How Do I Love Thee?

A man once told me “I can’t keep my eyes off you”. But then he did.  Yet, the shiver remained.

I am known for being defenseless against the phrases and words that men may utter. Likewise to a sundry list of song lyrics, famous love letters, poems and handwritten wedding vows. It’s a danger I sometimes must guard against because unfortunately, in matters of love, words can cloud the vision.

In anticipation of Valentine’s Day, I asked a few friends if they could think of any especially romantic phrases that have meaning to them, i.e.: someone they love said them. I’ve already written about one of my favorite lines here:  https://alovelyinconsequence.com/2016/04/can-i-see-you.html/ It wasn’t hard to come up with more. One friend called these expressions, “Precious Moments”.

Once when a pal told me she had broken up with her boyfriend (with a very good reason), my first thought was “But he was the man who said how beautiful snowflakes look in your hair”! “Nevertheless”!, she implied in response.

There are song lyrics that set my heart aflutter too: “I heard that your arms are lovely” comes to mind from the Rodgers and Hammerstein song, “I Have Dreamed”. In general, arms are a trigger word as I love elegies that include “in my arms”. The late songster Robert Palmer holds a forever place in my heart thanks to his cantata, “Back in my Arms Again”.

Romantic love aside, my grandmother often said when I telephoned her that “It’s so good to hear your voice”.  My sister told me that “I thought about you all day long” when I’ve been troubled. And is there anything nicer than having a friend give you a present with the words, “This made me think of you”. Of course, they are spot-on too. How lovely that our souls reach out and mingle this way…

Here are some stirring contributions from my friends:

I think you are lovely

You hung the moon

The kind where I marry you (in response to the question, “What kind of wedding do you want”?)

One friend said that she fell in love with her husband simply because he murmured her first name alot. It was like music to her ears.

Romance is threaded through our books, such as Gone with the Wind when Rhett pronounced to Scarlett “You should be kissed and often by someone who knows how”. “You have bewitched me body and soul”, said Mr. Darcy to Miss Bennett in Pride and Prejudice. This from Jane Austen, an author whose every novel ended with a wedding.

And what of, “I can’t seem to forget you…your Windsong stays on my mind”? Potent stuff for this woman who loves and wears perfume on the reg. Which reminds me that one friend told me her boyfriend simply growled when she wanted to know if he liked her new fragrance.

And so I ask, exactly how did he say he loved thee??? I really want to know.