Harriet Monroe’s speaker describes a love that feels like a force of nature—both exhilarating and peaceful. It is a blue wave with rainbows playing in it and a cool mountain cave where shadows linger, so it brings brightness and shelter at once. The feeling can thrill like strong winds at war, then immediately soothe like the softest singing. It carries the speaker in imagination to clear rivers lined with swaying reeds and rushes, or to distant pearly shores where temple bells ring. The mood is dreamy, tender, and expansive, mixing awe with comfort. Rather than focusing on a specific person, the speaker lingers on the emotional experience of love itself: how it can be powerful and gentle, wild and serene, all at the same time.
Love Songs 2 — Summary
Your love is like a blue, blue wave The little rainbows play in.
Your love is like a mountain cave Cool shadows darkly stay in.
It thrills me like great gales at war, It soothes like softest singing.
It bears me where clear rivers are, With reeds and rushes swinging;
Or out to pearly shores afar Where temple bells are ringing.