How does the poet use allusion in the poem, Love After Love?

In the second stanza, the speaker asks the reader to share wine and bread with themselves. This line alludes to the Christian ritual of the holy communion, in which one symbolically consumes spiritual ascension. Communion can also refer to a shared experience between loved ones or friends. Bread is also intrinsically associated with companionship and the home, as in “breaking bread” together. In this way the food and drink portrayed in the poem is an entreaty to take time for self care and self love, and to become reacquainted with oneself. The image hints at the idea of treating oneself like a holy thing, and to view healing as a holy process of generosity and compassion.