Leonard Cohen's poem "Two went to sleep" is a glamorous depiction of lost feelings. Cohen plays well by repeatedly using key phrases like "two went to sleep" at the beginning of each stanza and "one dreamed." Cohen shows how, after years of marriage, two lovers, or perhaps ex-lovers, have settled into a routine, or rather, a standard tradition, by cleverly using dreams. He takes the reader on a journey through the night-time adventures of one and the other's imagination, and the incoherence and randomness of the two can be clearly seen.
To me, the use of "two went to sleep" is Cohen's attempt to bring them together and may reflect their efforts to maintain their bond. But in the end, "two" is still just one and another, and they will part ways in some way. The Long Marriage in the Dark" reveals to readers that they have been married for a long time and have grown apart mentally over time. The expressions "the sleep was old" and "the travellers were old" refer to their aging relationship. Even though it is written in a romantic manner, Cohen's use of the word "old" may highlight the worn-out nature of their love. Despite the fact that the book is written in a romantic manner, readers are left with a heavy feeling because they are so drastically different from one another and no longer coherent.
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This was a line that really spoke to me. They viewed each dream as an adventure, something new and unpredictable; something brand-new and distinct from each