Symbol Analysis
Another set of imagery we'll find in the poem has to do with direction and guidance. Of course, this poem deals with a more metaphorical kind of direction and guidance. It's the equivalent of being lost and cursing at our Google Maps, but on a more spiritual level. It's when we don't know who we are, or what we want, or where we're going with our love lives or careers. Don't fret, though. Poetry, and love, are there to get us safely home.
- Lines 14-15: The speaker tells his beloved to look to the poem when the beloved is feeling "lost" and needs "direction." So, the poem is presented as a kind of spiritual compass, which can help the beloved find her way.
- Line 16: The speaker describes life as a "wilderness." That's an image that evokes life as a scary place, full of mazes and confusing paths. We don't always know our way around this wilderness.
- Lines 18-20: The speaker imagines that, when his beloved is lost, she will come knocking at a cabin in the woods. And who's inside? Why, it's the speaker of the poem. The speaker says that he will give his beloved the directions she needs. Happy ending: achieved.