--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Lovers lying two and two Ask not whom…" description: "\"Lovers lying two and two Ask not whom they sleep beside, And the bridegroom all night through Never turns him to the bride.\" — A. E. Housman" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d4b/a-e-housman-8360_all-night_lovers-lying-two-and-two-ask-not-whom-th_3075403.png" --- # Lovers lying two and two Ask not whom they sleep beside… ![“Lovers lying two and two Ask not whom they sleep beside, And the bridegroom all night through Never turns him to the bride.” quote by A. E. Housman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d4b/a-e-housman-8360_all-night_lovers-lying-two-and-two-ask-not-whom-th_3075403.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d4b/a-e-housman-8360_all-night_lovers-lying-two-and-two-ask-not-whom-th_3075403.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d4b/a-e-housman-8360_all-night_lovers-lying-two-and-two-ask-not-whom-th_3075403.png) > “Lovers lying two and two Ask not whom they sleep beside, And the bridegroom all night through Never turns him to the bride.” [A. E. Housman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-e-housman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The poem suggests that lovers are indifferent to the specifics of their partners, focusing instead on the act of love itself. **In simple terms:** Lovers care more about love than who they love. Key Takeaway Value the experience of love over details. Themes love indifference identity sexuality Mood playful introspective critical Type poetic philosophical When to use this quote - intimate relationships - sexual exploration - personal identity Key Concepts human connection social norms Questions to Reflect On - Why might people overlook partner identity? - What does this say about societal views on love? A Different Perspective Ignoring personal compatibility can cause deeper issues later. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [All night](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/all-night/) [Asks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/asks/) [Bridegroom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bridegroom/) [Bridegroom Night](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bridegroom-night-5222566/) [Brides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brides/) [Lovers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lovers/) [Lovers Lying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lovers-lying-5222564/) [Lying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lying/) [Night](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/night/) [Sleep](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sleep/) [Sleep Bridegroom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sleep-bridegroom-5222565/) [Turns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/turns/) [Two](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/two/) ## Related quotes > [Happy bridegroom, Hesper brings All desired and timely things. All whom morning sends to roam, Hesper loves to lead them home. Home return who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-e-housman/happy-bridegroom-hesper-brings-all-desired-and-timely-things-all-whom/) [A. E. Housman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-e-housman/) > [I sing of brooks, of blossoms, birds, and bowers: Of April, May, or June, and July flowers. I sing of Maypoles, Hock-carts, wassails, wakes,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-herrick/i-sing-of-brooks-of-blossoms-birds-and-bowers-of-april-may-or-june/) [Robert Herrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-herrick/) > [When you're a female poet, would you, therefore, invoke a male muse? When nuns get consecrated into their vocations, they become brides of Christ.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-geok-lin-lim/when-you-re-a-female-poet-would-you-therefore-invoke-a-male-muse-when/) [Shirley Geok-lin Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-geok-lin-lim/) > [Tell me what it is you plan to do with your one wild and precious life? 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The Head is the only begotten Son of God, the body is His Church;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saint-augustine/the-head-and-the-body-are-christ-wholly-and-entirely-the-head-is-the/) [Saint Augustine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saint-augustine/) > [But the fact that Christ as the bridegroom brings forth fruit through me as the bride, through the agency of the indwelling Holy Spirit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-schaeffer/but-the-fact-that-christ-as-the-bridegroom-brings-forth-fruit-through/) [Francis Schaeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-schaeffer/) > [If the heart is cleansed by the love of Jesus Christ, and if the heart loves Him, one can resist all tortures. What would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wurmbrand/if-the-heart-is-cleansed-by-the-love-of-jesus-christ-and-if-the-heart/) [Richard Wurmbrand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wurmbrand/) > [Usura slayeth the child in the womb It stayeth the young man's courting It hath brought palsey to bed, lyeth between the young bride…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-pound/usura-slayeth-the-child-in-the-womb-it-stayeth-the-young-man-s/) [Ezra Pound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-pound/) > [When it's over, I want to say: all my life I was a bride married to amazement. I was the bridegroom, taking the world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/when-it-s-over-i-want-to-say-all-my-life-i-was-a-bride-married-to/) [Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-oliver/) > [“I have been looking at the marriage service in the Prayer-book, and it seems to me very humiliating that a giver-away should be required…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/i-have-been-looking-at-the-marriage-service-in-the-prayer-book-and-it/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) > [Raise high the roof beam, carpenters. Like Ares comes the bridegroom, taller far than a tall man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sappho/raise-high-the-roof-beam-carpenters-like-ares-comes-the-bridegroom/) [Sappho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sappho/) ## More by A. E. Housman > [I think that to transfuse emotion - not to transmit thought but to set up in the reader's sense a vibration corresponding to what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-e-housman/i-think-that-to-transfuse-emotion-not-to-transmit-thought-but-to-set/) [A. E. Housman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-e-housman/) > [Clay lies still, but blood's a rover; Breath's aware that will not keep. Up, lad: when the journey's over then there'll be time enough…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-e-housman/clay-lies-still-but-blood-s-a-rover-breath-s-aware-that-will-not-keep/) [A. E. Housman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-e-housman/) > [Housman is one of my heroes and always has been. He was a detestable and miserable man. Arrogant, unspeakably lonely, cruel, and so on,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-e-housman/housman-is-one-of-my-heroes-and-always-has-been-he-was-a-detestable/) [A. E. Housman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-e-housman/) > [On occasions, after drinking a pint of beer at luncheon, there would be a flow into my mind with sudden and unaccountable emotion, sometimes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-e-housman/on-occasions-after-drinking-a-pint-of-beer-at-luncheon-there-would-be/) [A. E. Housman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-e-housman/) > [To justify God's ways to man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-e-housman/to-justify-god-s-ways-to-man/) [A. E. Housman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-e-housman/) > [Ten thousand times I've done my best and all's to do again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-e-housman/ten-thousand-times-i-ve-done-my-best-and-all-s-to-do-again/) [A. E. Housman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-e-housman/) > [Here dead lie we because we did not choose to live and shame the land from which we sprung. Life, to be sure, is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-e-housman/here-dead-lie-we-because-we-did-not-choose-to-live-and-shame-the-land/) [A. E. Housman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-e-housman/) > [A moment's thought would have shown him. But a moment is a long time, and thought is a painful process.