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"Not marble nor the gilded monuments"
Not marble, nor the gilded monuments
Of princes, shall outlive this powerful rhyme;
But you shall shine more bright in these contents
Than unswept stone, besmear'd with sluttish time.
When wasteful war shall statues overturn,
And broils root out the work of masonry,
Nor Mars his sword nor war's quick fire shall burn
The living record of your memory.
'Gainst death and all oblivious enmity
Shall you pace forth; your praise shall still find room,
Even in the eyes of all posterity
That wear this world out to the ending doom.
So, till the judgment that yourself arise,
You live in this, and dwell in lovers' eyes.
William Shakepeare
(1564 - 1616)
(1564 - 1616)
Valentine's day, a day to remind those you love how you feel about them
"I love you!" Such a short sentence with very short words,
yet of such powerful and deep meaning. There are different types of love.
The love for a child, the love for a family member, the love for a friend
and the romantic type of love that could bring us to the highest of mountains
or the deepest despair. We all need love in our lives to function as normal human beings.
We all want to find that type of love that make us tingle from head to toe.
Fortunate are those of us who have found it.
I perceive Valentine's day as a day to celebrate the romantic type of love.
I see nothing wrong with those who elect to extend this day to family;
friends and other loved ones, though. I guess the cupid image is permanently engraved in my mind as a romantic one <smile>
Now, a little about me, my language and why you may never see me use the phrase "I love you" toward anyone other than my children or the man I married. Even where they are concerned it is used at its proper time and place. It is not a word I take lightly.
In my native language (which is Spanish) there is more than one way to say "I love you" varying in degrees of intensity and how or toward what or whom it can be used.
The strongest of the phrases being "te amo", which is the strongest of them all. This one is rarely used and if used it is generally toward a son or daughter or husband/wife. Most Spanish speaking individuals find it to be so intense and committed a phrase that it is saved for private and to a degree very intimate settings.
"Te quiero" is the phrase most often used toward loved ones including spouses, children, family members and very close friends.
If I was to translate the most used words to express love and/or interest as close as possible,
they would be:
Me gustas ~ I like you (also used to refer to things liked such as chocolate, etc.)
Te quiero ~ I want you (used with the same freedom I love you is heard in America toward family, friends, etc)
Te amo ~ I love you (intense in meaning and commitment and not often used)
Reading the above might give you an insight as to why I don't say "I love you" to friends.
If I was to use the meanings as I am accustomed to,
I would have to use "I want you" no way in heck any of you would interpret that as the equivalent of its use translation, would you??? <smile>
In very few cases and at very touching times I have been able to equate in mind a similarity between "te quiero" and "love ya". Even at that it was a culminating moments where I was aware that I had to let the other person know their presence did have a meaning to me.
(I bet you now know more than you wanted, ah???<smile>)
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Valentine's Day and Its History
Valentine's Day celebration dates back to the ancient
times when the 'Feast of Lupercal' was celebrated in the honour of the Roman
God of Fertility. This day falls on the 15th of February every year. According
to a time worn custom, on the eve of Lupercalia (14th of Feb) a ritual
of 'name drawing' was followed, during which a young man drew the name
of a girl from the lot, who was to be his sweetheart for the whole year.
Romance, has, of course always made the world go round but we must say that
these Romans knew how to make it official. Since then, this day (14th of
Feb) has been considered as the day of Cupid, the mischievous son of Venus
-the Roman Goddess of Love. Lovers through the ages have taken this day as
their own - a day to celebrate the finest human emotion. The reason for celebration
is ageless, but it was much later that a great lover gave the day his name.
The eternal lover that gave us the famous word 'Valentine' and originated the tradition of writing love letters on this day, is believed to be Bishop Valentine. He was a priest in Rome when, the city was ruled by 'Claudius the Cruel'. Inspite of the fact that Claudius had forbidden Christian conversions and Christian marriages, the Bishop refused to surrender to Roman Gods and carried on his religious duties in secret. He was imprisoned for disobedience, but even in prison he converted the convicts. While he was in prison, the jailer's daughter became his friend and was loyal to him through his ordeal. When Claudius came to know that imprisonment had not broken his enduring Christian spirit, the bishop was executed. However, on the day of his death Valentine wrote a note to his friend, 'the jailer's daughter' and signed it - 'From Your Valentine'. This great man who died for his beliefs, for his enduring love of the Christian God, was chosen as the patron Saint of lovers. 14th February has since been celebrated as Valentine's Day. Romantic souls all over the world have preferred to focus on the romantic twist of this tale, the story of the man who united lovers in the holy bond of marriage; a man who loved his jailer's daughter and started the tradition of writing love notes.
