In Holy Matrimony

 “My waking thoughts are all of you. Your portrait and the remembrance of last night’s delirium have robbed my sense of repose. Sweet and incomparable Josephine, what an extraordinary influence you have over my heart. Are you vexed, do I see you sad, are you ill at ease? My soul is broken more for me when, giving ourselves up to the deep feelings which master me, I breathe out upon your lips, upon your heart, a flame which burns me up--ah, it was this past night I realised that your portrait was not you. I start at noon; I shall see you in three hours. Meanwhile, mio dolce amor, accept thousand kisses, but give me none, for they fire my blood.”

-Napoleon Bonaparte to his wife Josephine (1796)

This poem is a spectacle of married love. He tells her how he always thinks of her; how he can’t relax when she is away and all he has is her portrait. She is immeasurably important and influences him and his heart so much he cannot live without her. 

His soul is broken and all he can do is wait for her; when he realizes she will be home soon all he can think about is what he can give her and how he deserves nothing in return. 

The poem shows directly how being a part of someone’s life and a serious relationship should be. He shows his love and appreciation for her through explaining he cannot live without being with her, and finds no happiness in his wife being away from their home or life together.

This is how love should be, not controlling or toxic that she is gone, but his yearning for the one he loves the most to be back in his life. For him to give her everything without expecting anything in return just because he loves and cherishes her.


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