What is love? Is love when two people are solely confined to one another? Or is it not? In the many sonnets presented in Modern Love, George Meredith explains how his marriage went from happy to chaos when he found out his wife was not faithful to him. Being that this poem is about the love of his wife, it also takes a turn for different emotions presented and at the same time moving away from the subject of the poem.
"It ended, and the morrow brought the task.
Her eyes were guilty gates, that let him in
By shutting all too zealous for their sin:
Each sucked a secret, and each wore a mask.
But, oh, the bitter taste her beauty had!
He sickened as at breath of poison-flowers:
A languid humour stole among the hours,
And if their smiles encountered, he went mad,
And raged deep inward, till the light was brown
Before his vision, and the world, forgot,
Looked wicked as some old dull murder-spot."
This section taken from the poem to me explains that even though he knows his wife is guilty and hurt him, he still has an immense amount of love for her. It is more so presented as a "love-hate" relationship because his wife was the absolute love of his life. Anybody nowadays would try and look past certain circumstances if they were truly in love with their partner, but he never had the chance to mend his peace with her being that his emotions were so overlooked with disbelief and confusion. So, instead he has to think about the scenario and conflict that goes through his head over and over again. I feel as if though Meredith uses his words to also create imagery throughout the numerous sonnets so this also helps us as readers see the hurt that he felt.
George, and Meredith. “Modern Love.” / George Meredith, The University of Adelaide Library, 10 Jan. 2016, ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/m/meredith/george/modern-love/#chapter2.