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Love took up the harp of Life, and smote on all the chords with might; Smote the chord of Self, that, trembling, passed in music out of sight.
Alfred Lord Tennyson
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Love transcends the individual self, creating harmony in life through connection.

In this quote, Tennyson uses the metaphor of a harp to illustrate how love influences the essence of life. By striking the chord of 'Self', love transforms individuality into a beautiful, resonating music, suggesting that when we experience love, we harmonize our existence with others, often losing the sense of solitary identity in a greater, collective experience.

Themes

LoveLifeHarmonyMusicSelf

In practice

Example use cases

During a wedding ceremony to emphasize the beauty of love in uniting two individuals.

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O love, O fire! once he drew With one long kiss my whole soul through My lips, as sunlight drinketh dew.
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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
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Quote by Alfred Lord Tennyson | QuoteProject