Poetry Response #10: The Guitarist Tunes Up by Frances Cornford

The Guitarist Tunes Up

By: Frances Cornford

With what attentive courtesy he bent

Over his instrument;

Not as a lordly conqueror who could

Command both wire and wood,

But as a man with a loved woman might,

Inquiring with delight

What slight essential things she had to say

Before they started, he and she, to play. 

     The Guitarist Tunes Up by Frances Cornford brings an image of a humble performer. He takes the relationship with a woman to explain a mans relationship with his guitar. He explains it not as a man who is a "look at me I'm all that" kind of performer; but as a man who loves his guitar and plays it as if it were a woman he is in love with. He is gentle and sweet which makes the music even sweeter. He is "bent over his instrument," not as a "lordly conqueror," but as a man who is loved by a woman with so much "delight." The woman and a mans relationship with her is an underlining metaphor for his relationship with his guitar as well as the music he plays really. The guitar is his woman in this case and he will love it as such. The music is the words that "she had to say before they started, he and she, to play." The guitar is "she," as he begins to play. They work together to make music, as he plays and she brings out the beautiful melody in sweet song.