Denise Levertov’s “The Ache of Marriage” and “Divorcing”

Both poems share a somewhat similiar veiw on marriage, but at the same time, are portrayed in two very different ways.

"The Ache of Marriage," alot of emotions and struggles on marraige are related to the body. Such as the line thst says, "throbs in teeth." I think she is trying to parallel the image of when once has a tooth ache and the constant throbbing is an annoyance to say the least, but there is nothing you can really do but live with it. It depicts the constant efforts and annoyances associated with marraige. She also refers to the thigh and the tongue, which to me are both very sexual references. They are "Heavy," with the weight of the marriage, showinng that both ends of the marriage are somewhat burdened by the relationship.

"Divorcing," also portrays the same feeling of almost being forced to deal with someone, but in this poem they are set free. Instead of it being a happy-go-lucky feeling of freedom, it a scared hesitant one. I think this is because most people feel this way when deciding to leave their signfigant others. Whether they can or cannot find love and live on their own.

Both poems are obviously about a marraige, and the womans true life within the marraige, but one other similarity i saw were the somewhat relaigious refernes in each poems.“The Ache of Marriage” has some apparent themes such as “communion”, “leviathan”, and “two by two in the ark”. This is because religion and marraige often go hand and hand throughout the ages. In “Divorcing” a garland of thorns is mentioned, with could refer to the Christ’s crown that he wore open the cross. This could be a complete stretch but it definitely caught my eye.