Fragment 31

The speaker of the poem emphasizes the connection that exists between the emotions of her heart and mind and the speaker’s awareness of her body with the motif of body parts. As the speaker catalogs the impact of her emotions on her body, she grounds herself by taking note of how she is feeling physically as she watches her beloved interact with the man. The first of the many body parts she mentions is her “heart in my ribcage” (Line 6); as the speaker listens to her beloved’s voice, talking and laughing, she fills with love and passion that set her heart “fluttering” (Line 6). As soon as the speaker looks at her lover, however, she realizes that the godlike man has distracted her beloved, and as a result, a new and anxiety-provoking distance grows between the speaker and her beloved.

The mentions of body parts that follow the speaker’s moment of despairing recognition all convey the sense of isolation that results from this emotional and psychological separation from her beloved: Her “tongue stiffens into silence” (Line 9), her “skin” (10) feels as if it is on fire, her “ears” (Line 11) ring with the noise of fear and jealousy, and her “eyes go dark” (Line 12).