What poets say about love
part 13
’Tis well to be merry and wise,
’Tis well to be honest and true;
’Tis well to be off with the old love,
Before you are on with the new.
As used by Maturin, for the motto to “Bertram,” produced at Drury Lane, 1816. 231
It is good to be merry and wise,
It is good to be honest and true,
It is best to be off with the old love,
Before you are on with the new.
Published in “Songs of England and Scotland.” London, 1835. Vol. II. P. 73. 232
I loved you ere I knew you; know you now,
And having known you, love you better still.
Owen Meredith (Lord Lytton)””Vanini. 233
Love is all in fire, and yet is ever freezing;
Love is much in winning, yet is more in leesing:
Love is ever sick, and yet is never dying;
Love is ever true, and yet is ever lying;
Love does doat in liking, and is mad in loathing;
Love indeed is anything, yet indeed is nothing.
Thos. Middleton””Blurt, Master Constable. Act II. Sc. 2. 234
I never heard
Of any true affection but ’twas nipped.
Thos. Middleton””Blurt, Master Constable. Act III. Sc. 2. 235
He who for love hath undergone
The worst that can befall,
Is happier thousandfold than one
Who never loved at all.
Monckton Milnes””To Myrzha. On Returning. 236
Such sober certainty of waking bliss.
Milton””Comus. 263. 237
Imparadis’d in one another’s arms.
Milton””Paradise Lost. Bk. IV. L. 50. 238
So dear I love him, that with him all deaths
I could endure, without him live no life.
Milton””Paradise Lost. Bk. IX. L. 832. 239
It is not virtue, wisdom, valour, wit,
Strength, comeliness of shape, or amplest merit,
That woman’s love can win, or long inherit;
But what it is, hard is to say,
Harder to hit.
Milton””Samson Agonistes. L. 1,010. 240
La fleur nominée héliotrope tourne sans cesse vers cet astre du jour, aussi mon cœur dorénavant tournera-t-il toujours vers les astres resplendissants de vos yeux adorables, ainsi que son pôle unique.
The flower called heliotrope turns without ceasing to that star of the day, so also my heart henceforth will turn itself always towards the resplendent stars of your adorable eyes, as towards its only pole.
Molière””Le Malade Imaginaire. Act II. Sc. 6. 241
L’amour est souvent un fruit de mariage.
Love is often a fruit of marriage.
Molière””Sganarelle. I. 1. 242
If a man should importune me to give a reason why I loved him, I find it could no otherwise be expressed than by making answer, Because it was he; because it was I. There is beyond all that I am able to say, I know not what inexplicable and fated power that brought on this union.
Montaigne””Essays. Bk. I. Ch. XXVII. 243
Celuy ayme peu qui ayme à la mesure.
He loves little who loves by rule.
Montaigne””Essays. Bk. I. Ch. XXVIII. 244
Yes, loving is a painful thrill,
And not to love more painful still;
But oh, it is the worst of pain,
To love and not be lov’d again.
Moore””Anacreontic. Ode 29. 245
No, the heart that has truly loved never forgets,
But as truly loves on to the close,
As the sunflower turns on her god, when he sets,
The same look which she turn’d when he rose.
Moore””Believe Me, If All Those Endearing Young Charms. St. 2. 246
I know not, I ask not, if guilt’s in that heart,
I but know that I love thee, whatever thou art.
Moore””Come, Rest in This Bosom. St. 2. 247
Love on through all ills, and love on till they die!
Moore””Lalla Rookh. The Light of the Harem. L. 653. 248
A boat at midnight sent alone
To drift upon the moonless sea,
A lute, whose leading chord is gone,
A wounded bird, that hath but one
Imperfect wing to soar upon,
Are like what I am, without thee.
Moore””Loves of the Angels. Second Angel’s Story. 249
But there’s nothing half so sweet in life
As love’s young dream.
Moore””Love’s Young Dream. St. 1. 250
