Yes, it’s finally here! The romance lover’s excuse to celebrate love! I’ll be presenting reviews of particularly romantic love stories and some insights about what I learned about love from reading romance novels. Come back each day for more good stuff!
Let’s get started with a love poem from Cynthia Wright’s SURRENDER THE STARS to remind you what it’s all about:
True love’s the gift which God has given
To man alone beneath the heaven:
It is not fantasy’s hot fire,
Whose wishes, soon as granted, fly;
It liveth not in fierce desire,
With dead desire it doeth not die;
It is the secret sympathy,
The silver link, the silken tie,
Which heart to heart and mind to mind
In body and in soul can bind.
--Sir Walter Scott
“Love” defined by Virginia Henley in DREAM LOVER:
“Love is a journey from the first blush of physical attraction
to a marriage of souls”
And a quote from Henley’s THE DRAGON AND THE JEWEL where William Marshall reflects on his young wife, Eleanor Plantagenet:
“He pulled up a stool and watched her for the sheer pleasure of it.
She gave him so much, he could never give enough back. So this was love
then—wanting to give only pleasure to the beloved; constantly searching
your mind for love tokens that would bring a smile to her lips or a sparkle
to her eyes. He deeply regretted it had come so late in life, but since his heart’s
desire was Eleanor who was so much younger than he, it could have been no
other way. He was grateful it had come at all.”
Lastly, the definition of “heartfire” from Zack in Penelope Williamson’s HEART OF THE WEST, who loved his brother’s wife and knew he couldn’t have her:
"A heartfire, Clementine my darlin', is when you want someone, when
you need her so damn bad, not only in your bed but in your life, that
you're willin' to burn--".
My post for Tuesday, the 14th: "What I Learned About Love From Reading Romance Novels!”
Hi Regan,
ReplyDeleteI was trying to link to your facebook page but failed. I couldn't find you by typing in Regan etc.
I love your sweet sentiment about this holiday. I'm struggling right now with something different to write for the holiday on my blog. I think my muse flew off.
RW
Bob,
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you like my post today. I am trying to get us all in the mood and letting the romances speak for themselves!
The Facebook page is RegansReview. If you can't find it with a search try this: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/profile.php?id=100002409349640
Regan,
ReplyDeleteGreat prose and poems to get us in the mood for love.
Three poems always come to mind when I think of love poems:
Two poems by Christopher Marlow and Sir Walter Raleigh when read in succession have the feel of the back and forth tension in a romance novel (The Passionate Shepard to His Love and The Nymph's Reply, respectively).
The third poem is Elizabeth Barrett Browning's Sonnets From The Portuguese XLIII that starts: How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. And ends with: . . . and, if God choose, I shall love thee better after death. It's worth a re-read. Susan
Susan,
DeleteI'm glad you liked the quotes. And thanks for the great suggestions! You reminded me...there is a free Love Poems app for iPhone that I have; often I have found joy in reading them when I was stuck in an airport and didn't have a great romance novel with me.
What a lovely post, Regan. I'm honored that you included the poem I chose for SURRENDER THE STARS. It's a great favorite of mine!
ReplyDeleteHappy Valentine's Day to you!
It is such a lovely poem, Cindy, and reflects my own sentiments exactly. I had not read it before seeing it in SURRENDER THE STARS, so of course, I had to give you credit!
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