Platonic Love

27Oct06

Platonic love in its popular sense is an affectionate relationship into which the sexual element does not enter, especially in cases where one might assume otherwise. The English term dates back as far as Sir William Davenant’s ‘Platonic Lovers (1636)’. It is derived from the concept in Plato’s ‘Symposium’ which defines it as follows.

Love is the idea of good which lies at the root of all virtue and truth.

 

The one that came,

who with me friends became;

Our bond grew such that,

nothing else mattered much after that.

 

In times of quietude,

we would seek each other out;

Even in moments of loneliness,

there was a sense of coziness.

 

Our ever pining hearts,

intertwined and came apart,

rhythmically, each hour,

both in sweet and in sour.

 

We liked to talk;

Perpetually, each other, we did stalk;

We talked of the sun and the rain,

and of our joys and of our pain.

 

Time passed on swiftly,

but in each other’s company,

we noticed barely.

 

Lying on our backs,

many a warm night,

we listened to chirps and quacks,

bathing in the starry light.

 

We listened to music,

and read prose prosaic;

Our lives immediate,

had grown too intimate.

 

Little did we know,

at a time then,

when our hearts knew no sorrow,

in love we were when.

 

But along the paths of life,

we went our own ways;

Often in hours of strife,

cherishing those pleasant days.

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