January 2nd, 2016 — Summary

And I thought it'd be hell to live without you Now it'd hell to live with you And I can't stand to hear your name

When did we come to this?

Learn Poems app

Try the Learn Poems app

Everything from the website trainer, and more: new exercises, voice recording and sharing, reminders, quick review.

The speaker looks back at a relationship that has soured so completely that the old fears now seem almost laughable. Once, the thought of life without this person felt like the worst thing imaginable. Now the reverse is true: staying with them is the real hell. The speaker can't even bear to hear their name, which shows how far the feeling has moved from longing to something close to revulsion.

The poem is very short, and that brevity does a lot of work. There's no explanation of what went wrong, no blame, no argument, just the bare fact of the change. The closing question, "When did we come to this?", is the emotional center. It sounds weary and bewildered rather than angry, as if the speaker can't pinpoint the moment things broke. The mood is bitter and sad, with a note of grief for what the relationship used to be. The small slip in the second line ("Now it'd hell") also gives it a raw, unpolished feel, like a thought written down in a hurry.

Read also

More by AllyBelle

All poems
RomanticAllyBelle

August 10th, 2015

Your eyes were the sea And just like the sea They swallowed me They were beautiful in ways that people wouldn't understand
ContemplativeAllyBelle

March 8, 2016

She looked back Going through her whole life until now And she found out why songs never sounded the same Why orchids were her favorite
SadAllyBelle

August 29th, 2015

She smiled and laughed to numb her pain But just like all medicine It wore off eventually