Parables

There was a man who dwelt in the east centuries ago,
And now I cannot look at a sheep or a sparrow,
A lily or a cornfield, a raven or a sunset,
A vineyard or a mountain, without thinking of him;
Is this be not to be divine, what is it?

— The Notebook (c.1894-97).

Evening

Here dies another day
During which I have had eyes, ears, hands
And the great world round me;
And with tomorrow begins another.
Why am I allowed two?

— The Notebook.

A blessing

I live in an age of varied powers and knowledge,
Of steam, science, democracy, journalism, art;
But when my love rises like a sea,
I have to go back to an obscure tribe and a slain man
To formulate a blessing.

—  The Notebook.

Marriage

Of all human institutions marriage is the only one which most depends upon slow development, upon patience, upon long reaches of times, upon magnanimous compromise, upon kindly habit.

— Early Notebooks.

“A fiery circle”

If the arms of a man could be a fiery circle
embracing the round world,
I think I should be that man.

– The Notebook (unpublished, c.1895)