"How do they do it, the ones who make love

without love? Beautiful as dancers,

gliding over each other like ice-skaters

over the ice, fingers hooked

inside each other's bodies, faces

red as steak, wine, wet as the

children at birth whose mothers are going to

give them away. How do they come to the

come to the come to the God come to the

still waters, and not love

the one who came there with them, light

rising slowly as steam off their joined

skin? These are the true religious,

the purists, the pros, the ones who will not

accept a false Messiah, love the

priest instead of the God. They do not

mistake the lover for their own pleasure,

they are like great runners: they know they are alone

with the road surface, the cold, the wind,

the fit of their shoes, their over-all cardio-

vascular health--just factors, like the partner

in the bed, and not the truth, which is the

single body alone in the universe

against its own best time."

Sharon Olds is one of contemporary poetry’s leading voices. Olds was born in 1942 in San Francisco. After graduating from Stanford, she moved east to earn a Ph.D. from Columbia University. Olds describes the completion of her doctorate as a transitional moment in her life; as she stood on the steps of the library at Columbia University, she vowed to become a poet, even if it meant giving up everything she had learned. The vow she made—to write her own poetry, no matter how bad it might be, freed her to develop her own voice (Serafin). To me, Sharon Olds seems like an accredited author and should prove to others as one as well. She has received many awards for her works and is viewed highly respected in the “Poets’ Community.” One of Olds’s most popular pieces is a poem titled “Sex without Love.”

When I, as a young American female, talk about the concepts of sex and love, these ideas can be touchy and complicated. Sex and love are “profound driving forces in human life, and the struggles associated with them have been illustrated in the humanities throughout history” (AMDJ). Those who preform acts of sex and love are seemingly interlocked with one another during the process, though their personalities may be completely opposite from each other's. The 1984 poem titled ‘Sex without Love’ by Sharon Olds uses imagery, syntax and “rhetorical rhythm” to allow the reader to visualize how the two concepts interplay with one another. Evidence of a dynamic relationship between sex and love can be viewed throughout the entire poem.

Olds begins the poem by stating a rhetorical question: “How do they do it, the ones who make love without love?” (Lines 1-2) She, from the beginning, points her finger at those around her by using the word “they” instead of we. She seems to place herself in a separate category from the ones she is addressing. This, in my opinion, sets the tone for the poem. She continues her work by comparing those involved in the act as, “Beautiful dancers, gliding over each other like ice-skaters over the ice” (Lines 2-3). At a first glance, one might view this as a welcoming comparison. “Beautiful as dancers, gliding over each other like ice skaters,” reads as a beautiful simile considering dancers and ice skaters are perceived as a serene and applauded group of talent. This may give the reader a sense of comfort and understanding from the author. While I analyze deeper into this comparison, a darker and more uncomforting side of “Sex without Love” was pulled. Skaters and Dancers are performers, and those who are committing the act of “Sex without Love” are doing just that: putting on a performance. “These dancers are beautiful on the exterior, but toward their partner’s interior are as cold as the ice they skate on” (AMDJ). The syntax that the author utilizes makes the actions very clear.

“Fingers hooked inside each other’s bodies, faces as red as steak, wine” (lines 4-6). Olds draws a scenario with these lines, in my opinion. She draws a vivid picture of a romantic night out: a dinner, perhaps, with steak and wine. A romantic getaway with, what seems to me, as a backstory much deeper than the printed ink on the pages. She gives these lines much thought and detail while comparing a face to steak (was the man/woman just meat?). This also casts an erotic scene of “fingers hooked inside each other’s bodies.” She doesn’t single it out, though. It’s prevalent that the meanings behind these lines are much more than just an erotic scene to fit the tone of the poem. “Each other’s bodies.” She is expressing how meaningless they are to each other by using indirect imagery. She could be talking about a fish on a hook with its life in the hands of another, or meat in a butcher's warehouse hanging to dry like the feelings left behind after a meaningless exchange of emotion. Emptiness. Loneliness.

“How do they come to the come to the come to the God come to the still waters, and not love the one who came there with them” (lines 8-11). How can one exchange physical emotion of that degree and not share passion, or affection, or sentiment of any kind? How can one make the other feel in such a way that sexual exchange makes one feel, and not grow attached to the other? There has to be a connection in some way, whether it’s acknowledged or not. Whether it’s a connection physically, mentally, emotionally, there is a love there. Whether it’s love for the person, or for the performance is unsure, but she makes it prevalent in her writing that a connection has to be made in order for the performance to draw a curtain. Olds also uses aspects of tone and rhetorical rhythm to convey the barbarious periodicity of the sexual actions. She is obviously touched by this act and cannot compare herself to those who are participating in these actions. This repetition of the phrase “to come” may be used to excite the reader; it is said to mimic the pace of sexual intercourse it remind the reader of the intensity of what sex is like. The outburst of “God” (line 9) is used to, again, intensify the feeling for the reader. By using this imagery, it is no longer and abstract discussion on the page, but a gratifying experience that she invites you into. She pulls you into the controversial argument and hopes to pull emotion from you.

“Wet as the children at birth whose mothers are going to give them away” (lines 6-8) insinuate the many aspects of recreational sex. These lines define the repercussions of loveless sex by presenting another scene where a mother gives away her child before it was even given life. Olds, again, pins an image of what would be a beautiful experience with love, arousal and childbirth, against a regrettable one without love.

“They do not mistake the lover for their own pleasure” (lines 16-17). Olds makes it very clear that they are taking part in a loveless affair for the sake of purely interacting emotion through sexual encounter. She reduces sex to a purely physical experience and continues to compare the experience to a performance: “They are like great runners” (line 18). The way in which the author portrays as “they” is almost like a loner, someone who is self sufficient and unrelying upon another. They live this lifestyle by their own rules, for their own gratification—their own way. This is a very biased argument because of how hard it is to differ their intentions as purely physical or due to poor self esteem; images of the cold and the wind suggest the latter. Despite whatever the reader may conclude in regards to the performers intention the poem makes it evidently clear that the performer is content with their pleasure. The romanticism and superficial biased of today’s love is conveyed again by placing things like shoes or outward appearance on a pedastool. What the author may deem as a lonely and dissatisfying life, is contrasted by how those committed the act see themselves.

The poem ends by revealing the truth that these individuals are truly alone in the world. The question to be raised by this truth is whether this is a façade for the outside world to see or if this is who the individual truly is. One point of view or perspective that this author presents is a means of completion for the individual. Somehow through their act and performance of sexual acts, they fill a void. A different perspective is that those who behave in this manor are satisfied with themselves and do not need attachment from another to validate their self-worth. As confident individuals, they live their life with no need for commitment. They have sex not with intentions of receiving the metaphorical missing piece to their heart’s puzzle, but to perform. The individual is not concerned with the well being of their partner, but merely their own sexual gratification and performance.

Sharon Olds constantly points the finger at an abstract audience, while drawing attention to the reader. She touches me emotionally and has me searching for these answers in myself, or my own experiences. Throughout this entire poem I find myself asking the same questions and reflecting on the same ideas and aspects of thought. How can you make love without considering the meaning of making love? You cannot. Without love, it is just sex with attention to your physical pleasure. You’ll seek love elsewhere, whether it’s love for the act or love for the person, proving that aspects of both love and sex tie together.

Works Cited: "AMDG." The Performance: Sex Without Love by Sharon Olds. AMDG, 2009. Web. 22 Oct. 2015.

Serafin, Steven R. "About Sharon Olds." About Sharon Olds. Continuum Publishing Company, n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2015.