I think that this poem is about a girl who has been either abused or raped by her lover. It captures the feelings of a lot of girls who have had this happen to them. She talks of having “tainted dreams.” I think that this refers to how she thought of love and how these horrible experiences have changed how she used to think of it. Maybe she thought of it as it is in the fairy tales where theres a knight in shining armor and so forth. These hopes and dreams of true love were crushed or “tainted.” She talks of how she still continues to hold out her heart or extend her love to him even after these acts of violence. This is illustrated in the second stanza. The author writes of how her fingers are unsure and her hands are shaking as she “holds out her heart.” She then talks of how she drops her heart on the floor. I think this symbolizes her inability to ever love or trust another man again. She then says that she will soon loose her soul in the same way. I think that this line conveys that he has taken everything away from her.
I thought this poem correctly captured the feelings of a woman who has been a victim in an abusive relationship. I have known women who have been in such relationships and it always baffaled me how they would continue to “hold out their heart” hoping things would change in the future. This poem correctly yet sadly portrays this all to common phenomenon and its final result. If you want to see more poems by this author her username is tornpaperdoll at darkpoetry.com. I am not sure what her actual name is.
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