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The Stream of Love

Like swollen streams in Spring, young love will roar
Through every obstacle that checks its flow,
Though not so fast that winter cannot slow
Its great vitality, ‘til frozen o’er;
But even as the Spring returns once more,
To melt away the coldest of the snow,
So Time unthaws the tears of long ago,
Which weep for you as freshly as before;
These tears, which burst my lily banks apart,
Run down the rose-strewn channels as of old,
Shower me in a sweat of shivering cold,
And inundate my deeply-sunken heart
In overwhelming waves of memory
Of that which was, but nevermore will be.

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Daniel Joseph Howard studied law in his native Ireland before taking his MA in philosophy at King’s College London. After working in the European Commission, he is now pursuing a PhD in Philosophy at Boston College.

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12 Responses

  1. Paul A. Freeman

    Plenty of archaic words and imagery which otherwise could have detracted if this were not such a well-proportioned sonnet with such an emotional pull and great execution.

    Great stuff, Daniel.

    Thanks for the read.

    Reply
  2. Cynthia Erlandson

    I love the way you’ve carried the stream/water metaphor through this lovely sonnet. The closing couplet is as powerful as the stream you describe.

    Reply
  3. Roy Eugene Peterson

    This is a beautifully written sonnet with a sad heartfelt sentimental message of that which “never more will be.” I deeply appreciate love sonnets like yours that can capture the heart.

    Reply
  5. Allegra Silberstein

    Thank you for this wonderful poem of love…the last couplet touches the heart.

    Reply
  6. Martin Rizley

    A very moving love poem; it brought to mind the scene from Dickens´ Christmas Carol when Scrooge laments the loss of the beautiful young woman he once loved but forfeited years ago as his heart slowly chilled owing to worldly ambition and the love of money. The “great vitality” of his first love came to a standstill under the chilling effects of covetousness. As the Ghost of Christmas Past brings her image before him once again, his “frozen tears” thaw and flow profusely. I love the way you have used water in its different states and movements to reflect the different stages through which love may pass. Very creatively done and eloquently expressed.

    Reply
  7. C.B. Anderson

    Oops! In line 6, “So time unthaws the tears of long ago” actually means that such tears are frozen again. “Thaw” means melt, “unthaw” the opposite, so please, Jesus, let your children learn how to write English that an ordinary Anglophone can actually understand properly. The author has turned what might have been a decent Italian sonnet into a joke.

    Reply
    • Daniel Howard

      ‘To unthaw’ is often used as a synonym for ‘to thaw’, as attested by a number of English dictionaries, notwithstanding that it can technically signify the contrary. Even if we were to disregard its use as a synonym for thaw in colloquial English, the line may easily be changed to read ‘thaws out’. Keats could not spell very well, but we do not cease to find pleasure in his letters on that account.

      Reply
  8. Shamik Banerjee

    A lovely love sonnet with a soft tone! I love the ‘stream’ metaphor and the images that develop the later parts of the poem (especially of the Lily banks). Thank you for delighting us with your poem, Daniel.

    Reply
  9. David Hollywood

    This lovely yet melancholic poem combines with its emotional sense of regret for what’s lost. Very touching Daniel. Thank you

    Reply
  10. Gary Borck

    Wonderfully written, Daniel. It’s so pleasurable to read such a beautiful and moving sonnet as this is.

    Reply
  11. Adam Sedia

    This is a poignant poem, at once steeped in sorrow and wistfulness yet strangely comforting in that the narrative voice yet “unthaws,” his human feeling remaining. This is a wonderful example of the sonnet’s power as a medium of expression, and I agree that the archaisms “work” here in that they’re neither overused nor stilted. This was a pleasure to read and analyze.

    Reply

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