What poets say about love

part 24

There has fallen a splendid tear

  From the passion-flower at the gate.

She is coming, my dove, my dear;

  She is coming, my life, my fate;

The red rose cries, “She is near, she is near;”‌

  And the white rose weeps, “She is late;”‌

The larkspur listens, “I hear; I hear;”‌

  And the lily whispers, “I wait.”‌

        Tennyson””Maud. Pt. XXII. St. 10.        431

She is coming, my own, my sweet;

  Were it ever so airy a tread,

My heart would hear her and beat,

  Were it earth in an earthly bed;

My dust would hear her and beat,

  Had I lain for a century dead;

Would start and tremble under her feet,

  And blossom in purple and red.

        Tennyson””Maud. Pt. XXII. St. 11.        432

Love is hurt with jar and fret;

Love is made a vague regret.

        Tennyson””The Miller’s Daughter. St. 28.           433

  It is best to love wisely, no doubt; but to love foolishly is better than not to be able to love at all.

        Thackeray””Pendennis. Ch. VI.   434

Werther had a love for Charlotte,

  Such as words could never utter;

Would you know how first he met her?

  She was cutting bread and butter.

        Thackeray””The Sorrows of Werther.      435

Like to a wind-blown sapling grow I from

The cliff, Sweet, of your skyward-jetting soul,””

Shook by all gusts that sweep it, overcome

By all its clouds incumbent; O be true

To your soul, dearest, as my life to you!

For if that soil grow sterile, then the whole

Of me must shrivel, from the topmost shoot

Of climbing poesy, and my life, killed through,

Dry down and perish to the foodless root.

        Francis Thompson””Manus Animam Pinxit.        436

Why should we kill the best of passions, love?

It aids the hero, bids ambition rise

To nobler heights, inspires immortal deeds,

Even softens brutes, and adds a grace to virtue.

        Thomson””Sophonisba. Act V. Sc. 2.      437

O, what are you waiting for here? young man!

What are you looking for over the bridge?””

A little straw hat with the streaming blue ribbons

Is soon to come dancing over the bridge.

        Thomson””Waiting.          438

Nec jurare time; Veneris perjuria venti

Irrita per terras et freta summa ferunt,

Gratia magna Jovi; vetuit pater ipse valere,

Jurasset cupide quicquid ineptus amor.

  Fear not to swear; the winds carry the perjuries of lovers without effect over land and sea, thanks to Jupiter. The father of the gods himself has denied effect to what foolish lovers in their eagerness have sworn.

        Tibullus””Carmina. I. 4. 21.         439

  Perjuria ridet amantium Jupiter et ventos irrita ferre jubet.

  At lovers’ perjuries Jove laughs and throws them idly to the winds.

        Tibullus””Carmina. III. 6. 49.      440

            Die Liebe wintert nicht;

Nein, nein! Ist und bleibt Frühlings-Schein.

  Love knows no winter; no, no! It is, and remains the sign of spring.

        Ludwig Tieck””Herbstlied.          441

At first, she loved nought else but flowers,

  And then””she only loved the rose;

And then””herself alone; and then””

  She knew not what, but now””she knows.

        Ridgely Torrence””House of a Hundred Lights.             442

For Truth makes holy Love’s illusive dreams,

And their best promise constantly redeems.

        Tuckerman””Sonnets. XXII.        443

The warrior for the True, the Right,

  Fights in Love’s name;

The love that lures thee from that fight

  Lures thee to shame:

That love which lifts the heart, yet leaves

  The spirit free,””

That love, or none, is fit for one

  Man-shaped like thee.

        Aubrey Thos. De Vere””Miscellaneous Poems. Song.     444

Quis fallere possit amantem?

  Who can deceive a lover?

        Vergil””أ†neid. IV. 296.              445

Omnia vincit amor, et nos cedamus amori.

  Love conquers all things; let us yield to love.

        Vergil””Eclogæ. X. 69.    446

For all true love is grounded on esteem.

        Villiers (Duke of Buckingham).    447

Qui que tu sois, voici ton maître;

Il l’est””le fut””ou le doit être.

  Whoe’er thou art, thy master see;

  He was””or is””or is to be.

        Voltaire””Works. II. P. 765. (Ed. 1837). Used as an inscription for a statue of Cupid.             448

To love is to believe, to hope, to know;

’Tis an essay, a taste of Heaven below!

        Edmund Waller””Divine Poems. Divine Love. Canto III. L. 17.            449

Could we forbear dispute, and practise love,

We should agree as angels do above.

        Edmund Waller””Divine Poems. Divine Love. Canto III. L. 25.            450