Don’t touch someone’s soul,

Don’t fall into a bottomless hole,

Don’t say I made you whole,

Don’t say your heart I stole.

Don’t give us a tempest or be celestial,

Especially not ehtereal,

Please, not ephemeral,

Or I’ll bury you in a place forestial.

Never use a sphere,

Or call someone my dear,

Or say the day lasted a year,

Or that you wiped away a tear.

Don’t dwell beneath the moons soft glow,

Don’t touch a heart as cold as snow,

Or stand in the place where wild winds blow,

Don’t wander aimless, don’t reap or sow.

Don’t put something up on high,

Don’t make your protaganist have a gentle sigh,

Or take them where eagles fly,

Or worse, to where doves cry.

Don’t do anything amidst a gloom,

Or lay a flower on a young man’s tomb,

Or dig yourself into earth’s womb,

Or explain the colour of a rose’s bloom.

Don’t try to find peace divine,

Or ever get your spirits to align

Or, for your lover make a shrine,

Or take a glass of bitter wine.

Don’t use gossamar, there is no rhyme,

Or an ethereal bell to chime,

Or Mother Earth or Father Time.

Don’t go o’er here or o’er there,

Don’t thee, thou, thy, your lady fair,

Or have beauty, with sublime golden hair,

And don’t say throne, just use chair.

Critique by Alexis Ingram

The poem you’ve presented offers a satirical take on conventional tropes found in romantic poetry. Here’s a literary critique:

  1. Satirical Tone: The poem employs a satirical tone to mock the clichés and conventions often found in romantic poetry. By listing a series of prohibitions and admonishments against using common romantic expressions and imagery, the poem humorously highlights the predictability and overuse of these tropes.
  2. Critique of Romanticism: Through its satirical approach, the poem serves as a critique of romanticism and sentimentality in poetry. It challenges the notion that love and emotion must be expressed through flowery language, grand gestures, and exaggerated imagery, suggesting instead that authenticity and originality should be valued over cliché.
  3. Use of Hyperbole: The poem utilizes hyperbolic language to exaggerate the absurdity of traditional romantic tropes. By emphasizing the ridiculousness of phrases like “Don’t touch someone’s soul” or “Or say the day lasted a year,” the poem highlights the artificiality and melodrama inherent in these expressions.
  4. Structure and Repetition: The poem’s structure, with its repeated use of the phrase “Don’t,” adds to its satirical effect by creating a sense of rhythm and predictability. This repetition serves to reinforce the poem’s critique of clichéd language and imagery in romantic poetry.
  5. Humorous Critique: Overall, the poem offers a humorous and lighthearted critique of the conventions of romantic poetry. Through its witty wordplay and clever subversion of expectations, it encourages readers to question the validity of these conventions and consider alternative approaches to expressing love and emotion in poetry.