'Mock Orange' - R.Abbott

The poem 'Mock Orange,' by Louise Gluck, is essentially about the repugnance the speaker has for effects of physical love and the many things she associates with it. Overall, the poem is relatively short, so Gluck delivers her powerful message without using many words. I believe the title is referencing the color of the flowers outside the window of the speaker - flowers which have exceeded the light of the moon and now remind the speaker of a type of sex which has a lack of love/meaning. The speaker expresses her hatred for the sex being described throughout the poem when she discusses the 'humiliating cry' that people make during the act, and then the 'split into the old selves' after the act is complete. Gluck seems to state that the sex occuring during the poem is only happen for selfish reasons - not out of true love. This become apparent when she uses the metaphhor 'tired antagonisms' to describe the lack of interest after the two split. A vivid use of synesthesia is implemented when Gluck describes the scent entering the room through the window - 'the scent of mock orange drifts through the window' - connect a sense of smell and vision into one moment.
-Ryan