The eternal lover that gave us the famous word 'Valentine' and originated the tradition of writing love letters on this day, is believed to be Bishop Valentine. He was a priest in Rome when, the city was ruled by 'Claudius the Cruel'. Inspite of the fact that Claudius had forbidden Christian conversions and Christian marriages, the Bishop refused to surrender to Roman Gods and carried on his religious duties in secret. He was imprisoned for disobedience, but even in prison he converted the convicts. While he was in prison, the jailer's daughter became his friend and was loyal to him through his ordeal. When Claudius came to know that imprisonment had not broken his enduring Christian spirit, the bishop was executed. However, on the day of his death Valentine wrote a note to his friend, 'the jailer's daughter' and signed it - 'From Your Valentine'. This great man who died for his beliefs, for his enduring love of the Christian God, was chosen as the patron Saint of lovers. 14th February has since been celebrated as Valentine's Day. Romantic souls all over the world have preferred to focus on the romantic twist of this tale, the story of the man who united lovers in the holy bond of marriage; a man who loved his jailer's daughter and started the tradition of writing love notes.
Following are a few games appropriate for valentine's
day <smile> have fun
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This beautiful story came to me from an on-line friend. I was in awe when I read it
and asked the author permission to copy it.
Thank you Lastmanout.
Visit Soul Cries to read his other beautiful writings
| TASTE & FLAVOR copyright Lastmanout@aol.com Last night as I lay there in that gentle land just before sleep and dreams came memories drifting over me like a silver fog swirling with time condensed Times and loves of my life materialized into shape out of the nothingness So real, as if time had smiled, beckoning me to go back to places remembered To see, to feel now with an older heart and new eyes even more than I did then How often have we all slipped back in time to memories either hidden or loved Remember all the eyes you looked into so long ago as they looked into yours What you saw in many of them only becomes clear now with times passing The joyful pleasure, and the quick hurts, as small children in innocence play The deep knowing eyes of your old aunt or uncle as you spoke of your dreams And what of the loves of ones life, for all have had many loves in their time Childish crushes and teen silliness adjusting to each others new found desires Love came sometimes like a gentle rain while other times like a thunderstorm Immersing us in all it's glory and passion and having drenched us, moved on And there in the sun we either cried or laughed until the next storm touched As we embraced time, time embraced us, the frequency of the storms changed No longer now one right after the other but now further apart as if waiting for us But as they were further apart so also the length of the love we felt stretched out It was a time of growing, a time to find no only who we were but who others were Of seeking somehow to fill that need there on the very edge of consciousness Few saw then, or in their passions and hormones unleashed even knew flavor Think back now, softly with your heart, to each and every love you ever had Each love, each person had a specific emotional taste, but not all had a flavor When hormones ragged and you knew love was true and right with just a look There was taste, hot, peppery, setting you burning, consuming, but no flavor Also remember those friends you had who you loved but did you not know it Maybe not a romantic love of passion but a so deep love of immense flavor There were to the short lived loves of mutual need, again taste without flavor The love you thought you loved beyond life itself who somehow did not love you The wasted emotions of selfish need alone could bring neither taste or flavor Where love is true and meaningful it's taste is lingers, the flavor overwhelms It is not the tastes of love that make love itself love, it is the precious flavor Love need not be forever, where flavor is real, it will linger forever in the heart The soul can reach back in the darkest of times savoring its rich succulence It lives there as a benchmark, a yardstick against future loves to be measured Here in that place before sleep and dreams I remember the taste, the flavor Of just breathing in the essence as I was held gently in arms where love ran It was a flavor that reached out surrounded, rich and full, enshrouding my soul Lingering now forever in the deepest part of me making me more than I was Remembering the sensuousness of loves flavor, waiting for it to come again What taste is the love you have. Does it lie there warm and full in your heart Full and rich with flavor dancing over you, consuming you in its sensation Or is the love for you sour, puckering, or maybe just bland with no flavor at all Has adding, mixing all the spices you know still left it left it without flavor Life without loves rich delicate exquisite flavor is a song with only one note And sadly, no one can dance to that tune. |
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