The Open Window by Henri Matisse
For the eyes are the scouts of the heart,
And the eyes go reconnoitering
For what it would please the heart to possess.
And when they are in full accord
And firm, all three, in the one resolve,
At that time, perfect love is born
From what the eyes have made welcome to the heart.
Not otherwise can love either be born or have commencement
Than by this birth and commencement moved by inclination.
By the grace and by command
Of these three, and from their pleasure,
Love is born, who its fair hope
Goes comforting her friends.
For as all true lovers
Know, love is perfect kindness,
Which is born--there is no doubt--from the heart and eyes.
The eyes make it blossom; the heart matures it:
Love, which is the fruit of their very seed.
-GUIRAUT DE BORNEILH (ca. 1138-1200?) , From "The Power of Myth" by Joseph Cambell, VII- Tales of Love and Marriage
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