Love lives in cottages as well as in courts

Amour courtois, courtly love, was very fashionable in Europe in the High Middle Ages of the 12th century. Possibly drawing some inspiration from the Arab world, it began in the French aristocratic courts and is particularly associated with Eleanor of Aquitaine who was queen of France and, later, Queen of England. She loved the attention of the troubadour poets and singers and displays of refined, romantic, chaste love.

Her adventurous life spanned, for those times, an enormous 83 years, and included many children by her two husbands, so perhaps she knew something. This was at a time when people married for position and wealth and their true feelings could only be expressed in poetry and song.

History tends not to record the lives of ordinary folk but it is tempting to think that those who were free to marry for love might have had far happier lives than their aristocratic lords. The bonds of natural affection would likely have been just as real for the untutored, illiterate peasant as for the well-educated, refined lords and ladies. However, the hardness of life might have made marriage a mainly practical method of surviving and procreating for all classes.

For more on romantic verse and tips on writing them you might like to try my blog:
Limericks Verse Poetry

This book will help you write your own verse, romantic or otherwise:
700 Limericks & How to Write Them by William Clark

As a memorial to a fine man who was a friend to all, the author of your blog wrote a tribute song "Ol' Jim (Magic in Them Feet)" now available as a digital download from iTunes and other stores.

Ol' Jim (Magic in Them Feet)

The wound that bleedeth inwardly is most dangerous

This can be taken as straight forward medical advice but like all proverbs has several layers of meaning.

A sensitive individual suffering a slight can brood silently on the perceived insult and fall to plotting revenge. The sad cases of gunmen opening up on fellow students could be an example of this. To allow perceived slights and wrongs to fester and grow poisonous is not good for the balance of the mind.

People need to be able to express their sense of grievance and find a solution. Good, open, honest debate is a useful method of identifying problems and enables corrective action to be taken. The trouble is, most people leave things too late and by then it has become critical. The boil must be lanced. It is useful to remember: A trouble shared is a trouble halved.

The pain of lost love can "bleed inwardly" but what is done is done. It is OK to mope a bit whilst readjusting your thoughts and emotions but that can't go on for ever. Write a sad poem, share the sorrow with friends, they have probably been there, or play a sad song -- then get on with life. There will be better times ahead.

Humor is also a good way of diffusing tension: a timely joke, or helping the over serious to learn to laugh at themselves, is psychologically very healthy. As the say: Laughter is the best medicine.