"Plighted"
Poems (1866)
Context: Mine to the core of the heart, my beauty!
Mine, all mine, and for love, not duty:
Love given willingly, full and free,
Love for love's sake — as mine to thee.
Duty's a slave that keeps the keys,
But Love, the master, goes in and out
Of his goodly chambers with song and shout,
Just as he please — just as he please.
Hymns on Faith 16:5
"Slaves of Silver", Galaxy, 1971, Reprinted in Gene Wolfe, Storeys from the Old Hotel (1988)
Fiction
The Emerald City of Oz (1910), Ch. 4 : How The Nome King Planned Revenge
Later Oz novels
The London Evening Standard, 20 February 2006:
On Kanye West's winning of the Brit award
The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists (2005)
Context: We have this idea that love is supposed to last forever. But love isn't like that. It's a free-flowing energy that comes and goes when it pleases. Sometimes it stays for life; other times it stays for a second, a day, a month, or a year. So don't fear love when it comes simply because it makes you vulnerable. But don't be surprised when it leaves, either. Just be glad you had the opportunity to experience it.
