The first theme I would like to address is the theme that love is synonymous with pain. Hazm goes over many ways that love can be very painful. He describes how dreams of love can haunt people, how expectations of those unseen can turn out terrible. Hazm attributes fighting as a natural part of true love. He also describes how love can make many people paranoid. In one passage, Hazm even compared love to mental illness. This is not to say that Hazm doesn't describe the glorious parts of love as well. He goes on and on about the positive, and beautiful aspects of love. His portrayal of love from numerous perspectives (not just the blissful ones) makes true love seem more realistic, more part of life. In this way, he defines what love truly is. In a way this makes love ever more beautiful. The contrast in live between good and bad is truly the only think that allows good to even exist. He approaches love from a very realist point of view. My favorite display of this balance that is love and that is life, is when Hazm describes how ice burns skin just as fire does, and tears come from both joy and sadness.
In the poems, this theme of shedding light on loves negative portrayal is also seen. In the last poem, labeled 9, the poet goes on and on about how love has brought him pain. The poet is forever separated from his lover. Perhaps his lover is dead. As a result, even though he his in love, he feels great pain. In the poem labeled F, Hazm speaks of sleeplessness from being in love, and in the poem labeled F, Hazm speaks about how the only moment he truly lived was when he kissed his love for a brief moment. All other life seems thus dreadful in comparison. Once again, the poets are not only negative about love. We are simply presented with negative perspectives so we can see the balance and hard work that is love. In the poem labeled H, we see a brighter perspective, where Hazm is simply grateful that he is on the same planet as his loved one. Poems A and C speak of the true blissfulness that is love. The negative side of love is simply portrayed in order to display the contrast that is real life.
1) Address two themes / ideas raised Ibn Hazm's "The Dove's Necklace" that interest you. How do these themes relate to the overall ideas of love that you find in this reading.
The second theme I would like to discuss is that of possible homosexual connotations. Perhaps I am reading into it too much, but from my point of view, I feel as if both "The Dove's Necklace" and the poetry have homosexual connotations. In "The Dove's Necklace," Hazm speaks of love, but it is not until the very end that he involves any trace of love having to do with just a man and a women. He even gives examples of how he has fallen in love with noble men through writing letters. In some instances the love fell apart, in others it lasted. Perhaps these are just his good friends, and once again I am over analyzing, yet Hazm is certainly not against homosexuality. He repetitively uses general words in sentence like "when a man falls in love with someone" (just an example, not an actual quote). It seems intentional that Hazm is cluing to the fact that all kinds of love between two people is acceptable.
2) How do the themes raised in "The Dove's Necklace" carry over into the poetry? Address at least two specific poems.
In the poems, the poets often talks about falling in love with "him". Hazm talks about not being able to take his eyes off of "him" in poem D. In F he talks about how he will never name his male love. In H he speaks of the joy he finds in the fact that his male love is on the same planet. In the first poem, labeled 4, the poet describes a male figure in beautiful ways that are metaphors to nature. It almost seems as if there was a general overall acceptance of homosexuality.
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