--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Is love a fancy, or a feeling? No. It is…" description: "\"“Is love a fancy, or a feeling? No. It is immortal as immaculate Truth, 'Tis not a blossom shed as soon as youth, Drops from the stem of life--for it w..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aab/hartley-coleridge-22565_fancy_is-love-a-fancy-or-a-feeling-no-it-is-im_1888919.png" --- # Is love a fancy, or a feeling? No. It is immortal as… ![“Is love a fancy, or a feeling? No. It is immortal as immaculate Truth, 'Tis not a blossom shed as soon as youth, Drops from the stem of life--for it will grow, In barren regions, where no waters flow, Nor rays of promise cheats the pensive gloom. A darkling fire, faint hovering o'er a tomb, That…” quote by Hartley Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aab/hartley-coleridge-22565_fancy_is-love-a-fancy-or-a-feeling-no-it-is-im_1888919.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aab/hartley-coleridge-22565_fancy_is-love-a-fancy-or-a-feeling-no-it-is-im_1888919.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aab/hartley-coleridge-22565_fancy_is-love-a-fancy-or-a-feeling-no-it-is-im_1888919.png) > ““Is love a fancy, or a feeling? No. It is immortal as immaculate Truth, 'Tis not a blossom shed as soon as youth, Drops from the stem of life--for it will grow, In barren regions, where no waters flow, Nor rays of promise cheats the pensive gloom. A darkling fire, faint hovering o'er a tomb, That but itself and darkness nought doth show, It is my love's being yet it cannot die, Nor will it change, though all be changed beside; Though fairest beauty be no longer fair, Though vows be false, and faith itself deny, Though sharp enjoyment be a suicide, And hope a spectre in a ruin bare.”” [Hartley Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hartley-coleridge/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Love is portrayed as an eternal, immutable truth that persists beyond physical beauty, vows, or pleasure, enduring even in desolate, hopeless conditions. **In simple terms:** Love is timeless and unchanging. Key Takeaway Recognize love’s deeper, lasting essence beyond fleeting feelings. Themes eternity truth love resilience Mood melancholic hopeful Type poetic philosophical When to use this quote - grief - long‑term relationships - spiritual seeking - artistic creation Key Concepts metaphysics philosophy romanticism Questions to Reflect On - What does love mean to you beyond romance? - How can you nurture love’s enduring aspects? A Different Perspective Love may be idealized, overlooking practical challenges in real relationships. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Fancy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fancy/) [Fancy Feeling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fancy-feeling-656095/) [Immortal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/immortal/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Love Fancy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love-fancy-656096/) [Vows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vows/) ## Related quotes > [Is love a fancy, or a feeling?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hartley-coleridge/is-love-a-fancy-or-a-feeling/) [Hartley Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hartley-coleridge/) > [Is love a fancy or a feeling… or a Ferrars?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-thompson/is-love-a-fancy-or-a-feeling-or-a-ferrars/) [Emma Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-thompson/) > [“That’s what love was – nothing fancy – just two people rooting like hell for one another.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-e-lynes/that-s-what-love-was-nothing-fancy-just-two-people-rooting-like-hell/) [S.E. Lynes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-e-lynes/) > [“What of your vows of vengeance?" "I'm not adding you to the list, if that's what you're wondering. It's over. I know what I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elaine-cunningham/what-of-your-vows-of-vengeance-i-m-not-adding-you-to-the-list-if-that/) [Elaine Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elaine-cunningham/) > [Why is it that the very people who have fought so hard and so long for the simple entitlement to love whom they choose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ridley/why-is-it-that-the-very-people-who-have-fought-so-hard-and-so-long/) [John Ridley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ridley/) > [The taking of vows that are not feasible or that are beyond one's capacity would betray thoughtlessness and want of balance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/the-taking-of-vows-that-are-not-feasible-or-that-are-beyond-one-s/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [When I got married to my ex-wife, Jemma, I took my vows very, very seriously. I've been brought up with good values and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gareth-thomas/when-i-got-married-to-my-ex-wife-jemma-i-took-my-vows-very-very/) [Gareth Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gareth-thomas/) > [“Cathy, don't look so defeated. She was only trying to put us down again. Maybe nothing did work out right for her, but that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/v-c-andrews/cathy-don-t-look-so-defeated-she-was-only-trying-to-put-us-down-again/) [V.C. Andrews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/v-c-andrews/) > [“The vows of God are on me. I may not stay to play with shadows or pluck earthly flowers till I my work have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-carmichael/the-vows-of-god-are-on-me-i-may-not-stay-to-play-with-shadows-or/) [Amy Carmichael](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-carmichael/) > [There's a security, a validity of knowing that it's legal. It's hard to put into words. It's just a feeling, I guess - something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-bomer/there-s-a-security-a-validity-of-knowing-that-it-s-legal-it-s-hard-to/) [Matt Bomer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-bomer/) > [It is easy now to break the vows. It is even easier to part your ways if vows haven't been taken.