Love
‹ 5 · Outline · 7 ›
6.Conjugal love and the family
6a.Marriage for love and the counsels on choosing a mate
The Story of the Volsungs and NiblungsVol. 49
- p. 275–276Helgi weds Sigrun after the victory she urged.read · scan
Sir Thomas More, UtopiaVol. 36
- p. 210Love won by beauty is preserved only by virtue and obedience.read · scan
Francis Bacon, Essays, Civil and MoralVol. 3
- p. 21Marriage cultivates tenderness and charity; single men may be hardhearted.read · scan
John Webster, The Duchess of MalfiVol. 47
- p. 764–767She takes Antonio as husband against her brothers' wishes, giving her heart.read · scan
John Milton, Paradise LostVol. 4
- p. 249Adam seeks a fit companion for mutual, proportioned fellowship and rational delight.read · scan
Molière, Tartuffe, or The HypocriteVol. 26
- p. 227–229Dorine says one doesn't love by proxy; the bride should marry the man she must please.read · scan
William Penn, Some Fruits of SolitudeVol. 1
- p. 330Never marry but for love, and love what is lovely.read · scan
Oliver Goldsmith, She Stoops to ConquerVol. 18
- p. 208–209Kate anticipates liking the suitor and hopes for friendship and esteem rather than a formal business meeting.read · scan
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Hermann and DorotheaVol. 19
- p. 363–365Hermann avows his love for the exiled maiden; without her, possessions and even his mother's love would not console him.read · scan
- p. 371Hermann sends friends to test whether the maiden is worthy of his offered hand, confident in his choice.read · scan
Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Household TalesVol. 17
- p. 211–212The knight loves her and marries her; she responds with kindness to her sisters.read · scan
George Darley, PoemsVol. 41
- p. 913–914Wants a tender heart, loyal mind and sympathizing comforter rather than a beautiful face.read · scan
Walter Bagehot, John MiltonVol. 28
- p. 185Inability to love a wife because of natural unfitness is grounds for divorce in Milton's argument.read · scan
6b.The love of husband and wife
See also: Family 4a
Homer, The OdysseyVol. 22
- p. 262–263Conjugal love shown in Penelope's grief and Odysseus's compassion for her.read · scan
- p. 317–318The couple take their fill of love and joy in their marriage bed as of old.read · scan
Aeschylus, Prometheus BoundVol. 8
- p. 196–197One bride is persuaded by love to spare her husband.read · scan
Plato, PhaedoVol. 2
- p. 56–57Men have gone below hoping to see a loved wife or son; the philosopher loves wisdom.read · scan
Buddhist WritingsVol. 45
- p. 693–694Devotion to her husband endures across lives.read · scan
Pliny the Younger, Letters of PlinyVol. 9
- p. 258His wife's affection is for his honour and glory, not youth or person; love is her only instructor in singing his verses.read · scan
Stories from the Thousand and One NightsVol. 16
- p. 329The King declares he would die if she left him for an hour.read · scan
- p. 332The King's love deepens on learning she loves him and wishes to stay to see their child.read · scan
- p. 333Jullanar praises the King and says she cannot leave one who loves her; he now knows the extent of her love.read · scan
- p. 409–410Husband and wife reunite, embracing and weeping with joy after their separation.read · scan
- p. 414–415Husband and wife reunite with kisses and joy after long separation.read · scan
- p. 421–423Ala-ed-Din and Bedr-el-Budur reconcile after the peril she unwittingly caused; he forgives, and their love grows stronger.read · scan
Songs from the Elder EddaVol. 49
- p. 363–365Sigrun's love for the dead Helgi draws her to kiss him in the mound.read · scan
- p. 366–367Sigrun prepares a bed in the mound to sleep in the arms of dead Helgi as before.read · scan
The Story of the Volsungs and NiblungsVol. 49
- p. 259–260Volsung and Ljod abode together with good hap and great love.read · scan
- p. 330–333Gullrond and Gudrun praise Gudrun's love for Sigurd, whom she likens to a king leek and a pearl.read · scan
Dante Alighieri, PurgatoryVol. 20
- p. 146Virgil appeals to Cato through Marcia's love; Cato says heaven's authority, not flattery, moves him.read · scan
