HURT — Summary

The fact that she smiles Regardless of how much you have hurt her

Doesn't mean she enjoys it For there's only little she can endure.

Learn Poems app

Try the Learn Poems app

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

A smile can be misleading, and the speaker wants to correct that. The poem talks about a woman who keeps smiling even when someone is hurting her, and the speaker warns the reader not to take that smile as a sign that she is fine, or that she likes being treated badly. The last line makes the point plainly: there is only so much she can endure.

The speaker sounds protective and a little weary, as if they have watched this happen before. The poem speaks to "you," which makes it feel like a gentle but serious warning to the person doing the hurting. Its short, simple lines add to that effect. There is no anger or shouting, just a calm statement of fact. The mood is quiet and sad, but there is tension underneath it. By ending on the idea of a limit, the poem suggests that her patience will not last forever, and that the smile may not last either.

Read also

More by Karen Bassey

All poems
AngryKaren Bassey

PART

How is it so That there are two parts of every story Yet everyone seems to always know just one What happens to the other part
RomanticKaren Bassey

HIM

The way the sun kissed his skin The way he always knew what was wrong The way he calmed me Or the way he got to my heart
SadKaren Bassey

LOVE UNTIL THE END

Time passed by and so did you The sun drifted and you did too.