Sunday, August 17, 2014

Strange and Beautiful Words

To be
lovely
is strange.  The suffix "-ly" in the cases of words like "hurriedly", "lovingly, "unthinkingly" means that you are performing some action in the manner of the root word. To walk hurriedly is to walk in a hurried manner and so forth, adverbs. 
This is not the case with         
lovely,  
for the most part it's an adjective, but let us consider the root word 
"love". 
How is that remotely descriptive?
Can you do something or simply exist in the manner of 
love 
as the word 
lovely 
might imply?
Does it perhaps mean that this action or noun that is lovely inspires
love?
In either case, if either of them are right at all, 
lovely
takes on strange and delightful new meanings just thinking about it.
John William Waterhouse Psyche Opening the Golden Box, 1903

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