The love of the beloved

Young love, romantic love, hopeless love, love unrequited, love betrayed — all the big ideas of love can be found in the plays and sonnets of the Bard, William Shakespeare, who started writing for the stage in 1590 and is still considered the founder of literature in the English-speaking world.

His words revealed sentiments so obvious that they are still quoted today.

If someone is far too open about their broken heart, you say he wears his heart on his sleeve (Othello). Jealousy is Shakespeare’s green-eyed monster. And there are dozens of other phrases that fit into modern English just as they fit 400 years ago.

Some of Shakespeare’s most famous lines are all about love, fit for Valentine’s Day cards — where they often appear.

Here are a few:

“Love comforteth like sunshine after rain.”
– Venus and Adonis, line 799

“I do love nothing in the world so well as you—is not that strange?”
– Much Ado About Nothing.

“My bounty is as boundless as the sea,
My love as deep. The more I give to thee,
The more I have, for both are infinite.”
– Romeo and Juliet,

“A heaven on earth I have won by wooing thee.”
– All’s Well That Ends Well

“When you depart from me, sorrow abides and happiness takes his leave.”
– Much Ado About Nothing