Review of "El Beso" by Angelina Weld Grimké

"El Beso" by Angelina Weld Grimké (1880 - 1958) was offered by Poets.org's Poem-A-Day on January 11, 2014.  A link to the poem may be found here:

http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/23837?utm_source=PAD%3A+El+Beso+by+Angelina+Weld+Grimké&utm_campaign=poemaday_011114&utm_medium=email

The title is Spanish for "the kiss."  The poem is a love song, full of passion, yearning, and confused emotions.  Interestingly, the poem has sixteen lines when a sonnet might have been expected.  Maybe it was all the dashes, but I was reminded of Emily Dickinson when I read this poem.

The poem was published in 1909.  Interestingly, the Austrian Symbolist/Art Nouveau artist Gustav Klimt painted a piece entitled "The Kiss" (pictured) between 1907 and 1908.  Coincidence?  WebMuseum, Paris http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/klimt/kiss/ describes Klimt's painting as "a fascinating icon of the loss of self that lovers experience…visually the emotional and physical explosion of erotic love."  Grimké produces the same results in poetry form with "El Beso."