Moreover--"
"Beseech thee!" she cried, "Oh, beseech thee, take thy breath."
"Gramercy, 'tis done, lady, 'tis done, and now forthwith resolved am I to
sing thee--"
"Nay, I pray you, sir, sing no more, but resolve me this mystery. What is
love?"
"Love, lady? Verily that will I in truth!" And herewith Sir Palamon fell
to an attitude of thought with eyes ecstatic, with knitted brows and sage
nodding of the head. "Love, my lady--ha! Love, lady is--hum! Love, then,
perceive me, is of its nature elemental, being of the elements, as 'twere,
composed and composite, as water, air and fire. For, remark me, there is no
love but begetteth first water, which is tears; air, which is sighings and
groanings; and fire, which is heart-burnings and the like. Thus is love a
passion elemental. But yet, and heed me, lady, love is also metaphysical,
being a motition of the soul and e'en the spirit, and being of the spirit
'tis ghostly, and being ghostly 'tis--ha! Who comes hither to shatter the
placid mirror of my thoughts?"
So saying, the noble knight of Tong turned to behold one who strode towards
them in haste, a tall man this whose black brows scowled fierce upon the
day, and who spurned the tender flowers with foot ungentle as he came.
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