A folded, slightly torn pink paper heart rests on a windowsill against a dusky sky.

Original artwork, not a still

Oenone · 1832

Alfred Tennyson

My eyes are full of tears, my heart of love, My heart is breaking, and my eyes are dim, And I am all aweary of my life.

Behind the line

What it means

Our interpretation.

Tears and love occupy the same person at the same time. The repeated movement between eyes and heart makes sorrow feel both emotional and physical. Affection has not disappeared, but it now exists alongside exhaustion, so loving deeply offers no easy protection against suffering.

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