She is coming, my own, my sweet;_x000D_ _x000D_ Were it ever so airy a tread,_x000D_ _x000D_ My heart would hear her and beat,_x000D_ _x000D_ Were it earth in an earthly bed;_x000D_ _x000D_ My dust would hear her and beat,_x000D_ _x000D_ Had I lain for a century dead;_x000D_ _x000D_ Would start and tremble under her feet,_x000D_ _x000D_ And blossom in purple and red.
Interpretation
The quote expresses an everlasting love that transcends life and death.
In this poignant verse, Tennyson captures the essence of profound love, suggesting that the speaker's heart and even his very dust would respond to the presence of his beloved, no matter the circumstances. It implies a connection so deep that even after death, the memory and impact of this love can evoke a reaction, highlighting the timelessness and vitality of true affection.
In practice
A reading at a wedding ceremony to signify everlasting love.
Twilight and evening bell, And after that the dark! And may there be no sadness of farewell, When I embark; For though from out our bourne of Time and Place The flood may bear me far, I hope to see my Pilot face to face When I have crossed the bar.
How many a father have I seen, A sober man, among his boys, Whose youth was full of foolish noise.
O Love! what hours were thine and mine, In lands of palm and southern pine; In lands of palm, of orange-blossom, Of olive, aloe, and maize and vine!
Earth is dry to the centre,_x000D_ But spring, a new comer,_x000D_ A spring rich and strange,_x000D_ Shall make the winds blow_x000D_ Round and round,_x000D_ Thro' and thro',_x000D_ Here and there,_x000D_ Till the air_x000D_ And the ground_x000D_ Shall be fill'd with life anew.
O love, O fire! once he drew With one long kiss my whole soul through My lips, as sunlight drinketh dew.
But thy strong Hours indignant work’d their wills, And beat me down and marr’d and wasted me, And tho’ they could not end me, left me maim’d To dwell in presence of immortal youth, Immortal age beside immortal youth, And all I was, in ashes. - Tithonus
For though we stubbornly cling, believing in our moment of hunger that there is no other possibility of love, we only have to let go of what we want so badly and our life will unfold. For love is everywhere.
But till we are built like angels, with hammer and chisel and pen, we will work for ourself and a woman, forever and ever, Amen.
Once upon a time there was a boy who lived in a house across the field from a girl who no longer exists. They made up a thousand games. She was Queen and he was King. In the autumn light, her hair shone like a crown. They collected the world in small handfuls. When the sky grew dark they parted with leaves in their hair.
Being a sex symbol is a heavy load to carry, especially when one is tired, hurt and bewildered.
The moment we begin to seek love, love begins to seek us. And to save us.
The important thing was to love rather than to be loved.
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