The Definition of Love

"Is love a fancy or a feeling? No, It is immortal as immaculate Truth." ~Sonnet VII by Hartley Coleridge

“Is love a fancy, or a feeling?”

Neither, I say.  I, for one, agree with Albus Dumbledore’s view that love is actually the most powerful form of magic.

See, contrary to popular belief, I think that love is more than just some ooey-gooey romantic idea about finding some partner to spend the rest of your life with.  It’s more than just an emotion of concern for the well being of others.  Both of these are certainly a part of love, but in my opinion, love in and of itself is far greater than either of these.

Love is an immortal essence not bound to this world.  Like a spirit, love alone cannot be seen, but it can be felt.  It is nearly everywhere, and it defies human nature.

This reminds me of the quote “God is love” (1 John 4:8).  Now, I know that I just said that I think that love is magic, and I know the logical sequence would be “If God is love and love is magic, then God must be magic.”  Except that would probably be heresy for a Catholic, like me, to say, and that’s not really what I mean, anyway.  I happen to believe that love is so powerful a form of magic that it no longer deserves the title of magic, due to the word’s heathen connotation.

So far, I’ve only explained my belief of what love is when it is all by itself.  However, it is impossible for love to be unaccompanied.  It flows through everything and everyone.  When it does so, it evokes an emotion that draws people together, although whether that means they are “in love” or merely friends, acquaintances, or even strangers depends on the situation. 

This also creates the reason for the verb “to love”, which, in my opinion, has nothing to do with lust.  “To love” is to share the –dare I say– magic.  This could mean to try to help some one or something else merely for the sake of helping and without the desire for compensation.  Or it could mean to enjoy something so deeply that the spirit moves you.

Hartley Coleridge questioned in his seventh sonnet whether love was a fancy or a feeling; yet he went on to explain what love really is, “It is immortal as immaculate Truth”.

Author's Note

This is something I wrote for my creative writing class. The assignment is to choose any topic and write about it, and then read it to the class. I am so happy with the way this turned out, I can't wait to share it (and am thus publishing it here before I read it to the class).

Reviews

[M. Keala Milles, Jr.]

I appreciate your enthusiasm and your literate knowledge of the topic you so passionately describe in this passage. That said I am extremely confused as to what your assignment is. You said this is for your creative writing class, but what you have composed is more of a persuasive essay--not a terrible essay, but probably could have been more appropriately "creative." I think you should attempt to condense it into a sonnet. I'm assuming you understand why I'm suggesting this since you discuss Coleridge at the end. It would be quite easy for you to categorize your concepts into three groups of four lines (Love is NOT, love could be, I believe love is) and then, of course, the dramatic, shifting couplet (love is more than all of these). It's just an idea, but I believe it will stretch you in a way that, when finished, you will have created something more meaningful than this explanation of ideas and statistics (again, not necessarily bad, but not the best thing you could do).

You understand poetry, and you understand the concepts of love you discuss. This is a creative writing class. Get creative. If it proves too difficult, or less fulfilling than I suspect it will be, you can always go back to this.

On that note--and to close--if you choose to stay with this format, I would recommend detailing each concept just a little more, ie assume the reader does not know who these people or characters are. Also, it would benefit you to personalize the language while avoiding colloquialisms that often can drown out your voice in mediocrity. Be you--but the BEST you.

Keep working! Good luck!

[Kevin McKenna]

If love is to be divine then are we not all divine because we have all loved? Are we not all loved because we are divine? Are we not divine because we are loved?

I can dig what you've got running through your mind.

[Tallulah]

I love this so much. I think the examples you use within the piece are so diverse and creative that it makes this piece so very original and creative. You use examples from Harry Potter, the bible and Hartley Coleridge. Each example is so different and yet each pertain to what you are writing and meld into the piece so perfectly. Great job. I thoroughly and enjoyed this and loved every word of it.
With love,
Tallulah

[Michael X]

creative, and well written and insightful love as magic, a testiment to belief, and idea, spoken gracefully, very nice job. this opens the readers mind to the idea of magic and love as one. worth while reading.