Summary
In the first half of "Having a Coke with You," the speaker sets the poem's tone and establishes its setting by describing the way he feels around his lover in relation to exciting, pleasurable experiences he has had in the past. He tells us that enjoying a Coke with his lover is "even more fun" than traveling to various cities in Spain because of the details and circumstances that coalesced to make this moment possible. This moment is more enjoyable "partly because" of several things, ranging from the orange tulips near them to the smiles they share. We learn in the first few lines that the speaker and his lover are visiting a park, and the surrounding scenery includes flowers, birch trees, and statues. It is a warm, New York mid-afternoon, and the speaker begins to think about the many famous portraits he has seen, juxtaposed with the beauty before him.
Analysis
In these initial lines, the speaker presents a portrait of his lover by calling attention to the similarities and differences between his lover and the speaker's past experiences, and his lover and the art surrounding them. We quickly grasp that the moment the speaker describes is different partly because of his lover's company; there is no mention of another character when the speaker goes down a list of Spanish cities, or when he mentions feeling sick on a street in Barcelona. Up until this point, the speaker appears to have lived a solitary life, seeking art in another country for his own education and amusement. Now, in the presence of someone he loves, he does not need to travel to find himself in the presence of transcendent beauty.
When the speaker lists the reasons why this afternoon in the park is more significant than his days in Spain, he first draws a parallel between his lover and St. Sebastian. Sebastian was a martyred Christian saint, often represented in quasi-erotic detail in Renaissance painting, who in the 20th century was hailed as a gay icon. St. Sebastian is commonly depicted in paintings with arrows piercing his body as he is tied to a tree or pillar. However, the speaker's lover is "better" and "happier" than St. Sebastian, which could speak to safety and security they feel in each other's company. However, around other people, and in the midst of the park's statuary, the speaker mentions that their smiles take on a kind of secrecy. This could touch upon an anxiety they may feel as two men together, or to the nervousness commonly experienced in a budding romance. Being in love with someone when no one else knows about it makes a relationship feel sacred, private, and special. By drawing another parallel between his lover's expression and the statuary, the speaker refines the image of his lover by once again describing him in the context of an artwork.
After a simile comparing his lover and himself as they move through the park to "a tree breathing through its spectacles," the speaker thinks of a portrait show, and wonders why any of the pictures he has seen could be considered remarkable; compared to the face of his beloved, they are uninteresting and plain.
