Love's Dog

• “What I love about love is it’s diagnosis”

  • The word “diagnosis” implies that love is something that can be examined, labelled, or even treated—like an illness.
  • This medical metaphor introduces the idea that love isn’t always beautiful; it can be problematic, possibly even harmful.
  • It suggests the speaker sees love as intense and consuming, something that changes the way you think and feel.
• ”What I hate about love is it’s me me me”

  • The repetition of “me” sounds almost like a child having a tantrum—self-absorbed and immature.
  • This reflects the idea that love can turn people inward, making them act selfishly or demand attention.
  • There’s a contrast between ideal love (selfless, mutual) and real love (messy, egocentric).
  • The speaker may be criticising how people talk about love only in terms of how it benefits them, rather than thinking of the other person.
• ”What I hate about love is it’s boil-wash”

  • A boil-wash is an aggressive cleaning cycle—it suggests heat, pressure, and discomfort.
  • This metaphor implies that love can be emotionally scalding, leaving people raw or damaged.
  • It uses domestic imagery to bring the pain of love into everyday life, making the hurt feel familiar and relatable.
  • The contrast between this and the dreamy metaphors earlier shows the speaker’s conflicted feelings—love is both enchanting and painful.
• Use of Repetition (Anaphora):

  • The poem uses a repeated structure throughout, beginning almost every couplet with “What I love about love is” or “What I hate about love is.”
  • This creates a rhythmic, list-like structure, as if the speaker is working through a stream of thoughts or confessions
  • It emphasises the contrast between love’s positives and negatives, reflecting conflicted emotions and mixed experiences of love
• Couplets and Binary Oppositions

  • Each pair of lines (couplet) presents a juxtaposition of feelings—love and hate
  • This structure reflects the dual nature of love: beautiful and exciting on one hand, frustrating and painful on the other
  • It could mirror the idea of a relationship between two people, where both bring different emotions and perspectives
• Free Verse

  • The poem doesn’t follow a regular rhyme scheme or metre
  • This free verse form reflects the unpredictability of love—it doesn’t follow rules, just like the speaker’s feelings
  • The lack of structure might also suggest a feeling of being overwhelmed or uncertain, common in complicated emotional experiences
• • The title of the poem is a reference to a quote from the Scottish poet Edwin Morgan, who once said, “What I hate about love is its dog.
  • This inspired Hadfield to explore love in a similar way—listing what she loves and hates about it, using unusual, even humorous metaphors
  • This shows that the poem is inspired by previous literary ideas, but gives them a fresh, personal twist
• • Love’s Dog is a modern poem by Jen Hadfield, a Scottish poet known for her quirky, imaginative style and interest in personal emotions and the natural world
  • The poem was published in 2008 and reflects contemporary attitudes towards relationships—complex, honest, and sometimes contradictory
• • The poem fits into a modern context, where people are more open about the ups and downs of love
  • Unlike traditional romantic poetry, which often idealises love, Hadfield presents it as something complicated and even annoying at times
  • This reflects a realistic, twenty-first century perspective on relationships, showing how love can be both beautiful and frustrating
• • Hadfield’s use of both serious and playful language—like “diagnosis” vs. “petting zoo”—mirrors how love can feel both intense and silly
  • It might reflect how people today feel torn between the emotional pull of love and the fear of vulnerability or disappointment