Sweet, impossible love (poem)

I am disinclined to acquiesce to this idea. Before minstrels, there were Roman poets like Ovidius, and before him Greek poets like Sappho and Anacreon - so this comes much earlier, if not since the dawn of humanity.

As you can behold I presume, it is natural, for there is still mankind; and those same songs and those same loves still sprung from the hearts of men/women.

But did these poets sing of unrequited love as an end in itself? I don't think so.

Good sir, do you think it is not so, or do you know it is not so? I invite you to read them yourself. I passed two years in reading Classics, and the impression I got on some is: "the unrequited love as an end in itself". But then, that's my interpretation.

Amores 1,4, Ovidius:
Vir tuus est epulas nobis aditurus easdem;
ultima cena tuo sit, precor, illa viro.
Ergo ego dilectam tantum conviva puellam
aspicam? Tangi quem iuvet, alter erit,
alteriusque sinus apte subiecta fovebis?

Or: Ovidius sings how his love will be loved by another at a feast and he may only watch and suffer and he wants to suffer; I do not recall which part is when he sings that he is in front of the doors of his love and he cannot get to her.
He oftenly compers the lover as a solider who must bleed on the battalfield.

But does Ovid sing of unrequited or impossible love as something desirable, as the women posters on this thread do? That is the issue. Men also suffer when they cannot have their beloved. But men do not seek that state as something desirable. You are missing the point.

It must be learned behavior on the part of women: probably from the minstrels of the Middle Ages who sang of unrequited and frustrated love. And reinforced by Hollywood. It could not be natural, because it certainly does not promote survival.

But does Ovid sing of unrequited or impossible love as something desirable, as the women posters on this thread do? That is the issue. Men also suffer when they cannot have their beloved. But men do not seek that state as something desirable. You are missing the point.

He does; and I did, long ago.

Very nice; an honest expression of very vulnerable thoughts and feelings.

And Ken: I'm sorry, but its' just silly to say 'Men are not like that'. Truth be told, I've seen more males pursue potential mates who are unreachable (in a sense) than women. I'd suggest this is an unwarranted generalization - that this is endemic to only one of the genders - at least from what I've seen.

Thanks

Men pursue women because the women was unattainable, and enjoy it just for that reason? I haven't. Is there any account of that in literature?

Perfume by Patrick Suskind.

Every other set of lyrics by an emo band?

You should read the other posts. We were talking about ancient literature. Suskind is not an ancient Roman. and whatever emos are, neither are they, I suppose.

The theme of this poem kept playing through my head like a young sheperdess dancing on the tune of a flute. It made me browse through my own poems and I found this one that I wrote in Paris in the autumn of 1907. Though I've grown a bit older since then I still feel french as the language of love "per excellence". Sauve qui peut, here comes:


Souvenir

Je t'aimais aux jours des abeilles,
Personne devinant nos abris,
L o des roses vermeilles
L'odeur ravissante nous surprit.


Me parler d'amour dans le soir.

Toucher mes mains dans le noir.

Je t'ai entendue en silence
M'annoncer un dpart sans raison.
Ma foi, s'il n'y a plus d'esprance
L'hiver remplace chaque saison.

Que me vaut l'exquise tristesse
D'un dsir plus jamais assouvi?
Avec les beaux jours d'allgresse
Le bonheur lui-mme est parti.
.