When I go back to earth
And all my joyous body
Puts off the red and white
That once had been so proud,
If men should pass above
With false and feeble pity,
My dust will find a voice
To answer them aloud:
“Be still, I am content,
Take back your poor compassion,
Joy was a flame in me
Too steady to destroy;
Lithe as a bending reed
Loving the storm that sways her—
I found more joy in sorrow
Than you could find in joy.”
Love Poem by Sara Teasdale
Meaning of the Poem ‘The Answer’ by Sara Teasdale
Sara Teasdale’s ‘The Answer’ is a powerful and defiant reflection on life, love, and the richness of emotional experience. Imagining a time after her death, the speaker anticipates others offering pity for her suffering, but rejects their sympathy, asserting that she lived with intensity and purpose.
Her joy, she explains, was not fragile or fleeting, but “a flame… too steady to destroy.” She embraces sorrow as something not to be feared, but to be cherished: finding in it a depth and passion even greater than others find in happiness. Like a “bending reed / loving the storm,” she portrays herself as resilient, alive to all the beauty and ache of being human.
Ultimately, ‘The Answer’ redefines fulfillment as emotional fullness, celebrating a life that embraced love and loss with fearless grace.
