Paul Monettes Love Alone :: Poetry Poem Poet Essays

Paul Monette's Love Alone Loss. Grief. Mourning. Anger. Disbelief. Emotions are in abundance when a loved one passes away. People need to find a way to cope with the situations and often need to express themselves by writing their feelings down in order to get them out. This is exactly what Paul Monette does in his book of poetry title â€Å"Love Alone† in remembrance of his companion Rog. Through writing his poetry Monette describes his emotions and the events that occurred during Rog’s battle with AIDS. By Monette’s transitioning through different emotions, the reader begins to understand the pain the author is dealt. Touching upon Kubler-Ross’ five stages of death including denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance, Monette transitions to Rog’s decline in health. Using different fonts and no punctuation, the lines are interpreted by the reader using instincts to know when to begin and end a sentence. Evident in the poems â€Å"The Very Sameà ¢â‚¬ , â€Å"The Half-life†, and â€Å"Current Status†, Monette gives a description of loss that makes the reader tingle. The poem â€Å"The Very Same† was written at Rog’s funeral. Family and friends of Paul try to get him to move on but Monette, being insulted to think that he can move on so quickly, does not adhere to the advice. Monette felt a special connection with Rog and felt as if a part of him died when Rog died He felt as if he lost his other half. To express the intonation in which the reader should interpret the poem different styles of font express the emotions and give the tone of Monette’s voice. â€Å"BUT THIS IS MY PAGE IT CANNOT BE TURNED†(Monette 20). Written in all capital letters the reader interprets this as an exclamatory remark. The italics on â€Å"is† emphasizes that word should be stressed. Monette is very angry at this point that everyone is telling him to move on, to â€Å"turn the page.† But he feels as if there is no page to turn to. He and Rog were one soul in two bodies. How can someone live with half a s oul. The use of italics is interpreted as a softened way of speaking.