The Constant Lover

By Sir John Suckling
1609-1642
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OUT upon it, I have loved
Three whole days together!
And am like to love three more,
If it prove fair weather.

Time shall moult away his wings
Ere he shall discover
In the whole wide world again
Such a constant lover.

But the spite on 't is, no praise
Is due at all to me:
Love with me had made no stays,
Had it any been but she.

Had it any been but she,
And that very face,
There had been at least ere this
A dozen dozen in her place.


I've always loved this poem! It reminds me of how fickle love can be. I'm working on my latest project Muse, A Muse, Amuse, Muse and this is one of the poems that will be going into that work. Every year since I've been in recovery, I've worked on some work of art to signify where I feel I am in recovery. The first year was about coming out of the cocoon. That was my butterfly project. The second year was about peeling the onion a little bit. Hence my onion project. The third year was about looking at my tendency to live in a fantasy world. That was Don Quixote. Last year was "What is Love?" because I think I finally learned what it is.

It's odd that I'm at this point because the paradox and I have been talking about the Lord of the Rings trilogy. He compares the power of the ring to addiction and speaks of the relationship between Frodo and Sam. I see all of that but I also saw the relationship between Merry and Pippin. And how about the relationship between the elf and the dwarf?

The paradox compared himself to Smeogel. In response I thought of myself as one of the elf women but now that I think about it I'm more that lady of Rohan or Sam. I've been in their shoes before. I've had my heart set on a man just like the lady did on Argon but I've also had a serious bond with someone who had an addiction. Yeah, I know those shoes.