The Physiology of Marriage, Part 1
THE PHYSIOLOGY OF MARRIAGE FIRST PART BY HONORE DE BALZAC DEDICATION Notice the words: _The man of distinction to whom this book is dedicated_. Need I say: "You are that man."--THE AUTHOR. The woman who may be induced by the title of this book to open it, can save herself the trouble; she has already read the work without knowing it. A man, however malicious he may possibly be, can never say about a woman as much good or as much evil as they themselves think. If, in spite of this notice, a woman will persist in reading the volume, she ought to be prevented by
The merry song, heard so short before,
With grief is silenced forevermore.
Like pigeons, cooing in anxious calling,
You sigh for morn, with to-day not through,
When, unbethought, like a trap-door falling,
The earth unlocketh itself for you--
You disappear
Where no light is nearing--
Soon mem'ry dear
Is no more endearing--
And new-lit moon, from its silvered sky,
Again, sees others arrive and fly.
In circling dances so lightly swinging
You follow wildly amusement's thread,
With myrtle blooming and music ringing ...
But solemn I on the threshold tread:--
The dance is checked
And the clang is wailing,
The wreath is wrecked
And the bride is paling:
The end of splendor and joy and might
Is only sorrow and tears and blight.
THE PHYSIOLOGY OF MARRIAGE FIRST PART BY HONORE DE BALZAC DEDICATION Notice the words: _The man of distinction to whom this book is dedicated_. Need I say: "You are that man."--THE AUTHOR. The woman who may be induced by the title of this book to open it, can save herself the trouble; she has already read the work without knowing it. A man, however malicious he may possibly be, can never say about a woman as much good or as much evil as they themselves think. If, in spite of this notice, a woman will persist in reading the volume, she ought to be prevented by