“Indeed, Indeed I Cannot Tell” A poem of “a pure impartial hate.”

{ October 14, 2008 @ 4:00 pm } · { Hard Love }

Indeed, Indeed I Cannot Tell by Henry David Thoreau

Indeed indeed, I cannot tell, Though I ponder on it well, Which were easier to state, All my love or all my hate. Surely, surely, thou wilt trust me When I say thou dost disgust me. O, I hate thee with a hate That would fain annihilate; Yet sometimes against my will, My dear friend, I love thee still. It were treason to our love, And a sin to God above, One iota to abate Of a pure impartial hate.

I like this poem because I can relate to it. I went through a messy relationship and this poem sums up how I feel towards this person at this point in time. Maybe not true hate because I don’t “hate” anyone. The poem is literally about the speaker going back and forth between the feelings of love and hate toward a person.  The speaker is unsure of which one he is leaning towards. It is difficult for the speaker to say. Obviously he has gone through something similar to what I and many others have been through. I really like the rhythm; it is very simple and constant and has a beat. It is a simple rhythm that follows this simple idea of “Do I love you still or do I hate you?”

My favorite lines in the poem are “One iota to abate-Of a pure impartial hate.” What the speaker is saying that a small amount of this feeling of borderline hatred, will lessen gradually.

I think the most powerful lines are “Surely, surely, thou wilt trust me-When I say thou dost disgust me.-O, I hate thee with a hate-That would fain annihilate;” The speaker is saying believe me when I say you sicken me, I hate you so much that this hate, with a smile on my face or happiness behind it, would destroy you. I didn’t put it this way only until I really studied the language used. I noticed it is very straight to the heart for the reader it was intended for.

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