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The Truth in Love Poetry

“When one is in love, one always begins by deceiving one’s self, and one always ends by deceiving others. That is what the world calls a romance.” ~Oscar Wilde

What is it about love poetry and quotes that fascinate and deeply impact us?

We’re enticed by love, devastated by love, angered by love, addicted to love, longing for love, bursting with love, blinded and fooled by love. Love profoundly affects our lives like nothing else can. Does love poetry allow us to eavesdrop into someone’s heart and share the camaraderie of our emotions? Is the truth of love poetry the commonality of our shared empathy and intense obsession with love?

The Oscar Wilde quote above says so much in so few words. For me it means there’s a cycle to love that is flawed from the beginning—called romance. When we’re in love, we’re blinded to our lover’s imperfections and seduced into the fantasy of joy and fulfillment for life ever after. We believe that nothing can ever cause us unhappiness again, and all is good in the world—forever.

However, when love ends we begin to deceive our lover and contrive denials to others who had believed in our love.We often mislead or betray our lover with vows of love when our hearts disengaged long before. We dupe our lover and others along the way, as we play out the inevitable dissolution of our love.

Do Love and Life Differently: When we know love is ending, why do we feel the need to ease our lover into the truth? I don’t know.

I’d love to hear any other interpretations of this quote and my question about delaying the inevitable. Please share your thoughts below.

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