Skip to content
Linespedia

Lines Written By Ellen Louisa Tucker Shortly Before Her Marriage To Mr. Emerson

By Ralph Waldo Emerson

Topics: classic

Love scatters oil     On Life's dark sea,     Sweetens its toil--     Our helmsman he.     Around him hover     Odorous clouds;     Under this cover     His arrows he shrouds.     The cloud was around me,     I knew not why     Such sweetness crowned me.     While Time shot by.     No pain was within,     But calm delight,     Like a world without sin,     Or a day without night.     The shafts of the god     Were tipped with down,     For they drew no blood,     And they knit no frown.     I knew of them not     Until Cupid laughed loud,     And saying "You're caught!"     Flew off in the cloud.     O then I awoke,     And I lived but to sigh,     Till a clear voice spoke,--     And my tears are dry.

AI analysis available. Enable JavaScript to interact.

About this line

"Love scatters oil..."

This evocative piece by Ralph Waldo Emerson, titled "Lines Written By Ellen Louisa Tucker Shortly Before Her Marriage To Mr. Emerson", represents a masterful exploration of classic. The lines capture a profound emotional resonance... ### Why We Love This Line At Linespedia, we believe that poetry is the ultimate sanctuary for the soul...

Attribution & Rights

Author:Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Love scatters oil..." by Ralph Waldo Emerson

For usage rights, copyright concerns, or to report an issue with this content, please visit our Copyright & Report page.

Related lines

"One musician is sure,     His wisdom will not fail,     He has not tasted wine impure,     Nor bent to passion frail.     Age cannot cloud his"

"With beams December planets dart     His cold eye truth and conduct scanned,     July was in his sunny heart,     October in his liberal hand."

"Shines the last age, the next with hope is seen,     To-day slinks poorly off unmarked between:     Future or Past no richer secret folds,"

"Nature centres into balls,     And her proud ephemerals,     Fast to surface and outside,     Scan the profile of the sphere;     Knew they wh"

"Here morning in the ploughman's songs is met     Ere yet one footstep shows in all the sky,     And twilight in the east, a doubt as yet,     S"

"The Text is taken from Percy's Reliques (1765), vol. i. p. 71, 'given from two MS. copies, transmitted from Scotland.' Herd had a very similar bal"

Ralph Waldo Emerson

About Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) was an American essayist, philosopher, and poet who led the Transcendentalist movement. His poems—including "Brahma," "The Rhodora," and "Concord Hymn"—explore nature, self-reliance, and the oversoul.

Full Bibliography
Continue Reading

"One musician is sure,     His wisdom will not fail..."

Weekly Poetic Insight

Join our literary Sanctuary

Get the most inspiring lines, poetic analysis, and secret shayaris delivered to your inbox every Sunday.