When my blood flows calm as a purling river,
When my heart is asleep and my brain has sway,
It is then that I vow we must part forever,
That I will forget you, and put you away
Out of my life, as a dream is banished
Out of the mind when the dreamer awakes;
That I know it will be, when the spell has vanished,
Better for both of our sakes.
When the court of the mind is ruled by Reason,
I know it is wiser for us to part;
But Love is a spy who is plotting treason,
In league with that warm, red rebel, the Heart.
They whisper to me that the King is cruel,
That his reign is wicked, his law a sin;
And every word they utter is fuel
To the flame that smoulders within.
And on nights like this, when my blood runs riot
With the fever of youth and its mad desires,
When my brain in vain bids my heart be quiet,
When my breast seems the centre of lava-fires,
Oh, then is the time when most I miss you,
And I swear by the stars and my soul and say
That I will have you and hold you and kiss you,
Though the whole world stands in the way.
And like Communists, as mad, as disloyal,
My fierce emotions roam out of their lair;
They hate King Reason for being royal;
They would fire his castle, and burn him there.
Oh, Love! they would clasp you and crush you and kill you,
In the insurrection of uncontrol.
Across the miles, does this wild war thrill you
That is raging in my soul?
Love Poem by Ella Wheeler Wilcox
Meaning of the Poem ‘Communism’ by Ella Wheeler Wilcox
Ella Wheeler Wilcox’s Communism explores the inner battle between rational restraint and the overwhelming force of passion. The poem begins with the speaker asserting the logical decision to end a relationship for the sake of reason and emotional stability. In the calm of clarity, parting seems not only inevitable but wise.
Yet, when the heart stirs and desire ignites, reason becomes powerless. The poet uses political metaphor – casting Love and the Heart as rebel Communists conspiring against the rule of Reason – to convey how unruly emotions rise up in defiance. These “insurrectionists” refuse to be silenced, demanding physical closeness and overwhelming the mind’s authority.
Ultimately, the poem reveals the speaker’s vulnerability to love’s intoxication. Despite knowing what is rational, the pull of longing is too fierce, too consuming. The result is a visceral portrayal of a woman torn between head and heart, logic and lust, echoing the timeless conflict between passion and restraint.