- p. 175Nino says a widow's love lasts only if sight and touch renew it; asks prayers from his daughter Giovanna.read · scan
Traditional BalladsVol. 40
- p. 114–116Sarah's devotion is shown in her tender ritual of kissing and combing his hair.read · scan
- p. 116–118Sarah rejects a new husband: no lord was better than the one she lost on Yarrow.read · scan
Thomas Dekker, The Shoemaker's HolidayVol. 47
- p. 505–509Hammon presses his suit; Jane says her love for the dead will not be buried but promises to marry him if ever she weds.read · scan
- p. 521–522Jane's tears and gift of gold show lingering love for her supposedly dead husband.read · scan
John Webster, The Duchess of MalfiVol. 47
- p. 767–772The couple express tender affection and hope their loves move like the spheres and constant palms.read · scan
- p. 793Antonio and the Duchess banter playfully as married lovers, kissing and teasing in the bed-chamber.read · scan
Izaak Walton, The Life of Dr. John DonneVol. 15
- p. 350–351Mutual affection sustained the couple through their sufferings.read · scan
Izaak Walton, The Life of Mr. George HerbertVol. 15
- p. 418Her enduring devotion to Herbert's memory; Sir Robert governs as an affectionate husband, not a master.read · scan
Waly, Waly; Helen of Kirconnell; My Love in Her Attire; Love Not MeVol. 40
- p. 324–325Lover mourns Helen, wishes to lie with her in death; another poem asks to be loved for no outward reason.read · scan
Pierre Corneille, PolyeucteVol. 26
- p. 77Polyeucte, bound by love and pity for Pauline's tears, hesitates to leave her.read · scan
- p. 80–81Polyeucte and Pauline: he loves her above life, she pleads; a wife's trust versus his hidden purpose.read · scan
- p. 121–123Pauline declares love too weak a word, adoring her husband, while Polyeucte lovingly urges her toward Severus.read · scan
John Milton, Poems Written During the Civil War and the Protectorate, 1642-1658Vol. 4
- p. 86Poet dreams of his dead wife, likened to Alcestis, whose love and goodness shine through her veil.read · scan
John Milton, Paradise LostVol. 4
- p. 136Adam and Eve dwell in the Garden with uninterrupted joy and unrivalled love.read · scan
- p. 155The pair are the loveliest couple ever met in love's embraces.read · scan
- p. 155–165Eve's conjugal attraction and Adam's claim of her as his other half show wedded love.read · scan
- p. 165Adam and Eve embrace in wedded love, which Satan sees with envy.read · scan
- p. 165–170Eve finds nothing sweet in nature without Adam.read · scan
- p. 170Milton defends married love as pure and commanded by God against false austerity.read · scan
- p. 170Hymn to wedded love, contrasted with harlots' loveless pleasure and court amours.read · scan
- p. 180Love unlibidinous reigned in Eden, without jealousy.read · scan
- p. 243Eve's grace draws desire; the poet asks where such pairs joined in mutual honour are now met.read · scan
- p. 261Adam calls love not the lowest end of human life; smiles are food of love.read · scan
- p. 261Conjugal love is the bliss the foe envies most.read · scan
- p. 278–281Eve and Adam pledge that life without one another is unbearable; Eve wants Adam to share her lot from love.read · scan
- p. 281Adam resolves to die with Eve rather than live without her, feeling the bond of nature, flesh of his flesh.read · scan
- p. 281Adam chooses death with Eve; she rejoices at his proof of love and urges him to eat.read · scan
- p. 304Eve begs for Adam's love and counsel; his heart relents in commiseration.read · scan
- p. 304Adam urges ceasing blame and strengthening each other in love, lightening shared woe.read · scan
- p. 342Eve tells Adam he is all things and places to her; to stay without him is exile.read · scan
John Dryden, Dedication of the AeneisVol. 13
- p. 25–27Aeneas's devotion to his lost wife recommends him to Dido.read · scan
John Dryden, All for Love; or, The World Well LostVol. 18
- p. 100–103She aspires to the title of Antony's wife in death, better to hold him dead than see him in Octavia's arms.read · scan
