# Nectar and Blood explained — Poetry

> Chapter companion for Poetry by Ameen Rihani.

## What happens

The speaker rejects the call to war and glory, choosing instead to cling to love despite ostracism, slander, and hatred. He refuses to join the clamor of battle, valuing love over honor, fame, or the approval of state and church.

## Themes in this chapter

### War and Peace

The speaker explicitly rejects war and the 'love of war' displayed by others, choosing peace and love instead.

### Love and Loss

The speaker clings to love as the ultimate value, even at the cost of being 'unwept, unsung, unhonored and unknown.'

### Exile and Belonging

The speaker feels ostracized and 'sinking in the sea of ostracism' for his refusal to conform to the warlike ethos of his community.

## Character check-ins

### Unknown Narrator

The speaker who refuses to join the war and declares unwavering devotion to love.

## Key lines

> If I should sacrifice what is not mine, / Nor any living god’s, nor even thine— / If for the sake of honor I must pour / This cup of life upon thy barren shore, / How will it fare then with my love divine?

If I must give up my life for honor on this desolate land, what will happen to my sacred love?

_The speaker questions the cost of honor and war on personal love._

> I cling to love, and with love I will fall, / Unwept, unsung, unhonored and unknown.

I will hold onto love until the end, even if I die without recognition or mourning.

_The speaker affirms his commitment to love above all worldly acclaim._

> What will these kings and war-lords of the land / And all their ministers of murder fell / Do with their arms and fleets—all tools of hell— / If every son of man resolve to stand / A-wielding, king-like, in his home the wand, / Beside the ones he loves and honors well?

What power would warlords have if every person chose to stay home and cherish their loved ones instead of fighting?

_The speaker imagines a world where love and domestic peace disarm the machinery of war._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_2_se/chapters/nectar-and-blood
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_2_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_2_se/chapters