This poem by Rupert Brooke resembles the theme of jealousy in the play ‘Othello.’
Jealousy
When I see you, who were so wise and cool,
Gazing with silly sickness on that fool
You’ve given your love to, your adoring hands
Touch his so intimately that each understands,
I know, most hidden things; and when I know
Your holiest dreams yield to the stupid bow
Of his red lips, and that the empty grace
Of those strong legs and arms, that rosy face,
Has beaten your heart to such a flame of love,
That you have given him every touch and move,
Wrinkle and secret of you, all your life,
— Oh! then I know I’m waiting, lover-wife,
For the great time when love is at a close,
And all its fruit’s to watch the thickening nose
And sweaty neck and dulling face and eye,
That are yours, and you, most surely, till you die!
Day after day you’ll sit with him and note
The greasier tie, the dingy wrinkling coat;
As prettiness turns to pomp, and strength to fat,
And love, love, love to habit!
And after that,
When all that’s fine in man is at an end,
And you, that loved young life and clean, must tend
A foul sick fumbling dribbling body and old,
When his rare lips hang flabby and can’t hold
Slobber, and you’re enduring that worst thing,
Senility’s queasy furtive love-making,
And searching those dear eyes for human meaning,
Propping the bald and helpless head, and cleaning
A scrap that life’s flung by, and love’s forgotten, —
Then you’ll be tired; and passion dead and rotten;
And he’ll be dirty, dirty!
O lithe and free
And lightfoot, that the poor heart cries to see,
That’s how I’ll see your man and you! —
But you
— Oh, when that time comes, you’ll be dirty too!
This poem depicts a man explaining how the woman he loves is with another man and how they should not be together. Othello is the same in a way, hearing that Desdemona is supposedly sleeping with Cassio, he views her as nothing but a dirty woman who sleeps with other men. The man in the poem says that the man that the woman is with will only bring her sadness and grief. Claiming that he’ll give more than just his love, he becomes more alike Othello. Othello is angry and aggressive when he even hears that Desdemona may be with another man, promising more than his love and body to Desdemona to keep her in his grasp.
When the man says in the poem,”Propping the bald and helpless head, and cleaning a scrap that life’s flung by, and love’s forgotten,” he is stating that if she continues to be with this man, she’ll endure an old life of caring for a person she does not love. The title of the poem ‘Jealousy’ is also one of the major themes of Othello, expressing how jealousy can drive someone to lengths that can change them entirely. The way the man views the woman he loves in the poem is the same as Othello by the end of the play, seeing Desdemona as nothing but disloyal and untrustworthy.