Perfect Relationship in an Imperfect WayNobody is perfect. Every person has his unique feature. There is no need to change one’s characteristics to fit another person. People in love always want to change each other so that they can have a better and steadier relationship. But if you love a person, you should love his bright points and drawbacks together. In “To Dorothy”, Marvin Bell talks about this kind of love that you even love each other’s shortcomings. He discusses how he thinks of Dorothy. He discusses what Dorothy did in his life and what his reaction was. He also indicates what he would feel if Dorothy left him. In “To Dorothy”, Marvin Bell tells us we can have a perfect relationship in an imperfect way.This poem obviously talks about the relationship between the poet, Marvin Bell and Dorothy who may be Marvin Bell’s lover, wife, or relative and so on. In the first place, Marvin Bell tells us he thinks Dorothy is not beautiful. I think this may indicate that Dorothy is a not a perfect person in his eyes.“To DorothyYou are not beautiful exactly.You are beautiful, inexactly.” (Marvin Bell, 1)From here on, we can know that Marvin Bell knows clearly that Dorothy is not beautiful and perfect, because he uses two sentences which are the exactly same meaning to express the similar ideas. From anotherperspective, however, maybe there is another meaning that we can conclude from the two sentences. Using two similar sentences may express the poet’s hesitation. In the first sentence, Marvin Bell does think Dorothy is not exactly beautiful, but in the second sentence, in his eyes, Dorothy isbeautiful. It’s hard to tell, but we can see that Dorothy do has some deficiency and Marvin Bell knows that.There are some things that did by Dorothy in the poet’s life. And Marvin Bell seems to live a happy and peaceful life with her.“You let a weed grow by the mulberryAnd a mulberry grow by the house.So close, in the personal quietOf a windy night, it brushes the wallAnd sweeps away the day till we sleep.”(Marvin Bell, 2)We can see that Dorothy may be a lazy person because she let a weed grow by the mulberry. Weed mostly represents the useless things and trouble. Or maybe she is so sympathy that she does not wantto hurt a weed, because, to Dorothy, the weed may not be a trouble but a vulnerable creature. However, for other people, like Marvin Bell may not think so. The weed can be a trouble to him. Actually, in this poem, Marvin Bell tells us that he can be tolerant about everything of Dorothy. He even does not care such nosy things. He knows her shortcomings but he just doesn’t mind it. You can imagine the scene that the poem describes, and we can feel that the heart of the poet is quiet, peaceful, and comfortable. That is how Marvin Bell feels about Dorothy’s actions.We can conclude that Marvin Bell loves Dorothy, the whole person. What a lovely couple! Anything that did by Dorothy can be accepted and even liked by Marvin Bell and he seems to be happy to do these things for Dorothy. That is a perfect relationship between two persons, in which they can be very suitable for each other. As long as one can accept your shortcomings, he can be suitable for you. If both of you feel comfortable and happy with your partner,you two are suitable for each other. Remember that you can only love the whole person instead of some parts of a person.During the whole process of life, people have to face a lot of accidents. We cannot keep anythingunchanged forever. Then, Marvin discusses what he would feel if he lost Dorothy.“If I lost you,The air wouldn't move, nor the tree grow.” (Marvin Bell, 3)This is absolutely expressing how deeply the poet loves Dorothy. The air does move in every second and it will never stop moving. These impossible things used by Marvin Bell can indicate that he cannot bear the grief of losing Dorothy. What strong feeling he has! To put it in small terms, Dorothy is loved by the poet deeply.Marvin Bell loves Dorothy because she is special and unique to him. There is no equality and reason in love.“A child said it, and it seemed true:"Things that are lost are all equal."But it isn't true.” (Marvin Bell, 3)A child is a symbol of the simple and plain thought. The poet also acknowledges that it seems true that things that are lost are all equal. This sentence can be used in the most of situations but not in here between Marvin and Dorothy. Marvin Bell thinks Dorothy is not equal to anything that is lost because, in his mind, she is special. Maybe, in other people’s mind, losing Dorothy is an unimportant thing, but for Marin Bell, this is an extremely significant thing in his whole life.Marvin Bell also points out that he loves all features of Dorothy including shortcomings. And he only loves her. If someone else who doesn’t have Dorothy’s faults appeared, he would not accept because he only loves Dorothy. Love is blind and exclusive. Someone else cannot insert between the two persons. “Someone would pull the weed, my flower.The quiet wouldn't be yours.” (Marvin Bell, 4)It is Dorothy that let the weed grow by the mulberry. So Marvin regards it as his flower. And he only accept Dorothy’s flower. If someone pulls the weed, maybe he can sleep in a better condition in the night. But the truth is that Marvin Bell has already been used to Dorothy’s weed. He could not sleep even in quiet environment because he lost Dorothy. The quiet is not brought by Dorothy, his true love.A habit is powerful. A habit developed by one’s true love is more powerful, because the habit is a symbol of remembering.“If I lost you,I'd have to ask the grass to let me sleep.” (Marvin Bell, 4)The weed has a close relationship with Dorothy, so Marvin Bell views it as his linking with Dorothy. In the past, the poet may think the weed is bothering because it disturbed his sleep. But he can tolerate it just because of his love to Dorothy. Now, he lost Dorothy, but he still can tolerate the weed and even needs it to help him sleep. Only in this way, can he feel connected with Dorothy. This is a sharp comparison that stresses this kind of perfect relationship in an imperfect way. He can accept all of things about his love. It is so lovely and touching.The poem mainly tells us that a person who truly loves someone should accept the whole person not just part of him or her.Maybe you have something different with your love, but you two can still have ahappy and perfect relationship. We are told that everything you do with your love is wonderful. There are so many other happy things to remember between you can him or her, so you can forget those bothering things.As time goes by, you may be accustomed to your love’s habits. You may even love these mistakes made by your love. And you cannot leave him or her, because they live in your heart. Those differences that you two have are not important. Marvin Bell’s focus in “To Dorothy” is that we can have a perfect relationship in an imperfect way.。