One Flesh

One Flesh

• Written by Elizabeth Jennings
• Studied at Oxford
• The poet contemplates the relationship and separateness of her parents, now that the passion
• between them has ended. Though no longer one flesh, they are still bonded together.

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• The structure has two rhyming couplets inside
• It is more like a free verse poem

Slide 3

• The poet has a tone that questions her parents love for one another
• Christian themes:
• -Chastity
• -Confession
• -One Flesh

Slide 4

• "Tossed up like flotsam from a former passion"
• Washed up randomly so her parents are mixed up.

Slide 5

• Theme of the poem about her being apart is made clear from the first lines of the poem
• "apart" + "separate"

Slide 6

• "Strangely apart, yet strangely close together"
• Shows how although they have lost physical connection, they have grown in emotional connection

Slide 7

• "And time itself's a feather"
• A metaphor to show that time has taken it's affect on their relationship slowly

Slide 8

• "Whose fire from which I came, has now grown cold?"
• Shows that they no longer have sex, but it is phrased as a question, as the poet herself does not know if her parents are still having a physical relationship.