Central Heating Love Quotes

Here, the speaker is talking about physical contact with whom we now guess to be his lover. He's pointing out that this physical contact is not an exception to the rule that he's drawn up that everything visible is artificial. Yet, the very fact that he's having to point this out as an exception means that it's nagging at the back of his mind, as if it were an unhappy toddler, whining "but, but, but." It's up to us to decide whether or not the speaker thinks something as warming as his lover's touch is truly artificial, or if that's just something he's saying to push the limits of reality.

This line gives us an actual memory for a change, demonstrating what this love affair might be like. It's, of course, not a happy memory, but an unhappy one. Yet, the two of them are together in their misery, sitting on a trunk, keeping each other company. If this memory were perfect and happy, the poem wouldn't be as interesting as it is, or as sweet. The unhappiness in this memory makes it more relatable and real. Our speaker and his lover aren't perfect—they're real, with real dissatisfactions and troubles.

This line clinches the love poem aspect, which, until this moment, has seemed to be wavering between a love poem and a "I'm not sure if I love you, or even believe that you exist" poem. Though the speaker still, of course, has his doubts about whether or not this love is healthy for him, and what exactly about the world he finds to be real, he does have a lot of respect and passion for this woman.