What is the theme in But Perhaps God Needs the Longing by Nelly Sachs?

Birth and Death are themes in this poem. Sachs's poem, "But Perhaps God Needs the Longing," explores the universal longing and grief that human beings experience at the death of a loved one. This universality of emotion is expressed in both the title and the opening line and is expressed even more clearly in line five. The "beloved" represents all of those who have died and left loved ones to mourn their loss. The poet also suggests that "in the sky of longing," there is also the opportunity for rebirth. The longing for those whom death has taken creates "worlds [that] have been born of our love." Sachs's poem acknowledges the cycle of birth and death that manifests itself in all of nature.