Critical Thinking Skill: Analyze a Paradox
A paradox is a statement that seems to contradict itself. Walcott builds "Love after Love" around the paradox of "the
stranger who was yourself."
Directions: Use the chart below to analyze the stages of self-knowledge in the poem. Use your own words to describe each
of the two roles, the stranger" and the self, in each part of the poem.
The Stranger
The Present Self
At the beginning of the poem
In the middle of the poem
At the end of the poem