The purpose of poetry is to remind us how difficult it is to remain just one person, for our house is open, there are no keys in the doors, and invisible guests come in and out at will.
Czeslaw MiloszRead
Love means to look at yourself_x000D_ The way one looks at distant things_x000D_ For you are only one thing among many.
Interpretation
Love involves seeing oneself in the broader context of existence and relationships.
In this quote, Czeslaw Milosz emphasizes the importance of perspective in love. To truly love, one must recognize their place in the world and acknowledge the interconnectedness of individuals, understanding that love is not just about self-importance but about appreciating oneself as part of a larger tapestry of life.
In practice
In a discussion about the nature of love during a relationship seminar.
The purpose of poetry is to remind us how difficult it is to remain just one person, for our house is open, there are no keys in the doors, and invisible guests come in and out at will.
We have become indifferent to content, and react, not even to form, but to technique, to technical efficiency itself.
Do not feel safe. The poet remembers._x000D_ You can kill one, but another is born._x000D_ The words are written down, the deed, the date.
The living owe it to those who no longer can speak to tell their story for them.
I imagine the earth when I am no more: Women's dresses, dewy lilacs, a song in the valley. Yet the books will be there on the shelves, well born, Derived from people, but also from radiance, heights.
Yet falling in love is not the same as being able to love.
And yet one arrives somehow, finds himself loosening the hooks of her dress in a strange bedroom-- feels the autumn dropping its silk and linen leaves about her ankles. The tawdry veined body emerges twisted upon itself like a winter wind.
I built up these lumber piles of love, and with fourteen boards each I built little houses, so that your eyes, which I adore and sing to, might live in them. Now that I have declared the foundations of my love, I surrender this century to you: wooden sonnets that rise only because you gave them life.
Only Thee That I want thee, only thee---let my heart repeat without end. All desires that distract me, day and night, are false and empty to the core. As the night keeps hidden in its gloom the petition for light, even thus in the depth of my unconsciousness rings the cry ---`I want thee, only thee'. As the storm still seeks its end in peace when it strikes against peace with all its might, even thus my rebellion strikes against thy love and still its cry is ---`I want thee, only thee'.
you once liked me, didn't you?, he asked. LIKED you- I LOVED you. Everybody loved you. You could've had anybody you wanted for the asking.
Your persistent longing is your persistent voice. But when love grows cold, the heart grows silent. Burning love is the outcry of the heart! If you are filled with longing all the time, you will keep crying out, and if your love perseveres, your cry will be heard without fail.
I love thee so, that, maugre all thy pride,_x000D_ _x000D_ Nor wit nor reason can my passion hide._x000D_ _x000D_ Do not extort thy reasons from this clause,_x000D_ _x000D_ For that I woo, thou therefore hast no cause_x000D_ _x000D_ But rather reason thus with reason fetter,_x000D_ _x000D_ Love sought is good, but given unsought better.
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