Sylvia Plath's poetry often explores deep emotional themes, and in "Selected Poems," she uses powerful imagery to convey the complexities of love. The quote "Love, love, I have hung our cave with roses" symbolizes the juxtaposition of beauty and darkness in relationships. It suggests a passionate devotion, as well as the effort to beautify a potentially confining or isolated space, representing how love can transform surroundings, even those that feel like a cave.

This line encapsulates Plath's ability to intertwine affection with a sense of struggle. By choosing the imagery of roses—typically associated with love and beauty—against the starkness of a cave, she highlights the contrasts present in intimate relationships. The quote serves as a reminder of how love, while uplifting, can also exist alongside feelings of entrapment or tumult, illustrating the complexity of human emotions that Plath so vividly portrays in her work.