Do good by stealth, and blush to find it fame.
Alexander PopeRead
But see, the shepherds shun the noonday heat,_x000D_ _x000D_ The lowing herds to murmuring brooks retreat,_x000D_ _x000D_ To closer shades the panting flocks remove;_x000D_ _x000D_ Ye gods! And is there no relief for love?
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on the pain of love and the desire for relief from it.
In this quote, Alexander Pope contrasts the physical relief that shepherds and their herds find from the midday heat with the emotional torment of love, questioning why there is no respite from this suffering. The imagery of animals seeking refuge from the heat underscores the intensity of longing and despair associated with love, suggesting that while nature provides solace for creatures of the earth, humans often find themselves in relentless emotional struggles.
Themes
LoveSufferingReliefPainEmotion
In practice
Example use cases
In a romantic poem reading at a wedding, to express the struggles of love.
More from Alexander Pope
All quotes →What dire offence from am'rous causes springs, What mighty contests rise from trivial things.
Alexander PopeRead
Fair tresses man's imperial race ensnare; And beauty draws us with a single hair.
Alexander PopeRead
An honest man's the noblest work of God.
Alexander PopeRead
One thought of thee puts all the pomp to flight;_x000D_ _x000D_ Priests, tapers, temples, swim before my sight.
Alexander PopeRead
Who breaks a butterfly on a wheel?
Alexander PopeRead
Similar quotes
Those who love each other shall become invincible.
Walt WhitmanRead
Is it not a sad thing that after all Christ's love to us, we should repay it with lukewarm love to Him?
Charles SpurgeonRead
Quick-loving hearts ... may quickly loathe.
Elizabeth Barrett BrowningRead
Oh, what a catastrophe, what a maiming of love when it was made personal, merely personal feeling. This is what is the matter with us: we are bleeding at the roots because we are cut off from the earth and sun and stars. Love has become a grinning mockery because, poor blossom, we plucked it from its stem on the Tree of Life and expected it to keep on blooming in our civilized vase on the table.
D. H. LawrenceRead
I loved her against reason, against promise, against peace, against hope, against happiness, against all discouragement that could be.
Charles DickensRead
Love is the only thing that increases twofold every time it is shared.
Albert SchweitzerRead