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About this quote

What does it mean?
The poet describes the physical sensations of falling in love and asks if these are the divine beginnings of a heavenly connection.
In plain terms
Physical signs like shyness and thrill might be the start of a holy love.
What can you take from it?
Physical attraction can signal a deeper spiritual connection.

Where it applies

  • new romance
  • spiritual questioning
  • crushes

Putting it to work

  • observe physical cues
  • seek deeper meaning

Questions to consider

  • Are these signs divine or just nervous?
  • What makes love holy?

Another view

It idealizes nervousness as a sign of higher love.

More from Arthur Hugh Clough

  1. Loving-if the answering breast Seem not to be thus possessed, Still in hoping have a care; If it do, beware, beware! But if in yourself you find it, Above all …

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  2. Thy duty do? rejoined the voice, Ah, do it, do it, and rejoice; But shalt thou then, when all is done, Enjoy a love, embrace a beauty Like these, that may be s…

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  3. Thought may well be ever ranging, And opinion ever changing, Task-work be, though ill begun, Dealt with by experience better; By the law and by the letter Duty…

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