising that he could redeem them for …show more content…

The term “breaking at the britches” signifies that the artist feels like he’s splitting in half, comparable to that of a pair of pants that rips down its seams. The artist’s pain is a direct result of the betrayal and deceit he’s experienced; it’s made overly apparent that the artist has been duped when he reveals he’s at the end of all his partners “lines.” These lines represent the metaphysical strings and verbal lies the artist’s partner utilized to delude him into believing she loved him. Vernon finally questions whether or not anyone will ever bother fighting to get to know or love the woman behind the

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