El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-02-05
PlatOnic Love? BOs !!
There Is No such Thing-After
Gonna deship, Then Danger
and Nothing More.
Bv Ella W heller Wilcox -7
BY Ella Wheeler Wilcox

h all the rhetorical common
places in literature and con-
~ versatiOn, none is more fire.
quenLIy repeated than the assertion
that love- as depicted in a thousand
novels and poems every year. mas eN-
listed at all times, and in every country,
immutable as the mountains and the
stars. but romantic love is a modern
sentiment, less than thousand years
old.
peared was the gospel of modern love
the romantic alteration Of a maiden
by a yOuth-revelaed for the first time
in definite language Genius, however
is always in advance OF It's age, IN
emotions as well as IN thoughts ana
the feelings experienced by Dante were
obviously not shared by his contempt
raries, who found them too subtle ana
sublimated for their comprehension.
And, in fact, they were too ethereal 20
quite correspond with reality The
strings of Dante's Tyre were strung too
high and touched by his magic haEd,
gave forth harmonic oVerIOnes TOO &c
lestia1 for mundane ears 70 near -
Henry T. Finclz,- in Romantic Love
and Personal Beauty
This curious and interesting old
book. which deals with all phases aud
attributes Of love, has nothing WnaI-
ever to say Of platOnic love
1t is 20 be supposed that the man
who made such an exhaustive STUDY
OF the aLLecLEOnd4 udL4EC OF man IA
all ages believed, with the writer OF
this article, that there is no SUCH
sentiment as platOntc love Inc IOl-
lowing letter therefore, contains
question which cannot be satisfactOr-
ily answered:
VIII you please give me full ex-
PLANTATION of platOnlc8lOve through the
columns Of your paperE know TINS
is a very deep subject, ana one when
is discussed very often, but all OF my
friends seem to have different opln-
ion of what they think II IS For
this reason I submit to you What
is platOntc loveZ
So platOnic love is a deep subjecti
I beg leave TO differ with my ques-
toner on this point
In truth. I hold platOnic love TO be
80 shallow that il can be seen through
at glance
1t does not exist
There is no such thing.
There is q friendship possible be-
tween man and woman 1t is mem
tai cOmradeship. or admiration. which
does not call for actual association
This man and woman are quite sat
isfied to hear Of each others health
happiness and success Months. OF
even years, may intervene without
their meeting, and they feel no sense
Of loss or loneliness
If either hears Of the others mis-
fortune. loss or failure in any prof.
ect. there is genuine regret and sym
pathetic sorrow
When they meet, there is mutual
pleasure and exchange Of ideas and
experiences, but no pain at parting. and
no necessity is felt by either for a
fixed date Of meeting again
The moment that necessity Is felt
by either one. friendship has crossed
the danger line
The moment we use the word love
We speak Of a claim, a necessity
The element Of love entering into
our affection, we find the object nee
essary TO our happiness
When a man becomes in any way
necessary to woman, OF a woman
to a man. the tie is no longer mere
friendship nor can any trumpedup
makeshift Of ''platOnism" disguise its
real nature
Wien any human being becomes a
part Of your plans for pleasure Ct
each month. there is danger ahead for
you, il that being is OF the opposite
sex and not related to you by blood
ties
flOwery talk OF platOnic love, never
theless. you are marching to the chasm
Of dangerous experiment
You may as well carry a lighted
match into dynamite factory and say
you are safe
A mans hOusekeeper or secretary
may be necessary to his comfort or 70
the successful accomplishment of his
business BE may say, Il could not
get along without her But that is
another question
It is when the social and holiday
side Of the mans nature feels thence
esslty Of some one woman to share his
enjoyment that he needs to be on his
guard, if he wishes TO avoid giving OF
receiving pain OF finding himself in
some sort OF trouble
Copyright 1918, by the star Publishing
company