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Dark Sonnet

I don't think that I've been in love as such,
Although I liked a few folks pretty well.
Love must be vaster than my smiles or touch,
For brave men died and empires rose and fell
For love: girls followed boys to foreign lands
And men have followed women into Hell.

In plays and poems someone understands
There's something makes us more than blood and bone
And more than biological demands...
For me, love's like the wind, unseen, unknown.
I see the trees are bending where it's been,
I know that it leaves wreckage where it's blown.
I really don't know what 'I love you' means.
I think it means 'Don't leave me here alone.'

~ Neil Gaiman

Dark Sonnet, sometimes simply called Sonnet, is a poem written by the German Born English Writer Neil Gaiman. The poem centres around subversion and criticism of the notion of love, and focuses on the 'dark' facets of the emotion whilst still adhering to the conventions of the sonnet genre. 'Dark Sonnet' gained popularity following an illustration of the piece by illustrator Chris Riddell in 2015.

Critical Analysis of the Poem

Neil Gaiman, pictured in 2013.

The poem is noted for its subversion of the classic sonnet form, adapting the traditional message of the Petrarchan sonnet as a means of expressing unrequited love, for a starkly cynical notion of love and loneliness.

Overview

First Stanza

The poem opens by presenting love as an unattainable ideal, separated from the individual through a dissociation to the emotion through the medium of personal experience. This establishes the theme of love firmly at the core of the poem, synonymous for a sonnet form, although this separation from the self, and an uncharacteristically pessimistic tone help to establish the poem as distinctly different to its more traditional counterparts. In many ways, Gaiman's poem echoes a grim reflection of the traditional theme of unrequited love within Petrarch's sonnets; the poem, somewhat ironically, is centred around attaining a sense of understanding around 'love', whilst self consciously stating that they 'have never been in love as such'. This adherence to tradition is carried on throughout the poem, through the use of stylistic features such as epic allegory and abstract ideals; consistently, however, Gaiman simultaneously occupies the space between adherence and subversion of tradition; whilst epic allegory is used to evoke mighty kingdoms and ancient legends drawing a parallel between love and timelessness, the message that is conveyed is one that is remarkably hopeless and goes out of it's way to subject love to futility. Further examples of Gaiman's penchant for subversion of traditional genres can be seen in his other works.

"I don't have a lot of patience for stories in which women are rescued by men."

One can recieve 'must' in a manner of ways; 'Love must' as a declarative, stating that love has to be 'vaster than my smiles or touch' as an expression of love being grander and more inexplicable than individual comprehension. On the other hand, considering the aforementioned reference to the voice of the poem having 'never been in love', one might perceive 'must' as questioning, begging for an answer to an unattained state of existence. Whichever reading is preferred, both indicate a view that love is little more than a socially constructed notion, and further outlines the futility of trying to experience the ideal of love, being as it is supposed to be an intensely individual reaction.

Gaiman may also be referencing real life events and extra-textual references to lend a sense of veritas and gravity to his piece; allusions to war and suffering through 'girls followed boys to foreign lands' evokes instances of women following in pursuit of men at war; the conflict in the Crimea and Florence Nightingale for eample, whilst "men have followed women into hell" is quite clearly a reference to Dante's Inferno.

Second Stanza

Gaiman begins the second stanza by outlining the position that the poet occupies within society, as an observer and chronicler of events, separated from society but acutely aware of it's thoughts and feelings. The poem juxtaposes the spiritual with the physical in relation to love, comparing "blood and bone" to "the wind, unseen, unknown." Gaiman alludes to the notion of love being a destructive force, but also one that is smaller than we can comprehend; despite the apparent futility of understanding love, Gaiman attempts to project a sense of great power over the emotion, albeit one which is tempestuous and uncontrollable. Natural allegory is also present within the poem, evoking within the reader a sense of timelessness, whilst simultaneously contrasting the still beauty and destructive power of nature to love. Gaiman also evokes a sense of enviromental disaster within the piece, conjuring images of malformed, broken trees, strewn with "wreckage". Gaiman concludes the poem by returning to the original concept of the poem, in keeping with the traditional petrarchan sonnet form, finishing the 'Dark' sonnet with a similarly 'Dark' volta.

'I really don't know what I love you means,

I think it means 'Don't leave me here alone.'

Gaiman ends with 'alone', reinforcing the futility of love and quoting "Don't leave me here alone"; in his own voice within the poem. 'Alone' is the last word of the poem, and leaves us with the last impression of Love as loneliness, isolates the word alone from everything else.

Themes

The poem explores many themes typical to the sonnet genre, though also challenges some of the traditional themes of earlier sonnets.

• Futility of Love
• Loneliness
• Depression
• Hopelessness
• Morality
• Spiritual meaning of love
• Cynicism vs. Innocence

Structure

The poem is structured around the typical Petrarchan sonnet form, featuring two stanzas; a sestet followed by an octavo, concluded with a two line volta. The poem is fourteen lines long, and follows the A,B,A,B,C,D,C rhyme scheme typical to the genre.

Context of the Poem

There seems to be very little in the way of publication history concerning the poem, indicating perhaps that the sonnet was written casually by Gaiman as little more than a flight of fancy. There appears to be no published version of the text in any book or anthology, with the only references to the poem being online, typically on poetry forums.

Critical Reception

Gaiman's 'Dark Sonnet' was met favourably with his fanbase, with noted illustrator Chris Riddell creating illustrations for lines of the poem for no reason other than for simple enjoyment. Upon discovering this, Gaiman shared the work on his tumblr account.

"I love that Chris Riddell is drawing illustrations for some of my poems for no better reason than pure enjoyment (and what better reason for making art could there be?)

Further Reading

• Neil Gaiman
• American Gods

External Links

• Neil Gaiman on Twitter
• Gaiman's Tumblr Page
• Gaiman's Official Website