# Nonette explained — Poetry

> Chapter companion for Poetry by Langston Hughes.

## What happens

A speaker addresses Nonette, describing how she wounds his soul and poisons him with a deceptive rose, yet in death, her heart breaks as well.

## Themes in this chapter

### Love and Loss

The poem explores a toxic love that brings pain and death, yet ends in mutual heartbreak.

### Death and Mortality

The speaker dies from the poison of the rose, and Nonette also dies from a broken heart.

## Character check-ins

### Unknown

The speaker who is wounded and poisoned by Nonette.

## Key lines

> You wound my soul with a thousand spears, You bathe my wounds in a flood of tears, Nonette.

You cause me immense emotional pain and then drown me in sorrow.

_The speaker describes the depth of hurt inflicted by Nonette._

> You give me a rose whose breath is sweet, Whose petals are poison and death to eat, Nonette.

You offer me something beautiful that is actually deadly.

_The rose symbolizes a deceptive gift that leads to the speaker's demise._

> And when I am dead you do not cry, But your heart breaks, too, and you, too, die.

Though you show no tears at my death, your own heart shatters and you also perish.

_The final lines reveal a shared, inevitable tragedy._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_15_se/chapters/nonette
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_15_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_15_se/chapters