Rules of Courtly
Love
(From "The Art of Courtly Love" by Andreas Caellanus as appeared in the
February 1995 Bolt)
Rules of Courtly Love
I |
Marriage is no real excuse for not loving. |
II |
He who is not jealous can not love. |
III |
No one is bound by a double love. |
IV |
Love is always increasing or decreasing. |
V |
That which a lover takes against the will of his beloved has no relish. |
VI |
Boys do not love until they arrive at the age of maturity. |
VII |
When one lovers dies, a widowhood of two years is required of the survivor. |
VIII |
No one should be deprived of love without the very best of reasons. |
IX |
No one can love unless he is impelled by the persuasion of love. |
X |
Love is always a stranger in the home of avarice. |
XI |
It isn't proper to love someone you would be ashamed to seek to marry. |
XII |
A true lover does not desire to embrace in love anyone except his beloved. |
XIII |
When made public, love rarely endures. |
XIV |
The easy attainment of love makes it of little value. Difficulty of attainment makes it prized. |
XV |
Every lover regularly turns pale in the presence of his beloved. |
XVI |
When a lover suddenly catches sight of his beloved, his heart palpates. |
XVII |
A new love puts to flight an old one. |
XVIII |
Good character alone makes a man worthy of love. |
XIX |
If love diminishes, it quickly fails and rarely revives. |
XX |
A man in love is always apprehensive. |
XXI |
Real jealousy always increases the feeling of love. |
XXII |
Jealousy, and therefore love, are increased when one suspects his beloved. |
XXIII |
He whom the thought of love vexes eats and sleeps very little. |
XXIV |
Every act of love ends in the thought of his beloved. |
XXV |
A true lover considers nothing good except what he thinks will please his beloved. |
XXVI |
Love can deny nothing to love. |
XXVII |
A lover can never have enough of the solace of his beloved. |
XXVIII |
A slight presumption causes a lover to suspect his beloved. |
XXIX |
A man who is vexed by too much passion usually doesn't love. |
XXX |
A true lover is constantly and without intermission possessed by thought of his beloved. |
XXXI |
Nothing forbids one woman from being loved by two men or one man by two women. |
From "The Art of Courtly Love", by Andreas Caellanus (12c)
Page last updated 12/15/99