Love’s as Warm as Tears

I love poetry. I especially love poetry that touches on and fleshes out a human emotion that is seemingly indescribable. I was going through a book of compiled poetry yesterday by C.S. Lewis and came across a piece that did just that. How does one seek to describe love to another? It is so many things- romantic, brotherly, compassionate, intimate, external, prideful, sorrowful… where do you even start?

After reading this, I honestly feel that I could do no more justice to the definition of Love than Lewis does here. The fourth verse is truely beautiful. Enjoy.

LOVE’S AS WARM AS TEARS
by C.S. Lewis

Love’s as warm as tears,
Love is tears;
Pressure within the brain,
Tension at the throat,
Deluge, weeks of rain,
Haystacks afloat,
Featurless seas between
Hedges, where once was green.

Love’s as fierce as fire,
Love is fire:
All sorts- infernal heat
Clinkered with greed and pride,
Lyric desire, sharp-sweet,
Laughing, even when denied,
Whence all loves came.

Love’s as fresh as spring,
Love is spring:
Bird-song hung in the air,
Cool smells in a wood,
Whispering ‘Dare! Dare!’
To sap, to blood,
Telling ‘Ease, safety, rest,
Are good; not best.’

Love’s as hard as nails,
Love is nails:
Blunt, thick hammered through
The medial nerves of One
Who, having made us, knew
The thing He had done,
Seeing (with all that is)
Our cross, and His.