Thomas Nelson - Where Love Reigns

Copyright 1998 by Rutledge Hill Press All rights reserved.
Written permission must be secured from the publisher to use or reproduce any part of this book, except for brief quotations in critical reviews and articles. Published by Rutledge Hill Press, Inc.,
211 Seventh Avenue North, Nashville, Tennessee 37219.
Distributed in Canada by H. B. Fenn & Company, Ltd.,
34 Nixon Road, Bolton, Ontario L7E 1W2.
Distributed in Australia by Five Mile Press Pty, Ltd.,
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Distributed in New Zealand by Tandem Press, 2 Rugby Road, Birkenhead, Auckland 10.
Distributed in the United Kingdom by Verulam Publishing, Ltd.,
152a Park Street Lane, Park Street, St. Albans, Hertfordshire AL2 2AU. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Where love reigns / [compiled] by Martha Yeilding Scribner.
p. cm. cm.

ISBN 1-55853-671-X (hardbound) 1. LoveQuotations, maxims, etc. 2. Quotations, English.
I. Scribner, Martha Yeilding, 1964 .
PN6084.L6W425 1998
820.803543dc21 98-36680
CIP Printed in the United States of America 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 902 01 00 99 98 CONTENTS How do I love thee? Let me count the ways These simple lines, written by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, are some of the most touching words ever written. Lovethat elusive, dynamic, fickle, wonderful emotionmeans something different to each person.

We are fascinated by love, and each of us tries to describe it, understand it, and capture it in our own way. The mystery of love is ageless. Every era of history has its own concept of what True Love is, from the earliest words inscribed on the walls of Egyptian tombs to the ancient wisdom of the Bible; from the medieval codes of chivalry to the great Victorian poets and modern novelists. Through the centuries, poets and writers have given us some of the most memorable words about love. Sometimes they seem to understand the nature of love better than we ourselves, and their words inspire us to contemplate our own loves, whether we have won or lost them. They inspire us to love again, always in search of the mystery of True Love.

Collected here are some familiar and some not-so-familiar expressions of love from the Victorian era. Because their true-life love story is so touching, the words of Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning have inspired lovers all over the world. In January of 1845 Robert Browning read his own name in one of Elizabeths poems. He wrote her, I do... love these books with all my heartand I love you too. They courted through letters, and Elizabeths passion inspired her to write Sonnets from the Portuguese.

The couple met face-to-face the next May, and, because her father did not approve of their love affair, they eloped to Florence, Italy, to marry. The lived in Florence for fifteen years, and they continued to express their love in poetry and correspondence, giving us some of the most poignant words of love ever written. The Brownings and their contemporaries invite us to feel the passion or pain, the tenderness or tension, the honesty or hopelessness that love brings to us all. We realize, as all lovers before us have realized, that it is better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all. Where
Love
Reigns H ow do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I love thee to the depth and breadth and height My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.

I love thee to the level of everyday's Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light. I love thee freely, as men strive for Right; I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise. I love thee with the passion put to use In my old griefs, and with my childhoods faith. I love thee with a love I seemed to lose With my lost saints,I love thee with the breath, Smiles, tears, of all my life!and, if God choose, I shall but love thee better after death. Elizabeth Barrett Browning I chose my wife, as she did her wedding gown, not for a fine glossy surface, but such qualities as would wear well. Edward Thomas W hoso loves
believes
the impossible. Elizabeth Barrett Browning
by Grace Aguilar I t is no shame now, dear Granville, to confess how deeply and constantly I have returned your affection; but listen to me, ere you proceed further. Elizabeth Barrett Browning
by Grace Aguilar I t is no shame now, dear Granville, to confess how deeply and constantly I have returned your affection; but listen to me, ere you proceed further.

I do not doubt what you say, that your prejudices are all removed; but are you certain, quite certain, that a woman who has resources of mind as well as of heart can make you happy, as you believe? At one-and-twenty you could have molded me to what you pleased. I doubt whether I should have written another line, had you not approved of my doing it. At one-and-thirty this cannot be. My charactermy habits are formed. I cannot draw back from my literary path, for I feel it accomplished good. Can I indeed make your happiness as I am? Dearest Granville, do not let feeling alone decide.

Feeling! Sense! Reason! Claramy own Claraall speak and have spoken long. Make my child but like yourself, and with two such blessings I dare not picture what life would betoo, too much joy. G ive all to love; Obey thy heart; Friends, kindred, days, Estate, good fame, Plans, credit and the Muse, Nothing refuse. Ralph Waldo Emerson A lover without indiscretion is no lover at all. Thomas Hardy T he birthday of my life Is come, my love is come to me. Christina Rossetti N ever the time and the place And the loved one all together! Robert Browning