25 pages • 50 minutes read
Love Song for Alex, 1979
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Themes
Changes and Adaptation in Long-Term Relationships
Walker’s sonnet, “Love Song for Alex, 1979,” observes her relationship after 36 years have already passed. The beginning of the sonnet looks back fondly on their youth together, mentions the major landmarks of their relationship, and gives the reader a feel for Walker’s genuine affection. After the sonnet’s volta at Line 10, Walker looks ahead and predicts what the future will be like for her and Alex. Given that her husband died a year after she supposedly penned this poem, it makes sense that the poem’s latter half incorporates spirituality.
The first line is almost whimsical with its affectionate nickname and the reference that might suggest Alex changed her plans when they first met (monkey-wrench man). She calls him the love of her life, through her youth and her old age, and confirms that she only loves him. Lines 1-3 set up the relationship for the reader, revealing how Walker feels about Alex and her sustained commitment to him (and only him) after a substantial period. “Youth and age” emphasize the longevity of the relationship, which she reemphasizes in Line 5: “Now grown to years advancing through the dozens.”
Walker notes the first major landmark in their relationship when she talks about their children, who she believes resemble their father in temperament. The mentions of childbearing and flesh give way to her reminder that the couple is advanced in years, and their physical relationship has faded (here symbolized by “honeyed kiss” and “lips of wine and fire” in Line 6). She adds that, even though their relationship has changed in this respect, her happiness still comes from Alex.
The last part of the poem looks to the future of their relationship. They’ve progressed through unexpected changes (monkey-wrench man), childrearing, the loss of physical passion, youth, and age. She predicts that when their spirits are loosed from their bodies to traverse time and space (oceans and below the waters), their memories together will bind their souls forever.
Possession and the Passage from Earthly Relationships
Possession appears in the poem as a function of the couple’s relationship. Walker frequently speaks of Alex in the possessive form; in the 14-line poem, she uses the word “my” seven times. Walker also gives Alex possession in this love relationship, saying her heart “belongs” to only him, the children are his, and her happiness and wonder are “cradled in his arms and eyes entire” (Line 9), meaning he is in complete control of these emotions for her.
When the perspective changes to an unknown, possibly spiritual future, the action of the poem is taken from the speaker and given to “they,” which may refer to Alex’s arms and eyes or to a spiritual entity. Either way, this section deals with the way the couple will be bound to one another in the future. The change is particularly evident in Walker’s careful wording. In Lines 5-7, when the poem discusses the passage of time from youth to old age, the words indicate movement: grown, advancing, distant. This trend continues somewhat in Lines 10-12, though the movement slows: cradled, carry, creeping. The final two lines stop the movement of the poem altogether, with the memories tangled like “ropes” and “yarn.” The relationship advances, slows, then holds still and tight.
Additionally, the poem’s rhythm slows after Line 9 because the poem no longer rhymes. This last half of the poem includes things beyond the usual, immediate aspects of a relationship; whereas before, Walker uses a nickname, speaks about their children, and discusses her physical intimacy with Alex, now she uses images of everlasting things: world, planet, ocean, memories. Walker’s choices indicate that her love has moved beyond the physical, earthly realm to a more metaphysical realm.
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By Margaret Walker
