Balm of the summer night, balm of the ordinary, imperial joy and sorrow of human existence, the dreamed as well as the lived— what could be dearer than this, given the closeness of death?
Louise GluckRead
He takes her in his arms He wants to say I love you, nothing can hurt you But he thinks this is a lie, so he says in the end You're dead, nothing can hurt you which seems to him a more promising beginning, more true.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote expresses the complexities of love, highlighting both the desire to protect and the struggle with truthfulness.
In this quote, Louise Gluck explores the tension between love and vulnerability. The character longs to express love and safety but grapples with the fear that such expressions may not be genuine. Instead, he resorts to a darker sentiment, suggesting that death absolves one from pain, revealing a profound struggle in the dynamics of love and the human condition.
Themes
LoveVulnerabilityTruthPainProtection
In practice
Example use cases
In a romantic poem reading, this quote can illustrate the depth of feeling and protection in relationships.
More from Louise Gluck
All quotes →I pretended indifference…even in the presence of love, in the presence of hunger. And the more deeply I felt, the less able I was to respond.
Louise GluckRead
I caution you as I was never cautioned: You will never let go, you will never be satiated. You will be damaged and scarred, you will continue to hunger. Your body will age, you will continue to need. You will want the earth, then more of the earth-- Sublime, indifferent, it is present, it will not respond. It is encompassing, it will not minister. Meaning, it will feed you, it will ravish you. It will not keep you alive.
Louise GluckRead
The Red Poppy The great thing is not having a mind. Feelings: oh, I have those; they govern me. I have a lord in heaven called the sun, and open for him, showing him the fire of my own heart, fire like his presence. What could such glory be if not a heart? Oh my brothers and sisters, were you like me once, long ago, before you were human? Did you permit yourselves to open once, who would never open again? Because in truth I am speaking now the way you do. I speak because I am shattered.
Louise GluckRead
Toward his critics, the artist harbors a defensive ace: knowledge that the future will erase the present.
Louise GluckRead
I preferred the simplest vocabulary.
Louise GluckRead
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