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Tropical Tale No. 4 -
Vol. 2 - Love is in the Affair
The language of love is universal and St.
Valentine's Day is celebrated in many
countries. It all started during the
time of the Roman Empire. February 14th
was the day to honor Juno, the Goddess of
Marriage. However, Emperor Claudius
banned the mating festivals fearing his men
would not want to go to war, but would prefer
to stay home and make love instead. As a
result, all marriages and engagements were
prohibited. Saint Valentine, a Roman
Catholic priest, defied that order and
married the lovers in secret. He was
punished for his romanticism and executed on
the 14th day of February. According to
legend, while he was in jail he fell in love
with the jailer's daughter and sent her a
farewell note from "your Valentine,"
thus making him the patron saint of lovers,
and starting the current trend of sending
Valentine Day cards.
If you want to say, I love you, in Dutch, you
would say: ik hou van jou. In French it
would be, je t'aime. Gaelic, ta gra
agam ort. Irish, taim i' ngra leat. The
Italians say, ti amo. Russians, ya was
liubliu. Spanish, te quiero.
Welsh, 'rwy'n dy garu di. Yiddish, ich
han dich lib. Polish, ja cie kocham.
At the festivals in Scotland, St. Valentine's
is celebrated by young, single women writing
their names on paper, placing them in a
hat, and having the young men draw them.
Afterwards, the men pin the names over their
hearts or sleeves, and wear the girl's name while
dancing with her. Perhaps that was the
origination of "wearing your heart on
your sleeve." I wonder if the music
played was Greensleeves?
How reassuring to find that Cupid, that
mischievous, winged Eros, powered by romantic
arrows still pierces the toughest hearts,
causing the victims to fall deeply in
love.
Roses have always been given as gifts on St.
Valentine's Day. White roses symbolize
true love. Red roses mean passion.
Yellow roses signify friendship, and pink
roses, my favorite, will cause me to forgive
any blatant sinner. If you make me angry
and want to get back on my good side, just
send me pink or peach colored roses, and
voila, I'm back to my normal, happy self
with a joie de vivre to lighten up your
gloomy day.
 How can a woman resist chocolates, roses,
perfume, jewels, and love notes, accompanied
by a violinist playing romantic music such as:
Yours Is My Heart Alone, from Land of Smiles;
Che Gelida Manina, by Puccini. Be My
Love, sung by the gorgeous tenor voice of
Mario Lanza. Love Me Tender, as only
Elvis Presley could croon. I Will
Always Love You, by Whitney Houston. I
Just Called To Say I Love You, by Stevie
Wonder, How Deep Is My Love, by the Bee Gees,
and others too many to mention.
And we must not forget the impact of poetry
that comes from the very depth of a writer's
soul.
"Oh,
if it be to choose and call thee mine,
Love,
thou art every day my Valentine."
Thomas Hood
"The
course of true love never did run
smooth." William Shakespeare
"
'Tis better to have loved and lost than to
have never loved at all." Tennyson
"A
man in love schemes more than a hundred
lawyers." Anonymous - Spain
"You
are always new. The last of your kisses
was ever the sweetest..." John
Keats
"All
thoughts, all passions, all delights,
Whatever
stirs his mortal frame,
All
are but ministers of Love,
And
feed his sacred flame." Samuel
Taylor Coleridge
"An
old man in love is like a flower in
winter." Chinese proverb.
"Music,
when soft voices die,
Vibrates
in the memory -
Odours,
when sweet violets sicken,
Live
within the sense they quicken.
Rose
leaves, when the rose is dead,
Are
heap'd for the beloved's bed;
And
so thy thoughts, when thou are gone,
Love
itself shall slumber on."
Percy Bysshe Shelley
"Alas!
The love of a woman!
It
is known to be a lovely and a fearful
thing." Lord Byron
"O,
my Luve's like a red, red rose,
That's
newly sprung in June:
O,
my Luve's like the melodie
That's
sweetly play'd in tune." Robert
Burns
Here
is one of my poems:
Love Denied
I
saw him once in his garden,
A
single glance of meeting eyes,
My
heart fluttered without pardon
Because
I knew he was wise.
And
in the sunlight he stood -
The
perfect form of manhood.
That
winter, my spirits light:
With
heavy step he trod the ground.
But
fate played a trick one night,
As
champagne music did abound.
He
blessed me with love eternal,
So
beautiful our love infernal.
There
we were as evening fell,
As
stars and moon shone overhead,
We
tried a quick, sad farewell,
"No,"
I cried, that will not do,
For
now, I cannot live without you.
He
tried to assuage his conscience
And
fade the memory of those nights,
But
under a mistletoe, a kiss...
And
Rome faded from his sight,
To
once again return to bliss,
Of
dreamy music, berceuse loll,
That
lighten shadows in his soul.
As
red and green adorned the church,
And
by degrees his spirit bent:
"I
miss you, I miss you, very much."
He
said to me with no repent.
Without
a thought of love denied,
I
forgot my marriage vows and pride.
Havoc
reigns as feelings wait
For
peace, the ethereal frame,
To
picture our unknown fate.
"Your
free spirit, I will tame,"
He
said in a sensual dance,
Gazing
at my countenance.
Then
for a moment, there was a sigh,
A
breath, but not one at all there,
As
if an angel came floating by
And
smiled down on us from the air.
Suddenly sparks
aflame
"You
see, you're mine to tame."
He
told me softly speaking my name.
And
sweetly he kissed my hair,
So
rapted in joy to hear
That
he had passed the test,
And
thrust forever from his mind,
That
happiness he could not find.
For
there is nothing now to fear,
Except,
perhaps, when I shed a tear,
When
one day, our love will cease,
Because
he will always be a priest.
December 1995
Alinka
Zyrmont
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Alinka is an
accomplished writer, having worked as a
freelance journalist covering the war in El
Salvador, and having previously published one
romantic novel, FOREIGN AFFAIRS.
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