Love... is a thing with feathers, that perches in the soul

"It is pleasant to be loved, for this too makes a man see himself as the possessor of goodness, a thing that every being that has a feeling for it desires to possess: to be loved means to be valued for one's own personal qualities."

Aristotle, Rhetoric

"Keep a guard over your eyes and ears as the inlets of your heart, and over your lips as the outlet, lest they betray you in a moment of unwariness. Receive, coldly and dispassionately, every attention, till you have ascertained and duly considered the worth of the aspirant; and let your affections be consequent upon approbation alone. First study; then approve; then love. Let your eyes be blind to all external attractions, your ears deaf to all the fascinations of flattery and light discourse. --These are nothing-- and worse than nothing -- snares and wiles of the tempter, to lure the thoughtless to their own destruction. Principle is the first thing, after all; and next to that, good sense, respectability, and moderate wealth. If you should marry the most agreeable man in the world, you little know the misery that would overwhelm you, if, after all, you little know the misery that would overwhelm you, if, after all, you should find him to be a worthless reprobate, or even an impracticable fool."

Anne Brontë, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall

"Indeed, it is always the first sign of love, that besides enjoying some one's presence, we remember him when he is gone, and feel pain as well as pleasure, because he is there no longer."

Aristotle, Rhetoric

(Who knew Aristotle had such good things to say?)

Yes, yours, my love, is the right human face,
I in my mind had waited for this long,
Seeing the false and searching for the true,
Then found you as a traveller finds a place
Of welcome suddenly amid the wrong
Valleys and rocks and twisting roads. But you,
What shall I call you? A fountain in a waste,
A well of water in a country dry,
Or anything that’s honest and good, an eye
That makes the whole world bright. Your open heart,
Simple with giving, gives the primal deed,
The first good world, the blossom, the blowing seed,
The hearth, the steadfast land, the wandering sea.
Not beautiful or rare in every part.
But like yourself, as they were meant to be.

Edwin Muir, "The Confirmation"


'Survive Love"

 by myself

hey love, welcome back, i missed you.
hey love, you don't need to stay that's really okay.
(but yes you're reading me correctly love, i already made dinner)
hey love, you think i'll end up all right?
look i found the dawn! over in the west...or does it rise in the east? i can never remember.
but he's here.
welcome back dawn, welcome back fireflies, welcome back agony.
sparklers sunshine dresses heart you fluff and nonsense go away.
it's fabulous in the springtime, isn't it my dear? 
find you find me find everything we're looking for but it's not true
oh you hush devil on my shoulder.
i choose to welcome it no matter which way it goes
welcome back my love

[Photo credit to Robert Norbury]