# XVIII: O Sweetheart, Hear You explained — Poetry

> Chapter companion for Poetry by James Joyce.

## What happens

The speaker implores his beloved to listen to his tale of sorrow and betrayal by false friends, but promises that one true love will come to comfort him and bring him rest.

## Themes in this chapter

### Love and Longing

The poem centers on the lover's plea for his beloved to hear his tale, and the promise of soft, comforting love.

### Transience and Loss

The speaker reflects on the sorrow of friends who fail and the fleeting nature of their words, which turn to ashes.

## Character check-ins

### Narrator

The speaker who tells of his sorrow and the comfort he finds in love.

### Beloved

The sweetheart being addressed and asked to hear the lover's tale.

### Love

The personified force that moves softly and woos the sorrowful speaker.

## Key lines

> O sweetheart, hear you / Your lover's tale; / A man shall have sorrow / When friends him fail.

Listen, my love, to what I have to say: a person will experience grief when their friends let them down.

_The opening lines establish the theme of betrayal and sorrow._

> But one unto him / Will softly move / And softly woo him / In ways of love.

Yet there is one who will approach him gently and court him tenderly with love.

_Contrasts the false friends with a faithful lover who brings comfort._

> His hand is under / Her smooth round breast; / So he who has sorrow / Shall have rest.

His hand rests beneath her smooth breast, and thus the sorrowful man will find peace.

_The intimate image symbolizes the solace and rest found in true love._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_11_se/chapters/xviii-o-sweetheart-hear-you
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_11_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_11_se/chapters