# The First and Last explained — Poetry

> Chapter companion for Poetry by Ameen Rihani.

## What happens

A passionate and desperate plea for a final kiss as love faces its end, blending the ecstasy of beginning with the agony of conclusion, and questioning whether love or death will prevail.

## Themes in this chapter

### Love and Loss

The poem centers on the tension between the bliss of love's beginning and the sorrow of its end, with the kiss symbolizing both union and finality.

### Desire and Restraint

The speaker's urgent desire for a kiss clashes with the fear of its consequences, reflecting the struggle between passion and caution.

## Character check-ins

### Unknown Narrator

The speaker, pleading for a final kiss and grappling with the end of love.

## Key lines

> O kiss me now; the end is near The bright beginning; kiss me, dear.

Kiss me now, for the end is close, just as the beginning was bright.

_The speaker juxtaposes the start and end of love, urging intimacy in the final moment._

> The kiss I fear⁠— The poison, ah, the lie, my dear.

I fear the kiss might be poisonous or deceptive.

_The kiss is both desired and dreaded, seen as potentially destructive._

> The fingers in the shadow, there! What are they weaving? Look, a shroud!

I see shadowy fingers weaving a burial shroud.

_A grim image of death being prepared, contrasting with the love scene._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_2_se/chapters/the-first-and-last
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_2_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_2_se/chapters