Eros

 

Eros

by Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

 

The sense of the world is short,—
Long and various the report,—
              To love and be beloved;
Men and gods have not outlearned it;
And, how oft soe’er they’ve turned it,
              ’Tis not to be improved.

 

 

Eros was the god of love, a minion and constant companion of the goddess Aphrodite, who lit the flame of love in the hearts of the gods and men, armed with either a bow and arrows or a flaming torch.