FriendBurst Blog

Welcome to the February 2013 Edition of Pick-Apart Poetry

as we continue to celebrate the Month of Love

by featuring a poem about love written by W.H. Auden

who was born in this month of February — February 21, 1907.

He died on September 29, 1973.

Auden’s work, both poetry and prose,

covers a wide range of topics

and reflects many different styles.

One of his well-known pieces is this “love poem”

included in ANOTHER TIME which was published in 1940.

We’re so glad you’ve joined us to celebrate the Month of Love in a Pick-Apart way.

The idea of Pick-Apart Poetry is to select 25 words from the pieces posted

and to create poetry of our own.

The words chosen may be used more than once

and tenses and forms may be changed.

So your poem may have many more than 25 words.

Please select your 25 words from W.H. Auden’s “Oh Tell Me the Truth About Love.”

This piece is at the same time humorous, poignant and serious

and is definitely illustrative of the wide range of Auden’s work.

O TELL ME THE TRUTH ABOUT LOVE

Some say love’s a little boy,
And some say it’s a bird,
Some say it makes the world go around,
Some say that’s absurd,
And when I asked the man next-door,
Who looked as if he knew,
His wife got very cross indeed,
And said it wouldn’t do.

Does it look like a pair of pyjamas,
Or the ham in a temperance hotel?
Does its odour remind one of llamas,
Or has it a comforting smell?
Is it prickly to touch as a hedge is,
Or soft as eiderdown fluff?
Is it sharp or quite smooth at the edges?
O tell me the truth about love.

Our history books refer to it
In cryptic little notes,
It’s quite a common topic on
The Transatlantic boats;
I’ve found the subject mentioned in
Accounts of suicides,
And even seen it scribbled on
The backs of railway guides.

Does it howl like a hungry Alsatian,
Or boom like a military band?
Could one give a first-rate imitation
On a saw or a Steinway Grand?
Is its singing at parties a riot?
Does it only like Classical stuff?
Will it stop when one wants to be quiet?
O tell me the truth about love.

I looked inside the summer-house;
It wasn’t over there;
I tried the Thames at Maidenhead,
And Brighton’s bracing air.
I don’t know what the blackbird sang,
Or what the tulip said;
But it wasn’t in the chicken-run,
Or underneath the bed.

Can it pull extraordinary faces?
Is it usually sick on a swing?
Does it spend all its time at the races,
or fiddling with pieces of string?
Has it views of its own about money?
Does it think Patriotism enough?
Are its stories vulgar but funny?
O tell me the truth about love.

When it comes, will it come without warning
Just as I’m picking my nose?
Will it knock on my door in the morning,
Or tread in the bus on my toes?
Will it come like a change in the weather?
Will its greeting be courteous or rough?
Will it alter my life altogether?
O tell me the truth about love.

W.H Auden.

(Published in ANOTHER TIME – 1940)

While this poem features a love theme,

the poetry we bring back to share isn’t limited

to any specific theme or tenor or style.

We welcome all poetry and all styles.

Our goal is to simply have fun and be creative.

It’s always a joy to be here each month with you.

Looking forward to what we all create.

~Barbara K and Cherie~