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-e-housman/a-moment-s-thought-would-have-shown-him-but-a-moment-is-a-long-time/) [A. E. Housman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-e-housman/) > [His folly has not fellow Beneath the blue of day That gives to man or woman His heart and soul away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-e-housman/his-folly-has-not-fellow-beneath-the-blue-of-day-that-gives-to-man-or/) [A. E. Housman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-e-housman/) > [On Wenlock Edge the wood's in trouble;His forest fleece the Wrekin heaves;The wind it plies the saplings double, And thick on Severn snow the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-e-housman/on-wenlock-edge-the-wood-s-in-trouble-his-forest-fleece-the-wrekin/) [A. E. Housman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-e-housman/) > [Into my hear an air that kills through yon far country blows what are those blue remembered hills what spires,what farms are those? that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-e-housman/into-my-hear-an-air-that-kills-through-yon-far-country-blows-what-are/) [A. E. Housman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-e-housman/) > ['Tis spring; come out to ramble The hilly brakes around, For under thorn and bramble About the hollow ground The primroses are found. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-e-housman/tis-spring-come-out-to-ramble-the-hilly-brakes-around-for-under-thorn/) [A. E. Housman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-e-housman/) > [If a man will comprehend the richness and variety of the universe, and inspire his mind with a due measure of wonder and awe,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-e-housman/if-a-man-will-comprehend-the-richness-and-variety-of-the-universe-and/) [A. E. Housman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-e-housman/) > [Malt does more than Milton can to justify God's ways to man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-e-housman/malt-does-more-than-milton-can-to-justify-god-s-ways-to-man/) [A. E. Housman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-e-housman/) > [I am not a pessimist but a pejorist (as George Eliot said she was not an optimist but a meliorist); and that philosophy is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-e-housman/i-am-not-a-pessimist-but-a-pejorist-as-george-eliot-said-she-was-not/) [A. E. Housman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-e-housman/) [Explore all 81 A. E. Housman quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-e-housman/) ## More All night quotes > [Every wife ought to answer for her man. If the husband be engaged in a seditious club, or drinks mysterious healths, or be frugal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/every-wife-ought-to-answer-for-her-man-if-the-husband-be-engaged-in-a/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [I'm neurotic in the sense that I can have a crowd of 300 people cheering you, applauding you, standing O, but one guy come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-white/i-m-neurotic-in-the-sense-that-i-can-have-a-crowd-of-300-people/) [Wayne White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-white/) > [ Senator \[Tom\] Cotton has campaigned on wanting to kill Obamacare. He voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act back in January, but he now… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-maddow/senator-tom-cotton-has-campaigned-on-wanting-to-kill-obamacare-he/) [Rachel Maddow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-maddow/) > [Teenagers complain there's nothing to do, then stay out all night doing it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-phillips/teenagers-complain-there-s-nothing-to-do-then-stay-out-all-night/) [Bob Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-phillips/) > [Few, if any, creatures are equally active all night.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/few-if-any-creatures-are-equally-active-all-night/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [Everyone has seen people dancing all night. 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I think it's just instinctual, and sometimes it's wrong and the director says, "No, do it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-lawrence/i-memorize-my-lines-and-i-show-up-i-think-it-s-just-instinctual-and/) [Jennifer Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-lawrence/) > [I feel like a midget with muddy feet had been walking over my tongue all night.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-c-fields/i-feel-like-a-midget-with-muddy-feet-had-been-walking-over-my-tongue/) [W. C. Fields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-c-fields/) > [If I walk into a place, a party, say, and there's a bookshelf, I immediately gravitate toward it. Unless there's a bar. But even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-evison/if-i-walk-into-a-place-a-party-say-and-there-s-a-bookshelf-i/) [Jonathan Evison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-evison/) > [When you're doing a play you get to go full speed ahead, all night, in front of an audience. It's a roller-coaster ride, responding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sean-patrick-thomas/when-you-re-doing-a-play-you-get-to-go-full-speed-ahead-all-night-in/) [Sean Patrick Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sean-patrick-thomas/) > [I'm kinda tired. I was up all night trying to round off infinity. Then I got bored and went out and painted passing lines…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-wright/i-m-kinda-tired-i-was-up-all-night-trying-to-round-off-infinity-then/) [Steven Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-wright/) > [I've been thinking of a story from the Old Testament: Moses stood all day and all night with outstretched arms, praying to God for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-scholl/i-ve-been-thinking-of-a-story-from-the-old-testament-moses-stood-all/) [Sophie Scholl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-scholl/) > [Basically Ken is a very gentle, home-loving person. I remember when one of his stick insects had a knee infection. He stayed up all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-barry/basically-ken-is-a-very-gentle-home-loving-person-i-remember-when-one/) [Dave Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-barry/) [Browse all 335 All night quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/all-night/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Lovers lying two and two Ask not whom they sleep beside, And the bridegroom all night through Never turns him to the bride.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "A. E. 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