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What Love Is
What is love? It is a question poets have tried to answer for generations, yet love can still be difficult to explain in words. When we experience it, we know its happiness and comfort, but we may also discover that love can bring heartache, sacrifice, and sorrow.
In this thought-provoking poem, Ella Wheeler Wilcox looks at the many sides of love. She does not describe love as simply romantic or joyful. Instead, she recognizes its sweetness and bitterness, its power to bring both happiness and pain, and the influence it has on our lives and the world around us.
Her final words leave us with something worth considering: "Pity the hearts that know — or know not — Love!" Perhaps part of what makes love so difficult to define is that it can bring us some of life's greatest joys while also making us vulnerable to its deepest sorrows.
Updated September 29, 2026, by Catherine Pulsifer.
What Love Is
Poet: Ella Wheeler Wilcox
Love is the centre and circumference;
The cause and aim of all things — 'tis the key
To joy and sorrow, and the recompense
For all the ills that have been, or may be.
Love is as bitter as the dregs of sin,
As sweet as clover-honey in its cell;
Love is the password whereby souls get in
To Heaven — the gate that leads, sometimes, to Hell.
Love is the crown that glorifies; the curse
That brands and burdens; it is life and death;
It is the great law of the universe;
And nothing can exist without its breath.
Love is the impulse which directs the world,
And all things know it and obey its power.
Man, in the maelstrom of his passions whirled;
The bee that takes the pollen to the flower;
The earth, uplifting her bare, pulsing breast
To fervent kisses of the amorous sun; —
Each but obeys creative Love's behest,
Which everywhere instinctively is done.
Love is the only thing that pays for birth,
Or makes death welcome. Oh, dear God above,
This beautiful but sad, perplexing earth,
Pity the hearts that know — or know not — Love!
Key Reflections In This Poem
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Love can bring both joy and sorrow.
Wilcox does not present love as something that is always easy or happy. She reminds us that opening our hearts to love also means accepting the emotions and challenges that may come with it.
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Love is filled with contrasts.
The poet describes love as bitter and sweet, a crown and a curse, and even life and death. These contrasts show how difficult it can be to capture the full meaning of love in only a few words.
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Love reaches beyond romance.
Wilcox sees love as a force that reaches throughout the natural world and directs life itself. Her words encourage us to think of love as something much larger than the feelings shared between two people.
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Love gives life greater meaning.
The poem suggests that love makes both the joys and sorrows of life worth experiencing. Even when love brings pain, its presence can add meaning and richness to our lives.
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A life without love would be missing something precious.
The final lines express compassion for those who have known the difficulties of love and for those who have never known love at all. Wilcox leaves us considering whether love, despite its complexities, is one of life's greatest gifts.
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Conclusion
Ella Wheeler Wilcox reminds us that love cannot easily be described as simply happy or painful, sweet or bitter. It can be all of these things, sometimes at the very same time. Love brings joy into our lives, but caring deeply for another person also means opening ourselves to disappointment, worry, and loss.
Yet the poem suggests that love is worth experiencing despite its complexities. It connects us to others, gives meaning to our lives, and influences the way we see the world around us. Perhaps we do not need to completely understand love to appreciate the difference it makes in our lives.
May this poem encourage you to cherish the love you have known, appreciate those who hold a special place in your heart, and never take for granted the gift of loving and being loved.
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