Push off the clinging arms!
There is only death in this strangle-hold; even if we call it love …
The mother who cares too much for her child,
Or the husband for his wife,
They are keeping sheltered and confined what should be free and hardy, toughened for battle!

Nay, there is no real love in this binding:
It is more often a sense of waste and futility,
And a fierce bickering and quarrelling …

Shake free!
Know love in freedom: know love in separation:
Give the soul its own self to support it, and take off your arms!
Do honor to the divinity of another human being
By trusting its power to go alone.