“[i carry your heart with me(i carry it in]”

“[i carry your heart with me(i carry it in]” is a love poem that touches on the personal love the speaker has for their beloved. In order to clarify its importance, the speaker explains how love makes them feel personally, and also how important love is as a force in the universe at large. After pointing out the epic quality of their love, they return to telling the lover why it is important the lover be careful with it.

The poem begins with a metaphor: The speaker describes carrying their beloved’s “heart with [them]” (Line 1) in some sort of container—a vessel clarified in the second line as the speaker’s own “heart” (Line 2). This immediately suggests that the speaker has taken some ownership of the beloved’s heart, and that they hold it within their own core. Symbolically, the heart is the seat of love and lifeblood; it is the organ that keeps the body alive. Thus, this metaphor makes it clear that the beloved’s vital element (the heart) is central to the functioning of the speaker.

In the next lines, the speaker indicates that even when the lovers are apart, the speaker is “never without” (Line 2) the beloved’s essence: “anywhere / I go you go” (Lines 2-3). The sense of connection is enhanced by the affectionate “my dear” (Line 3) that follows. The beloved’s opinion is of such value to the speaker that any action they undertake alone is entwined with their lover’s: “whatever is done / by only me is your doing” (Lines 3-4). Again, the speaker uses an affectionate pet name to address the beloved, calling them “my darling” (Line 4).

There is a moment when a conflict looms, as the speaker notes that they “fear” (Line 5). This prepares the reader for tension within the relationship, perhaps due to the aforementioned parting. It also causes a moment of anxiety for the speaker. However, the line is enjambed, or meant to be read without pause to the next line, which finishes the thought by dispelling the idea that any trepidation exists after all: “I fear / no fate(for you are my fate” (Line 5-6). There is no conflict; the beloved is the guide for the speaker’s future action and thought. This statement is followed by another appellation to the beloved, “my sweet” (Line 6). The speaker, although distant from their lover, wants no wider “world” (Line 7) since “beautiful you are my world, my true” (Line 7). The double endearments solidify the unity of the couple, with the speaker offering up their fidelity.

Personal fidelity is the core tenet behind the speaker’s love. In the next passage, the speaker equates their lover with the constancy of the “moon” (Line 8) and the “sun” (Line 9). The beloved is “whatever a moon has always meant” (line 8) and “whatever a sun will always sing is you” (Line 9). Again, the word choice emphasizes eternity, as the moon and sun show the consistent passage of time, their motions in the sky as predictable as clockwork and proverbially eternal. The repetition of “always” (Lines 8-9) suggests that the intertwining faith between the speaker and beloved is similarly everlasting.

This eternity, the speaker then suggests, “is the deepest secret nobody knows” (Line 10). Not only is it the secret to their successful relationship with “my sweet” (Line 6), but it also serves as the key to life’s happiness. Love is the core value, the speaker tells us: “the root of the root and the bud of the bud” (Line 11). The natural imagery here contrasts the grounding influence of love in making human beings “rooted” while also allowing them to blossom. Further, the act of love offers transcendence, which the speaker describes as “the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows / higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)” (Lines 11-12). Love soars on an elevation above an individual’s most lofty elements—the soul and the mind—because it is the source of life itself. It forces the person to engage with another—and by extension, with the wider world.

Finally, the speaker suggests that love is “the wonder that’s keeping the stars apart” (Line 13). It is a force, as powerful as gravity, that staves off collision or implosion. Love, the speaker maintains, is the epic center of the universe. The speaker then repeats their initial idea: “i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)” (Line 15). Due to the comparisons that come before, it is clear that the speaker honors their lover’s heart and will carry it with respect. They fully understand the sacred charge of keeping it safe.