Her memory from old habit of the mind Went slipping back upon the golden days In which she saw him first,… from The Idylls of the King – Guinevere by Tennyson
I remember first seeing him standing in the doorway of the dockside restaurant.
…that which we are, we are; One equal temper of heroic hearts Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield. from Ulysses by Lord Tennyson
What though the radiancewhich was once so bright Be now for ever taken from my sight, Though nothing can bring back the hour Of splendour in the grass,of glory in the flower; We will grieve not, rather find Strength in what remains behind… from Ode: Intimations of Immortality by William Wordsworth
Still searching for strength in the ruins of what was a beautiful life – rest in peace.
Again and again, however we know the landscape of love and the little churchyard there, with its sorrowing names, and the frighteningly silent abyss into which the others fall: again and again the two of us walk out together under the ancient tree, lie down again and again among the flowers, face to face with the sky. from Again And Again, However We Know The Landscape Of Love by Rilke
If ever two were one, then surely we. If ever man were loved by wife, then thee; If ever wife was happy in a man, Compare with me, ye women, if you can. I prize thy love more than whole mines of gold Or all the riches that the East doth hold. My love is such that rivers cannot quench, Nor ought but love from thee, give recompense. Thy love is such I can no way repay, The heavens reward thee manifold, I pray. Then while we live, in love let’s so persevere That when we live no more, we may live ever. from To My Dear And Loving Husband by Anne Bradstreet
And her lips opened amorously, and said- I wist not what, saving one word – Delight. And all her face was honey to my mouth, And all her body pasture to mine eyes; from Love and Sleep by Charles Swinburne
For whom each year we see
Breeds new beginnings, disappointments new; Who hesitate and falter life away, And lose to-morrow the ground won to-day- from The Scholar Gipsy by Matthew Arnold
Summer Solstice – a time to begin anew with the New Year’s resolutions that have fallen short.
If thou must love me, let it be for naught Except for love’s sake only. Do not say, ‘I love her for her smile – her look – her way Of speaking gently, – for a trick of thought That falls in well with mine, and certes brought A sense of pleasant ease on such a day’ – For these things in themselves, Beloved, may Be changed, or change for thee – and love, so wrought. from If Though Must Love Me by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Surely after all these years our love is transcendent.
If love should come, Against him would I dare to bar the door, And, unregretful, bid him come no more? from the poem If Love Should Come by Lucy Maud Montgomery