“The promise, made when I am in love and because I am in love, to be true to the beloved as long as I live, commits me to being true even if I cease to be in love. A promise must be about things that I can do, about actions: no one can promise to go on feeling in a certain way. He might as well promise to never have a headache or always to feel hungry.”
— C.S. Lewis
Amo, amas, I love a lass,
As a cedar tall and slender;
Sweet cowslip’s grace
Is her nom’native case,
And she’s of the feminine gender.
Rorum, corum,sunt Divorum!
Harum, scarum, Divo!
Tag rag, merry derry, periwig and hatband!
Hic hoc horum Genitivo!
-John O’Keeffe, Agreeable Surprise II.ii
You, sir, have taught me the paradox of love. Strong yet gentle, patient yet pressing ahead, mature and yet young . . . This indeed would puzzle any sage, and fill him with wonder like a ship on the sea or a serpent on a rock . . .
– Petite Huguenotte, Letters to my Fiance