FREE ESSAY ON SHARON OLD'S SEX WITHOUT LOVE

SHARON OLD'S SEX WITHOUT LOVE

"Sex Without Love," by Sharon Olds passionately describes the author's disgust for casual
sex. She vividly animates the immortality of lustful sex through her language variety.
Olds' clever use of imagery makes this poem come to life.
Olds frequently uses similes to make the audience imagine actual events. For example,
Olds describes making love as "Beautiful as dancers." (Line #2) In this line, she
questions how one can do such a beautiful act with a person whom one is not in love with.
Olds also describes sex as "gliding over each other like ice skaters over the ice."(Line
#3,4) She is referring to sex as a performance. Imagine an ice skating performance. Each
ice skater is performing for judges and an audience to win an award. Olds uses this
simile to relate people performing for one another. When two people truly are in love,
there is no need for any special show or performance. Another simile the author uses is
"As wet as the children at birth whose mothers are going to give them away," (line
#6,7,8) to simulate a sweaty lovemaking scene. The simile "light rising slowly as steam
off their joined skin" (line #11,12,13) can also be used to perceive the same image of a
hot, sweaty, and passionate love making scene. The author repeatedly questions how two
people who are not in love can perform such a spiritual act. The simile "As wet as the
children at birth whose mothers are going to give them away," can also be used to
represent the outcome of lustful copulation. When two people engage in sexual activities,
a large percent of the mothers choose to ignore the outcome and either abort or give
their children up for adoption. Olds compares the lovers with "great runners." (Line #18)
In this simile, she implies that lovers are alone with their own pleasures. Olds'
questions this selfishness throughout the poem. How can two people be alone in pleasure,
when sex is supposed to be both physically and emotionally shared between lovers?
Olds uses hyperbole to describe her belief that sex and God are entwined. "These are the
true religions, the priest, the pros, the one who will not accept a false Messiah, love
the priest instead of the God." (Lines #13-17) In these lines she says that sex is more
than pleasure, and if one is merely using sex for pleasure they are accepting a false
God. She describes people as hypocrites who claim to love the lord, yet engage in immoral
sex. In the lines, "come to the come to the come to the God come to the still waters, and
not love the one they came there with," (lines #8-11) Olds describes two people
climaxing. Olds perceives sex as spiritual, and wonders how people can bring a person
with whom they are not in love with before God. Olds uses hyperbole to share her disgust
of casual sex with her audience.
In conclusion, Olds clearly despises people who engage in sex without being in love. She
is able to emphasize her view in a tasteful manner by using imagery throughout her poem.
Olds is able to express her disgust by using imagery to portray her objection to casual
sex. 
Bibliography
Sharon Old's Poem Sex Without Love