Death was all about
them, and any moment might be their last. But they were so completely
masters of themselves that in the brief-breathing space allowed them they
could turn their minds to a simple question of everyday conduct. "What I
says is, 'e ought to have married 'er." That is not the stuff of which
heroics are made; but it is the stuff of which heroism is made.
ON FALLING IN LOVE
Do not, if you please, imagine that this title foreshadows some piquant
personal revelation. "Story! God bless you, I have none to tell, sir." I
have not fallen in love for quite a long time, and, looking in the glass
and observing what Holmes calls "Time's visiting cards" on my face and
hair, I come to the conclusion that I shall never enjoy the experience
again. I may say with Mr. Kipling's soldier that
That's all shuv be'ind me
Long ago and fur away.
But just as poetry, according to Wordsworth, is emotion recalled in
tranquillity, so it is only when you have left the experience of falling in
love behind that you are really competent to describe it or talk about it
with the necessary philosophic detachment.
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