How vainly men themselves amaze, / To win the palm, the oak, or bays; / And their incessant labours see / Crowned from some single herb or tree.
Andrew MarvellRead
Therefore the love which us doth bind,_x000D_ _x000D_ But fate so enviously debars,_x000D_ _x000D_ Is the conjunction of the mind,_x000D_ _x000D_ And opposition of the stars.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on the idea that love is influenced by both connection and external circumstances.
In this quote, Andrew Marvell expresses the complex nature of love, suggesting that while love may unite people at a deep, mental level, it is often obstructed by fate and external factors. The metaphor of 'the opposition of the stars' implies that despite strong feelings of affection, outside forces can hinder relationships, reinforcing the struggle between romantic desires and the realities dictated by fate.
Themes
LoveFateDestinyRelationshipsConnection
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be shared at a wedding to highlight the challenges of love.
More from Andrew Marvell
All quotes βMeanwhile the mind, from pleasure less, Withdraws into its happiness; The mind, that ocean where each kind Does straight its own resemblance find; Yet it creates, transcending these, Far other worlds, and other seas; Annihilating all that's made To a green thought in a green glade ... Such was that happy garden-state.
Andrew MarvellRead
How could such sweet and wholesome hours be reckoned, but in herbs and flowers?
Andrew MarvellRead
Now therefore, while the youthful hue Sits on thy skin like morning dew, And while thy willing soul transpires At every pore with instant fires Now let us sport us while we may, And now, like amorous birds of prey, Rather at once our time devour Than languish in his slow-chapped power. Let us roll our strength and all Our sweetness up into one ball And tear our pleasures with rough strife Through the iron gates of life: Thus, while we cannot make our sun Stand still, yet we will make him run.
Andrew MarvellRead
Annihilating all that's made, To a green thought in a green shade.
Andrew MarvellRead
Self-preservation, nature's first great law, all the creatures, except man, doth awe.
Andrew MarvellRead
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