The Illusion of Perfection
Perfection: The standard by which everyone and everything is compared. It is a measure that people pursue and rarely achieve. The pursuit of perfection causes many people to realize their faults and their human characteristics. In “Love Song: I and Thou ,” Dugan’s realization of his own imperfect life implied through a misshapen house is recorded through strong straightforward statements and through a first person narrative that allows the reader to both sympathize and empathize with his failures. Dugan’s style in “Love Song, I and Thou” is created through the strong language he uses to express his dissatisfaction with himself. Sharp, straightforward statements strike a response in the reader, “God dammed it. This is hell,/ but I planned it, I sawed it,/ I nailed it” (lines 23-25). Dugan is able to accept the fact that he has not led a perfect life, blaming no one but himself for his shortcomings. His “insistent first-person is without self-importance or self-pity. He is not complaining so much as chewing out himself and his world” (CLC 144). His first person style allows the reader to relate his failures with their own failures. Everyone has felt the frustration and Hopelessness that Dugan conveys throughout the poem . . .
There is no pattern found in the poem that suggests fluidity occurs. The bent nails that dance all over the surface like maggots (5-7) represent failures or mistakes that have occurred in his life, continually reminding him of his shortcomings and what could have been. One could only guess the event that occurred in his life that created such an ecstatic but brief emotion. No one walks though life unscathed and unaffected by life’s pitfalls. Throughout the poem, Dugan only refers to himself and his own imperfections. Dugan offers a desperate solution through illusion and imagery as he compares himself to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ through nailing himself to the cross. The overall structure of the poem is able to represent his theme of imperfection. Upon examination of his life, Dugan is left with one resolution, to seek help. Dugan’s poem illustrates a concept that is foreign to no one. The reader is left hanging alongside Dugan, unsure of where he may be headed. It would give Dugan the ability to accept his imperfections with grace and erase all of his pain with love. Dugan’s description of his life is conveyed through an extended metaphor, using the example of a broken-down home to compare with his unfulfilling life. Never is there a mention of others helping or harming him along his way. Dugan realizes that he will never have a perfect life, yet he tries to make everything work. Not until Dugan has experienced a life full of pain does he cry out for help, “I need a hand to nail the right,/ a help, a love, a you, a wife” (30-31).
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Acceptance Essays
