Valentine’s Day and My Mountain School Studies

On this, auspicious of all days in February, I would like to throw out a few quick quotes on Love.

Love is the only Gold ~Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

Alfred, Lord Tennyson is one of those poets that I cannot seem to escape. His strong victorian monologue, perfect punctuation, and use of language have been inspiring me for years. Of course, this particularly quote can be assigned to probably millions of people over the years, but I remember hearing this quote for the first time from a teacher with a strong Brooklyn accent (erstwhile unfamiliar to me)–so it fell upon my ears as “Love is the only God”. ~Alfred, Lord Tennyson. Memorable for the reverence we should have for Love.

Es tan corto el amor, y es tan largo el olvido ~ Pablo Neruda (from the poem of the same name)

“Love is so short, and forgetting is so long”

Recently I have been reading Pablo Neruda, perhaps my favorite Spanish speaking poet. I love how sad this line is, but today it stands out to me because I think that Love is also long, and long in remembrance. Let’s bear a legacy of love that is beautiful in brevity, as well as strong in it’s staying power.

Maybe I’m just getting all saccharine today.

Happy Valentine’s Day to all, and spread the Love!

I will be heading to a school in the mountains of Guatemala for the next 2-3 weeks, and will only have sporadic internet access. So please accept my advanced apologies for any delayed responses.