Gifts — Summary

In “Gifts,” the speaker looks back on three loves and measures what she gave against what came back. With the first love, she gave laughter and received singing; with the second, she gave tears and received eyes to see. Those exchanges feel real but partial. With the third love, she gave only silence—through all the years—and, she says, that love gave her soul. The poem moves from bright and painful kinds of love toward something quieter and more essential. The “oh” in the last stanza adds tenderness and a little surprise, as if the depth of this final gift still moves her. The mood is wistful, intimate, and almost prayerlike. Rather than celebrating noise or drama, Teasdale suggests that restraint and stillness can hold the deepest power.