I'm a few days late this week, but we can pretend I did it on purpose, right? To save Poetry Friday for Valentine's Day, right?
And here's a bit of an editor's valentine: wrapped up in the form of a poem, I offer you a perfect example of that oft-quoted bit of writing advice, "show, don't tell." There is both so much the poet does and doesn't reveal in these short lines, as she shows us a brief but vivid glimpse of a particular love story. And, thanks to the revealing power of these carefully-chosen words, we can't help but imagine of what this woman looks like--or at least, what her quiet, radiant smile looks like. I know I imagine it to be quite lovely.
Happy Valentine's Day!
"Those Who Love"
by Sara Teasdale
Those who love the most,
Do not talk of their love,
Francesca, Guinevere,
Deirdre, Iseult, Heloise,
In the fragrant gardens of heaven
Are silent, or speak if at all
Of fragile inconsequent things.
And a woman I used to know
Who loved one man from her youth,
Against the strength of the fates
Fighting in somber pride
Never spoke of this thing,
But hearing his name by chance,
A light would pass over her face.
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