A willow cabin at your gate

As Viola is describing Orsino's love to Olivia, she says something that I found very profound: "Make me a willow cabin at your gate" (Twelfth Night, 1.5.271). Viola goes on, describing how Orsino will do anything for Olivia, but the part that captivated me most about her speech was this first line. I often hear the phrase "guarded heart," and I think that to some extent, everybody has a guarded heart. We do not allow people to see everything that is in our hearts, especially upon first meeting others. It takes time for us to open up and allow people to see who we really are, what we treasure, what makes us tick, what makes us human; what is in our hearts. And here, Viola is telling Olivia that Orsino would like Olivia to make him a willow cabin at her gate. Of course, there are many possible interpretations of this phrase, but I like to think about it as the gate to one's heart, because I think that's an excellent way to describe love. Love is allowing somebody access to your heart, sort of like giving them a gate to what's inside your soul. However, this phrase becomes somewhat heartbreaking when the word "willow" is understood as representing unrequited love. I think this is what makes unanswered love as heartbreaking as it is. When we love somebody, we give them a gate to our hearts. We allow them to see us for who we are. And when that love is not returned, when those we love do not care to see what is in our hearts, maybe it breaks us just a little bit because suddenly we have a hole in our hearts where we made room for somebody but they did not care to stay.

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