A man may have several intimate friends, and a mother may dote on a
dozen or more children with equal affection; but romantic love is a
monopolist, absolutely exclusive of all participation and rivalry. A
genuine Romeo wants Juliet, the whole of Juliet, and nothing but
Juliet. She monopolizes his thoughts by day, his dreams at night; her
image blends with everything he sees, her voice with everything he
hears. His imagination is a lens which gathers together all the light
and heat of a giant world and focuses them on one brunette or blonde.
He is a miser, who begrudges every smile, every look she bestows on
others, and if he had his own way he would sail with her to-day to a
desert island and change their names to Mr. and Mrs. Robinson Crusoe.
This is not fanciful hyperbole, but a plain statement in prose of a
psychological truth. The poets did not exaggerate when they penned
such sentiments as these:
She was his life,
The ocean to the river of his thoughts,
Which terminated all.
--_Byron_.
Thou art my life, my love, my heart,
The very eyes of me,
And hast command of every part,
To live and die for thee.
--_Herrick_.
Give me but what that ribband bound,
Take all the rest the world goes round.
--_Waller_.
But I am tied to very thee
By every thought I have;
Thy face I only care to see
Thy heart I only crave.
--_Sedley_.
I see her in the dewy flowers,
Sae lovely sweet and fair:
I hear her voice in ilka bird,
Wi' music charm the air:
There's not a bonnie flower that springs
By fountain, shaw, or green;
There's not a bonny bird that sings,
But minds me o' my Jean.
--_Burns_.
For nothing this wide universe I call
Save thou, my rose: in it thou art my all.
--_Shakspere_.
Like Alexander I will reign,
And I will reign alone,
My thoughts shall evermore disdain
A rival on my throne.
--_James Graham_.
Love, well thou know'st no partnerships allows.
Cupid averse, rejects divided vows.
--_Prior_.
O that the desert were my dwelling-place,
With one fair spirit for my minister,
That I might all forget the human race
And, hating no one, love but only her.
--_Byron_.