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zygmunt-bauman/it-is-easy-now-to-break-the-vows-it-is-even-easier-to-part-your-ways/) [Zygmunt Bauman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zygmunt-bauman/) > [All religious vows, codes, and commitments are null & void herein. Please refrain from contaminating the ideosphere with harmful memes through prayer, reverence, holy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-erwin/all-religious-vows-codes-and-commitments-are-null-void-herein-please/) [Greg Erwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-erwin/) > [I am falser than vows made in wine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/i-am-falser-than-vows-made-in-wine/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [It is merely the egoism of the man, who wants to bury a woman like a treasure. All attempts at using vows, contracts, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leopold-von-sacher-masoch/it-is-merely-the-egoism-of-the-man-who-wants-to-bury-a-woman-like-a/) [Leopold von Sacher-Masoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leopold-von-sacher-masoch/) > [“His own parents, the estimable Gilchrists, a couple who had taken the 'till death' part of their own wedding vows so seriously he wouldn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ally-blake/his-own-parents-the-estimable-gilchrists-a-couple-who-had-taken-the/) [Ally Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ally-blake/) ## More by Hartley Coleridge > [If we take care of the inches, we will not have to worry about the miles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hartley-coleridge/if-we-take-care-of-the-inches-we-will-not-have-to-worry-about-the/) [Hartley Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hartley-coleridge/) > [Now, we are agreed, I and my destinies. The total world, Above, below, whate'er is seen or known, And all that men, and all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hartley-coleridge/now-we-are-agreed-i-and-my-destinies-the-total-world-above-below/) [Hartley Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hartley-coleridge/) > [Her very frowns are fairer far Than smiles of other maidens are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hartley-coleridge/her-very-frowns-are-fairer-far-than-smiles-of-other-maidens-are/) [Hartley Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hartley-coleridge/) > [Commemoration of Brooke Foss Westcott, Bishop of Durham, Teacher, 1901 Be not afraid to pray... to pray is right. Pray if thou canst with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hartley-coleridge/commemoration-of-brooke-foss-westcott-bishop-of-durham-teacher-1901/) [Hartley Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hartley-coleridge/) > [Where'er ye sojourn, and whatever names Ye are or shall be called; fairies, or sylphs, Nymphs of the wood or mountain, flood or field:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hartley-coleridge/where-er-ye-sojourn-and-whatever-names-ye-are-or-shall-be-called/) [Hartley Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hartley-coleridge/) > [With all your music, loud and lustily, With every dainty joy of sight and smell, Prepare a banquet meet to entertain The Lord of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hartley-coleridge/with-all-your-music-loud-and-lustily-with-every-dainty-joy-of-sight/) [Hartley Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hartley-coleridge/) > [Long time a child, and still a child, when years Had painted manhood on my cheek, was I; For yet I lived like one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hartley-coleridge/long-time-a-child-and-still-a-child-when-years-had-painted-manhood-on/) [Hartley Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hartley-coleridge/) > [The soul of man is larger than the sky, Deeper than ocean, or the abysmal dark Of the unfathomed center.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hartley-coleridge/the-soul-of-man-is-larger-than-the-sky-deeper-than-ocean-or-the/) [Hartley Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hartley-coleridge/) > [Now shall I become a common tale, A ruin'd fragment of a worn-out world; Unchanging record of unceasing change. Eternal landmark to the tide…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hartley-coleridge/now-shall-i-become-a-common-tale-a-ruin-d-fragment-of-a-worn-out/) [Hartley Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hartley-coleridge/) > [Go your way. Forget Prometheus, And all the woe that he is doom'd to bear; By his own choice this vile estate preferring To…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hartley-coleridge/go-your-way-forget-prometheus-and-all-the-woe-that-he-is-doom-d-to/) [Hartley Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hartley-coleridge/) > [Be not afraid to pray--to pray is right. Pray, if thou canst, with hope; but ever pray, Though hope be weak or sick with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hartley-coleridge/be-not-afraid-to-pray-to-pray-is-right-pray-if-thou-canst-with-hope/) [Hartley Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hartley-coleridge/) > [The soul of man is larger than the sky, Deeper than ocean, or the abysmal dark Of the unfathomed centre.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hartley-coleridge/the-soul-of-man-is-larger-than-the-sky-deeper-than-ocean-or-the-2/) [Hartley Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hartley-coleridge/) > [Never till this day Did life disturb the dense eternity Of joyless quiet; never skylark's song, Or storm-bird's prescient scream, or eaglet's cry, Made…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hartley-coleridge/never-till-this-day-did-life-disturb-the-dense-eternity-of-joyless/) [Hartley Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hartley-coleridge/) > [A bard whom there were none to praise, And very few to read.