William Penn, Some Fruits of SolitudeVol. 1
- p. 331–332Wife as friend and companion; friendship subjects of souls.read · scan
- p. 332–333Love brings a couple together and is the best way to keep them together.read · scan
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, A Discourse upon the Origin and the Foundation of the Inequality among MankindVol. 34
- p. 201–202Living together gave birth to the sweetest sentiments, conjugal and paternal love.read · scan
William Cowper, PoemsVol. 41
- p. 535–537Exile longs for society, friendship and love, and praises faithful Mary's worth in verse.read · scan
- p. 537–539Devoted aged love for his failing wife Mary, lovely still in his eyes.read · scan
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Hermann and DorotheaVol. 19
- p. 349–350Mother recalls with joy the wooing and the kiss; father says men are unjust once love's season is past.read · scan
Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The School for ScandalVol. 18
- p. 126–127Sir Peter admits he must love Lady Teazle or he would not bear her extravagance, though he refuses to own it.read · scan
Robert Burns, Poems and SongsVol. 6
- p. 347–349The husband's fidelity to Eppie Adair sworn by love and beauty, law and duty.read · scan
- p. 364–365Elegy for dead Mary: lover recalls their parting by the Ayr and mourns her.read · scan
- p. 526–528A wife's affection for her Johnie, grey-locked but once the parish's pride.read · scan
William Wordsworth, PoemsVol. 41
- p. 661–663Laodamia, moved by fervent conjugal love, prays to the gods for her slain husband's return and embraces his phantom.read · scan
- p. 663–664Laodamia's passionate love for her returned husband; he urges her to moderate it, gods approving depth not tumult.read · scan
Sir Walter Scott, PoemsVol. 41
- p. 754–755At sunset all divided by toil return to loved ones; wives and maids watch for their men, and all meet but Leonard.read · scan
Alessandro Manzoni, I Promessi Sposi (The Betrothed)Vol. 21
- p. 608–609Spouses should love as fellow travelers who will part and hope to be reunited.read · scan
Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Household TalesVol. 17
- p. 52–53The king trusts and defends his wife despite the rumours of her guilt.read · scan
- p. 66Husband braves the enchantress's garden because he loves his wiferead · scan
- p. 117–118The King, finding her forsaken, vows not to forsake her, loves her and marries her.read · scan
- p. 180–181The Queen's devotion, declaring the King dearer than anything, moves him to tears and reconciliation.read · scan
Ralph Waldo Emerson, English TraitsVol. 5
- p. 369–370Affectionate men and refining women, noble passion in wives like Lady Russell; Romilly could not bear his wife's death.read · scan
Hans Christian Andersen, TalesVol. 17
- p. 276Eliza comes to love the kind king wholeheartedly yet cannot confide her grief; silence shapes her love.read · scan
- p. 280The King places the white flower on her bosom, restored in marriage.read · scan
John Stuart Mill, AutobiographyVol. 25
- p. 116–118Her lovingness ready to pour forth on any human being; companionship in mental progress.read · scan
- p. 147–149His wife was his greatest source of happiness and improvement; he mourns her loss and works on in her memory.read · scan
- p. 149Close friendship and marriage with shared thought, with credit given to her genius.read · scan
- p. 155Mill mourns his wife's death, living near her grave; her memory is a religion and her approbation his standard.read · scan
Helen Selina, Lady Dufferin, PoemsVol. 41
- p. 919–920Tender gratitude and enduring love for his dead wife.read · scan
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, PoemsVol. 42
- p. 1267–1269A beloved woman, now a saint, sits beside the speaker with tender eyesread · scan
Edgar Allan Poe, PoemsVol. 42
- p. 1234–1236Devotion to his wife and to her mother; love as infinite.read · scan
Robert Browning, PoemsVol. 42
- p. 1087Tender, yearning devotion to his unresponsive wife.read · scan
- p. 1087Prefers reaching and staying in his wife's heart to the triumph of fame.read · scan
