"Pain is no longer beautiful," he says, and gives me a diamond ring for goodbye. 

ikke længere bange for mørket

Rossetti, Study for Delia, 1853

Rossetti, Regina Cordium, 1860

All shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.

Sometimes, when I catch a glimpse of myself really quickly in passing,
in a toy-shop window or the surface of a shiny car,
I look pretty normal
until I realize what I am looking at. 

Croquis 4

In truth, I am angry with you for living too much in reality; it's breaking the rules. 

It was two or three at night when we met. I was a wild creature, feverish and spreading my disease remorselessly. I thought we were the same, and I followed you into the dark. You wanted to spend the night with your arms around me. I said no.

I want to go back. I'll close your eyes with my fingers and kiss them so you see a glimpse of the future. Don't let go, we only get this much time. 

and a whisper of a touch

She signals to him in the high mares' tales overhead, in the turns of phrase she has borrowed and lent, in the curled scar on his cheek; and by similar means he imagines he also signals to her: that their conversations go on, silently, in the downspin of a sycamore key. 

 - Sarah Perry, The Essex Serpent