Love Is Timeless, Love Is Divine

The sensual, dramatic odes to love penned by the poets of yesteryear fascinate me. A hundred years pass in an instant as my voracious eyes devour these carefully crafted expressions of timeless bliss. Love is the most powerful force in the universe. Love is divine, and nobody can convince me otherwise. I firmly believe that the love we feel, make, express, and share is God working through us, connecting Heaven to Earth. As Marvin Gaye said, "let's love, baby!" I am a romantic to the core.

Time, Nostalgia, Loss

“When You Are Old” by W.B. Yeats

William Butler Yeats received the Nobel Prize for Literature 102 years ago in 1923. A man passionate about culture and humanity, his work was greatly influenced by the heritage and politics of Ireland. There is an undeniable lust for freedom in his works, and a persistent nostalgia that practically defines the sentiment.

When you are old and grey and full of sleep,
And nodding by the fire, take down this book,
And slowly read, and dream of the soft look
Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep;

How many loved your moments of glad grace,
And loved your beauty with love false or true,
But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you,
And loved the sorrows of your changing face;

And bending down beside the glowing bars,
Murmur, a little sadly, how Love fled
And paced upon the mountains overhead
And hid his face amid a crowd of stars.

I read this aloud once, half-dressed in candlelight, and it felt like conjuring a long-lost love. Yeats speaks to a lover lost to time, someone who once turned away – or was exiled – from a kind of wild love they say most people only dream of. I'm not so sure about that, though. After all, we are all human, and love is a universal human experience. Perhaps true love is more common than I think? I don't know what happened to their love, but I know what happened to mine, and this poem always makes me weep.

A Well-Worn Cliche

“How Do I Love Thee?” by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Ahhh, the quintessential love poem! It's such a classic, it's like it has always been there. Daughter of a somewhat unsuccessful sugar plantation owner, Elizabeth suffered from persistent illness, tragic loss, and living while female in the nineteenth century. An abolitionist living the life of a colonizer -- that can't have been easy spiritually! It was certainly easier than the lives of the enslaved people on her family's plantation, however, of that we can be sure.

We don't often think about this poem in the context of the horrific intsitution of slavery that was in full force for the entirety of Elizabeth's life (1806-1861), but it is actually impossible to understand who she was without that context. She eloped with the love of her life, was disowned by her father, and suffered unpopularity due to her political advocacy in her later years, most notably against slavery and the male domination of women. In other words, she was a badass b*tch before her time.

Let us consider the masterpiece up close:

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of being and ideal grace.
I love thee to the level of every day’s
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for right.
I love thee purely, as they turn from praise.
I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood’s faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints. I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life; and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.

This poem is a cliché at this point, but for good reason. It is a full-body declaration. I have been blessed to have been in love like this – with the baited breath, the giddy smiles, and the raucous tears. Have you?

Walk Always in Beauty

“She Walks in Beauty” by Lord Byron

This one’s sensuality is quieter, but no less powerful. Beauty here is both physical and ethereal—an elegance I aspire to when I’m feeling most magical in lace and flowy gowns, with my hair cascading down my shoulders as I gaze out at the gorgeous, scented night. When we walk in beauty, we consciously seize the glory of God's creation around us, recognizing that we are an integral part of this creation, and that our unique essence is irreplaceable, precious, and alive!

She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that’s best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes;
Thus mellowed to that tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies.
One shade the more, one ray the less,
Had half impaired the nameless grace
Which waves in every raven tress,
Or softly lightens o’er her face;
Where thoughts serenely sweet express,
How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.
And on that cheek, and o’er that brow,
So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,
The smiles that win, the tints that glow,
But tell of days in goodness spent,
A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent!

Sometimes on cam I read poetry aloud —maybe in stockings, maybe in boots—and whisper it like a confession. For now, light a candle. Read these three to yourself and think of me, while you contemplate the eternal truth that love, in its truest form, wrecks as it heals you. Love is the force of Life itself, given to us by God's eternal breath.

Love on, poets!