- p. 1087–1094He begs his wife Lucrezia to love him and be content, despite her Cousin's whistle and her extravagance.read · scan
Coventry Patmore, PoemsVol. 42
- p. 1112Speaker mourns a beloved's sudden death and the unloving farewell without a kiss.read · scan
Dante Gabriel Rossetti, PoemsVol. 42
- p. 1161–1162King and Queen love each other as on their wedding day; the king's playful 'Kingdom of Love' jest.read · scan
- p. 1163–1164The song praises the beloved as flower and heavenly creature, whose love defended him from death.read · scan
- p. 1165–1166The song ends in love; the king kisses the Queen in tender happiness.read · scan
- p. 1166–1168The royal couple speak loving words hand in hand while Love weeps outside.read · scan
- p. 1168–1170The Queen and Catherine plead for the king's life for her sake; farewell to bliss.read · scan
- p. 1170–1172Queen's loyalty and silence under the sword point for her husband.read · scan
Christina Georgina Rossetti, PoemsVol. 42
- p. 1181–1183Farewell to a dear one; Skene and wife kiss goodbye in mutual devotion.read · scan
Robert Louis Stevenson, Samuel PepysVol. 28
- p. 303–304Love for his wife endures in memory despite infidelities.read · scan
6c.Love of parents and children, siblings and kin
Homer, The OdysseyVol. 22
- p. 149Anticleia died not of illness but of longing for Odysseus's counsel and loving kindness.read · scan
- p. 215–216The swineherd's tender loyalty to his master's son shows affection between servant and family.read · scan
Confucius, The Sayings of ConfuciusVol. 44
- p. 5Love is rooted in son's and brother's duty; flattery seldom speaks of love; friends' gathering brings joy.read · scan
- p. 43Leads into Fan Ch'ih's question 'What is love?'; also shows filial love in father and son shielding each other as a form of uprightness.read · scan
Aeschylus, The Libation-BearersVol. 8
- p. 85–87Electra declares love for her father and brother, the sole stay of her love, and hatred for her mother.read · scan
The Book of PsalmsVol. 44
- p. 313–315How good and pleasant for brethren to dwell together in unity.read · scan
Sophocles, AntigoneVol. 8
- p. 267–272Antigone acts from love not hatred; Ismene's sisterly loyalty and desire to share her death; Antigone rejects a friend who loves only in words.read · scan
Virgil, The AeneidVol. 13
- p. 344Aeneas warns Lausus he is betrayed by pious love.read · scan
Plutarch, CoriolanusVol. 12
- p. 149His tenderness and respect toward his mother are never satiated.read · scan
Dante Alighieri, HellVol. 20
- p. 61Dante's affection and reverence toward Brunetto show a filial bond between teacher and pupil.read · scan
Dante Alighieri, ParadiseVol. 20
- p. 347–350Cacciaguida's love and sacred thirst to satisfy Dante's wish; paternal greeting of ancestor to descendantread · scan
William Roper, The Life of Sir Thomas MoreVol. 36
- p. 125Daughterly love and charity move onlookers to tears.read · scan
- p. 125Daughterly love and charity outweigh worldly courtesy.read · scan
William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of DenmarkVol. 46
- p. 184The Queen's devotion to Hamlet and the people's affection are the King's reasons for not actingread · scan
- p. 186Claudius reflects that love fades with time, testing whether Laertes' love for his father is real or a painted sorrowread · scan
William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of King LearVol. 46
- p. 216Goneril and Regan profess extravagant love while Cordelia's love is silent and more ponderous than her tongue.read · scan
- p. 216Cordelia's love is measured by bond and duty, not extravagant words; she notes marriage will divide her love.read · scan
- p. 286–289Cordelia's arms are moved not by ambition but by dear love for her father.read · scan
Richard Rowlands, Our Blessed Lady's LullabyVol. 40
- p. 256–258Mother's devoted love for her child, her joy and life.read · scan
- p. 258–259Mother's embrace feeds love, hope and faith.read · scan
John Locke, Some Thoughts Concerning EducationVol. 37
