Love Cycle by Chinua Achebe

‘Love Cycle’ by Chinua Achebe portrays the sun’s effect on Earth (and vice versa)
as a hardly romantic relationship. The poem describes the couple: the sun an angry
male and the earth a tolerant female. Achebe uses personification and symbolism
throughout the poem to evoke vivid imagery.
Summary
‘Love Cycle’ opens by describing the actions of the sun at dawn. At this time, the
poem compares the interaction between the sun and Earth to the aftermath of
dispassionate sex between a couple. It goes on to describe the harshness of the sun
as dawn gives way to noon. Here, Love Cycle relates the earth’s endurance of the
sun’s scorching rays to the forbearance of a woman dissatisfied by her partner.
Towards the end, however, it speculates why she (Earth) remains in a relationship
with him (the sun), and therefore why this natural phenomenon reoccurs. Love Cycle
concludes by implicitly mentioning moonlight, a gentle reflection of the sun’s rays.
The subdued nature of the sun at night gives Earth free reign over her partner. Love
Cycle points to this moment as the reason she stays.
‘Love Cycle’ opens with the persona describing the attitude of the sun at dawn. One
can imagine the sun’s withdrawal from embrace to mean its light isn’t fixated on
anything. This translates to how widespread and scattered the sun’s rays are at this
time. Unlike at noon, the rays aren’t locked on any surface; they aren’t harsh as well.
Hence, their representation as “long misty arms”. The adjective “long” reveals the
far reach of the sun.
The second stanza introduces the object of the sun’s influence: Earth. The persona
portrays the interaction between the two entities as a relationship between a couple.
As shown in the first three lines of the stanza, however, the nature of their
relationship is dispassionate. The aforementioned lines mention the aftereffects of
sex between the represented couple: it’s lukewarm. This reveals the irony in the last
line of stanza one. In that line, the persona calls the sun and Earth “happy lovers”,
but this stanza begs to differ.
From a different perspective, the first three lines also underscore the theme of nature
by representing the attitude of Earth at dawn. In this case, “love’s combustion” refers
to the heat of sun, which is absent at this time. The stanza highlights the presence of
dew—and therefore, humidity—showing the freshness of Earth in the morning.
In the third stanza, dawn gives way to noon. Again, the persona portrays the sun
as a man with a temper. Like his temper, the speaker predicts the “soft-eyed light”—
representing the sun’s rays at dawn—will grow hot with time. The man “ploughing
through the vast acres of heaven…” is a metaphor for the sun’s journey from the
east, where it rises, to the west, where it sets. The speaker tells us that within that
time, the sun will become harsh.
In stanza four, Employing the established metaphor, this stanza reveals Earth’s
reaction to the sun’s harshness. Her attitude is one of patience and tolerance.
“Burning darts of anger” refers to the scorching rays fixated on Earth, as the speaker
predicted. The earth absorbs the harsh light the same way the metaphorical woman
tolerates her partner’s temper while swallowing her own. This stanza highlights
themes of tolerance and patience.
In stanza five, As it concerns nature, the concluding stanza of ‘Love Cycle’ is
speculative. It reasons why Earth tolerates the sun’s harshness, using the established
metaphor. From the metaphorical perspective, the woman stays in a clearly
unhealthy relationship because at night, her partner’s gentleness returns. The tone of
the stanza indicates that the man becomes mellow because he wants her to make love
to him. At this point, the theme of power plays comes in. The woman takes comfort
in these moments where she has full reign over her partner.
The metaphorical perspective provides a speculative reason Earth tolerates the
harshness of the sun during the day. At night, sunlight becomes significantly gentle
through the reflective surface of the moon. The persona guesses Earth tolerates the
sun for these moments of freedom and relief. Of course, it’s only speculation backed
by the speaker’s power of imagination. As indicated by the title of the poem and the
natural phenomenon explored, the events in ‘Love Cycle’ are recurring. In a sense,
the poem never ends.
Structure
‘Love Cycle’ comprises of five stanzas written in free verse. Each stanza heavily
employs enjambment, creating fragmented lines occasionally punctuated to indicate
a pause. Stanzas often end with incomplete sentences, which are completed in the
next stanza. Love Cycle concludes with a full stop.
Themes
The central theme explored in ‘Love Cycle’ is nature. The themes of unhealthy
relationships, anger, endurance, and power plays all emanate from the poet’s
exploration of the central theme.
Literary Devices
Metaphor: Metaphor is a dominant device in ‘Love Cycle’. The cyclic phenomena
of sunrise, sunset, and Earth’s reaction to it is indirectly compared with a
dissatisfying love affair. In the poem, the speaker refers to the sun’s rays using three
different phrases. “Long misty arms” in stanza 1 and “soft-eyed light” in stanza 3
represent the gentle nature of the sun’s rays. “Burning darts of anger” in stanza 4
refers to the scorching rays present at noon. Metaphor also appears in stanza 2.
Depending on perspective, “love’s combustion” represents sex or the heat of the sun.
In stanza 3, the poem compares “heaven”, an aerial space, to land, by giving it a unit
of measurement.
Personification: Personification wouldn’t have been possible without metaphor in
‘Love Cycle’. Referring to the sun and Earth as a human couple already bestows
human characteristics on them. Throughout the poem, these entities exhibit attributes
and actions common to man. For example, in stanza 2, the Earth wakes up; between
stanzas 3 and 4, the sun vents his anger on Earth.
Irony: Considering the state of the represented relationship in ‘Love Cycle’, the title
of the poem is ironic. This irony resurfaces between stanzas 1 and 2. The persona
calls the sun and Earth “happy lovers”, right before describing their dispassionate
affair.
Synaethesia: This poetic device associates attributes of the five senses with each
other. It is evident in stanza 3, where the sense of sound is associated with sight:
“…whispers of soft-eyed light…”.
Enjambment: Enjambment runs throughout ‘Love Cycle’, resulting in the
fragmented structure of the poem.