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The Love That Holds Too Tightly

A poem by Ralph Waldo Emerson

From Emerson's 'The Daemonic Love'. Emerson uses 'daemon' in the old Greek sense: the spirit that draws one person to another. Ralph Waldo Emerson was an American essayist, poet and leader of the Transcendentalist movement. This poem, published in the mid-nineteenth century, sets two kinds of love side by side: one that unites and one that isolates. Emerson argues that romantic passion, however beautiful, becomes tyrannical when it is self-seeking rather than generous. The poem rewards close reading and invites reflection on what love asks of us. This text reflects its era; a few period terms have been modernised.

Band

Red · Complex language and analysisTypical starting range: ages 15–17

Length

long · about 1301 words in 4 sections · 2 pictures

Source

Poems, Ralph Waldo Emerson

First published

see the About page in the reader

Regions

Canada · United States

Included formats

• · Web reader and PDF
• · EPUB for e-readers
• · Home-print sheet
• · Folded booklet
• · Binder edition (8.5 × 11)
• · Worksheet
• · Quick Check (10 questions) with answer key
• · Read-aloud script
• · Teacher’s Edition (members)

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