- p. 32–33Restraints later recognized as kindness increase children's love and reverence for parents.read · scan
- p. 81Confident communication cements friendship and goodwill between father and son.read · scan
- p. 141–142Tenderness that shows the teacher loves the child begets love and attention to lessons.read · scan
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, A Discourse upon the Origin and the Foundation of the Inequality among MankindVol. 34
- p. 180Mother's affection for her children arises from habit and custom after nursing for her own sake.read · scan
Christopher Smart, PoemsVol. 41
- p. 495–497Nurse's love over sleeping innocence; strains of love.read · scan
Oliver Goldsmith, PoemsVol. 41
- p. 509–520Fraternal affection draws the traveller's heart back with ceaseless pain.read · scan
William Cowper, PoemsVol. 41
- p. 542–543A mother's affection and the son's love remembered.read · scan
- p. 543Mother's constant flow of love never roughened by humor.read · scan
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, The Tragedy of Faust, Part IVol. 19
- p. 135–137Margaret's devoted care for the infant sister; Mephistopheles quotes proverb that a good wife is pearl of price.read · scan
Robert Burns, Poems and SongsVol. 6
- p. 54–56Fatherly love for the child, image of Betty, held near his heart.read · scan
- p. 150–151Tender loyalty of master to his old servant mare, promising her a comfortable old age.read · scan
William Wordsworth, PoemsVol. 41
- p. 617Paternal love, more than instinct, brings hope to declining man.read · scan
- p. 620Father's growing love for his son, remembered from birth; he repays love received from those who loved him in youth.read · scan
- p. 620Luke is bound to his father only by links of love; the sheepfold stone is a covenant between them.read · scan
- p. 620There is a comfort in the strength of love that makes endurable what would break the heart.read · scan
- p. 635–639The poet's tender bond with his sister, his dearest Friend; his love of nature has deepened to a holier love.read · scan
- p. 643–645Maternal love that years of distress do not lessen.read · scan
Sydney Smith, Fallacies of Anti-ReformersVol. 27
- p. 230Ancestors' anxiety for posterity is doubted: their love for later generations will not equal those generations' love for themselves.read · scan
Alessandro Manzoni, I Promessi Sposi (The Betrothed)Vol. 21
- p. 38–39Agnese and Renzo love Lucia in different ways, each showing anger that she hid it.read · scan
Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Household TalesVol. 17
- p. 133–134Sister's devotion to her brothers and their joy at meeting her drive the story.read · scan
- p. 135Sisterly devotion, and the King falls in love with her beauty and modest bearing and marries her.read · scan
Percy Bysshe Shelley, The CenciVol. 18
- p. 295Gratitude and love bind stepmother and children in shared suffering.read · scan
Hans Christian Andersen, TalesVol. 17
- p. 270The brothers and sister greet each other with tears and smiles, and they long for their native land.read · scan
- p. 271–272The youngest brother's tender care for Eliza shows devotion, and she thanks him with a smile.read · scan
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, PoemsVol. 42
- p. 1292–1294Affection between father and playful daughters.read · scan
- p. 1294–1296Father's tender affection for his children, kept in the dungeon of his heart.read · scan
Alfred, Lord Tennyson, PoemsVol. 42
- p. 1013–1014Her love for her boy outweighs care for her own soulread · scan
- p. 1038–1039Maud loves her rough brother despite his faults; the speaker's affection for Maud persists across the feud.read · scan
Robert Browning, A Blot in the 'ScutcheonVol. 18
- p. 382Tresham argues a brother's love for a sister is the best, free from earthly claims, until a young suitor changes her soul.read · scan
- p. 402Mildred gives Henry's heart to Thorold, and love reconciles brother and lovers in death.read · scan
George MacDonald, PoemsVol. 42
- p. 1118–1119Love made itself into the child's arms and hands.read · scan
‹ 5 · Outline · 7 ›