# Retribution explained — Poetry

> Chapter companion for Poetry by Ameen Rihani.

## What happens

The narrator reflects on past arrogance and denial of love's power, only to find themselves now ensnared by Beauty's chains, experiencing the retribution of love's inevitable dominion.

## Themes in this chapter

### Desire and Restraint

The narrator's former denial of desire contrasts with their current enslavement to love's power.

### Suffering and Resilience

The narrator experiences suffering as a consequence of past mockery, now bound in chains at Beauty's shrine.

## Character check-ins

### Unknown Narrator

The speaker who once scorned love but now suffers its chains.

### Beauty

The object of devotion at whose shrine the narrator is now bound.

## Key lines

> How I did hold in deep contempt The slaves and queens of love!

I once looked down on those who were enslaved by love.

_The narrator admits past disdain for lovers._

> But now, alas! I find myself In chains at Beauty’s shrine: The chains whose power I have denied Are sapping, sapping mine.

Now I am trapped in love's bondage, and the very force I rejected is draining my strength.

_The narrator experiences poetic justice, becoming a captive of love._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_2_se/chapters/retribution
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_2_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_2_se/chapters