Moonlit Queen: A Poetry Analysis & Reflection.

A poetry analysis/reflection of a poem from my book "Inside the Sun and Moon." Which you can buy the full book on Amazon.

I wrote this poem all the way back in March of 2023, just last year. I shared it online and included it inside my poetry collection “Inside the Sun and Moon.” But with all that in mind, I’ve never taken the time to reflect or study it in greater effect. So, what exactly does this piece mean to me, and what do I like? Let’s take a look together.

Are you like the sun as it rises?
Bright and warm, so full of splendor? 
Your beauty, so gallant, my apprises;
To hold that heat, I’d be your contender. 

Are you confident like the moon at night? 
So mystifying, yet calm and serene? 
You’re unafraid to give to us your light, 
Confident and alluring; the Moonlit Queen. 

You live among stories and folktales, 
And only so many will seek your grace. 
But truth is, you live among the golden trails:
The stars we see at night, adrift inside space.  

If only I could reach you way out there, 
But I’m your servant still, just elsewhere. 

Before diving deep into the poem, there is one thing I’d like to mention. When I wrote the poem, one of things I wanted to do was challenge myself as a writer. Often I stick to a free-form structure in my poetry, so this time I stuck with a rhyming structure instead. The form I chose for this piece, if I recall correctly was a sonnet using the ABAB CDCD EFEF GG format.

Writing a sonnet required me to think more about the verbiage I used inside the piece. How was I going to paint the picture I desired to create? Each stanza is comprised much like paint flung onto a canvas. When you first start writing the piece, you have an idea of what you want from it. But as the piece evolves, it may turn out differently than you expected.

For this piece, it turned out much better than I expected. Often I feel as if my writing is growing stale, or becoming stagnant. Doing a sonnet gave my muse a fresh breath of air I often lack. It pushed be to be more creative with not only the imagery, but the story I was telling, too. I could hardly imagine how this story would’ve unfolded if I hadn’t been trying to shake things up. If I kept to the same free-form writing style, would this piece have turned out as nicely?

Probably not, but luckily this is the final form we came up with. So let’s finally dive deeper into the poem itself.

Starting with the imagery itself, I’m really fond of using the sun and moon in my poetry. It’s a yin and yang, or a polar opposites. The moon is cold yet wise, but it can be dark and looming. The sun is bright and warm, or it can be intense and striking. Both share gentle and happy aspects, but both also have more intensifying parts. So as I write I tend to try and find ways to showcase those sides and how they fluctuate.

You can see it in this piece, how the person describes her as being like the sun, but also the moon. Her beauty is warm and her demeanor is bright, something which the narrator desires to cling to by offering to be her champion. The knight in which stands by this Queen’s side, willing to do anything to be close.

Then it moves on to comparing her to the moon, stating that she is confident, yet sort of mysterious— only something that continues to draw me to her. She is also calm and gentle, as stated in the stanza. She is unafraid, courageous, and bold-en. This part of the poem continues to stack up her qualities, or anything that pushes who she is in a positive light. She is the centerpiece of the writing displayed after all.

But despite all that, she is beauty left unobtainable. No matter how the person strives to become close to her presence. She is a god left unreachable by the one who essentially worships her. Which is what the rest of the poem tells you. This person, this being— well, they’re out in the stars while you’re on Earth. You can only build so many rockets to reach them, but even then, they’re too out of this world.

So what is the meaning of this poem anyway? The concept is to describe an unhealthy obsession with a crush or romantic interest. Sometimes it feels like you need to do whatever you can to be with someone. Often men in particular, are told by society they need to continue trying if a person rejects their advances. It is unhealthy and toxic, and should never be the norm.

When I was younger there were times I felt it had to be that way too. Though truthfully, it never really ended up working like that. With my social anxiety, especially regarding crushes, I’d more often fumble relationship opportunities by doing nothing instead. I’d also push people I was close to away, which tore at my self-esteem like a monkey tearing into a banana. While relationships have been a struggle for me for years, I feel like I’m finally making progress.

I’m refraining from running when things get hard, and doing my best to keep up healthy communication. I feel attached to the person I’m in a relationship with, but do my best to give them space they need (and vice versa).

While this poem starts out simple and beautiful, painting the picture of someone who is in love— It quickly shows how the person is more obsessed than they should be. They’re worshiping someone they know they can’t have. They want to cling closer to them, or to do whatever it takes so that they’re together. Deep down though, they know it’ll never work out for them. So they’re wishful, but solemn over it.

My favorite lines would be the two from the final stanza:

If only I could reach you way out there, 
But I’m your servant still, just elsewhere. 

The sense of longing or desperation in those lines, coupled with the final line of acceptance. It completes the story in a way that is satisfying. It seems like the narrator is finally accepting the reality of their mindset. Though, at the same time, it leaves room for the story to continue. Do they one day develop into a healthier mindset, and obtaining love through genuine means. Or do they continue to obsess over people they can’t have, burrowing their self into low self-esteem?

That may be all I have to say about this piece, but what do you have to say? What was your interpretation and feelings of the poem? Let me know! And if you liked this piece and want to get notified for future posts, then consider subscribing to my blog. You can also purchase a copy of the book this poem is from, right here: Inside the Sun and Moon.