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hartley-coleridge/a-bard-whom-there-were-none-to-praise-and-very-few-to-read/) [Hartley Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hartley-coleridge/) > [Twere better far That gods should quaff their nectar merrily, And men sing out the day like grasshoppers, So may they haply lull the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hartley-coleridge/twere-better-far-that-gods-should-quaff-their-nectar-merrily-and-men/) [Hartley Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hartley-coleridge/) [Explore all 27 Hartley Coleridge quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hartley-coleridge/) ## More Fancy quotes > [“What does it mean to be a self-conscious animal? The idea is ludicrous, if it is not monstrous. It means to know that one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-becker/what-does-it-mean-to-be-a-self-conscious-animal-the-idea-is-ludicrous/) [Ernest Becker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-becker/) > [My mind shrank from the menace sweeping down on us, as children's do from belief in death and misfortune, vainly clinging to the fancy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-pankhurst/my-mind-shrank-from-the-menace-sweeping-down-on-us-as-children-s-do/) [Sylvia Pankhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-pankhurst/) > ['Sex and The City' was made to correct the myth that if you were single at a certain age, you were a leper. Its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-patrick-king/sex-and-the-city-was-made-to-correct-the-myth-that-if-you-were-single/) [Michael Patrick King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-patrick-king/) > [There is no science without fancy and no art without fact.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/there-is-no-science-without-fancy-and-no-art-without-fact/) [Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/) > [“Sometimes instinct isn't fancy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-hale/sometimes-instinct-isn-t-fancy/) [Shannon Hale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-hale/) > [When we idealize the real, we sacrifice to artistic fancy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-fuseli/when-we-idealize-the-real-we-sacrifice-to-artistic-fancy/) [Henry Fuseli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-fuseli/) > [For now, I'm supposing that all movements are equal, which they're not, except in this respect: that none of them gives a damn about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfrid-sheed/for-now-i-m-supposing-that-all-movements-are-equal-which-they-re-not/) [Wilfrid Sheed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfrid-sheed/) > [Man preys on man; and you mourn for the idle tapestry that decorated a gothic pillar, and the dronish bell that summoned the fat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-wollstonecraft/man-preys-on-man-and-you-mourn-for-the-idle-tapestry-that-decorated-a/) [Mary Wollstonecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-wollstonecraft/) > [If I am ever obscure in my expressions, do not fancy that therefore I am deep. If I were really deep, all the world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kingsley/if-i-am-ever-obscure-in-my-expressions-do-not-fancy-that-therefore-i/) [Charles Kingsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kingsley/) > [Poetical taste is the only magician whose wand is not broken. No hand, except its own, can dissolve the fabric of beauty in which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/poetical-taste-is-the-only-magician-whose-wand-is-not-broken-no-hand/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [The criterion of true beauty is, that it increases in examination; of false, that it lessens. There is something, therefore, in true beauty that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-grenville/the-criterion-of-true-beauty-is-that-it-increases-in-examination-of/) [George Grenville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-grenville/) > [Now I'm having to live with sales of around 50,000 per album - but I'm pretty content with my place in the general scheme…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-knopfler/now-i-m-having-to-live-with-sales-of-around-50-000-per-album-but-i-m/) [David Knopfler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-knopfler/) > [My friend told me he was going to a fancy dress party as an Italian island. I said to him, ‘Don’t be Sicily’.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-vine/my-friend-told-me-he-was-going-to-a-fancy-dress-party-as-an-italian/) [Tim Vine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-vine/) > [Metaphor isn't just a fancy turn of speech. It shapes our thoughts and feelings, reaches out to grasp new experience, and even binds our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-richardson/metaphor-isn-t-just-a-fancy-turn-of-speech-it-shapes-our-thoughts-and/) [James Richardson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-richardson/) > [If you're feeling fancy free, come wander through the world with me, and any place we chance to be, will be a rendezvous. Two…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-mancini/if-you-re-feeling-fancy-free-come-wander-through-the-world-with-me/) [Henry Mancini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-mancini/) [Browse all 1,452 Fancy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fancy/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Is love a fancy, or a feeling? 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