my last question got deleted here..please help meee???

Question

Your love, dear man, is as lovely to me
As sweet soothing oil to the limbs of the restless,

As clean ritual robes to the flesh of Gods,
As fragrance of incense to one coming home
Hot from the smells of the street
It is like nipple-berries ripe in the hand,
Like the tang of grainmeal mingled with beer,
Like wine to the palate when taken with white bread.

While unhurried days come and go,
Let us turn to each other in quiet affection,
Walk in peace to the edge of old age.
And I shall be with you each unhurried day,
A woman given her wish: to see
For a lifetime the face of her lord.

What kinds of inferences do you make about the speaker based on the things to which she compares. Also, How does the concrete language contribute to the speaker's definition of her love?

Answer 1

Someone is objecting to the word 'nipple-berries'. I left you m,y reply in your other question.

Answer 2

I read Doc's answer on the other page, and got something very different.
I won't guess when it was written, but
The speaker sounds to me like she's wearing a toga. Roman or such. Priestess or oracle or familiar with that.
Because "ritual robes, Gods, incense, grainmeal, wine, whitebread," are all things associated more with Rome than England.
The concrete language makes her love a little pagan. It's all about temporal realities. Nothing ethereal or spiritual.
Like Doc, it makes me think it is about God. Mainly because of the contrast that is created when I think of it as a pagan poem about Judeo-Christian God. In my version, the edge of old age just means the speaker's old age, and the speaker feels a very intimate connection with God.

Answer 3

there is a rather good answer to this question already.