Mock Orange Matt Pryzby

Mock Orange by Louise Gluck was written to portray the author's disdain of sex. In the first stanza, Gluck contends, "It is not the moon, I tell you. It is these flowers lighting up the yard." The bright moon may be seen as a romantic symbol, while the flowers are usually synonymous with first dates and a cheesy/stereotypical gift.

In the second-third stanza, Gluck says, "the man's mouth sealing my mouth, the man's paralyzing body - and the cry that always escapes, the low humiliating premise of union -," which shows a sort of forceful and impersonal sexual encounter with a man. The man's paralyzing body displays a woman being held down. The cry that always escapes - from the sealed mouth - there seems to be a lot of unwanted sex / rape references in this poem. The low humiliating premise of union refers to the actual act of intercourse between the two.

The author displays her displeasure with a merely physical relationship by using such phrases as "i hear the question and pursuing answer fused in one sound that mounts and mounts and then is split into the old selves, the tired antagonisms." The tired antagonisms refers to the two beings after they have finished and do not have the same passion for one another as they may have shortly before.

The scent of mock orange is a reminder to the author of a loveless physical relationship and is also syneshesia. Her final stanza shows her lack of faith of love in a world where people are more focused on the physical aspects of a relationship.