How many of us would concede to the most heartfelt relationship with someone who would love you like nobody had ever loved you before? Someone who accepts you for every flaw and who will always be the first to say they were sorry? The most ideal relationship you could ever possibly imagine? Complete and unconditional love!
But what if this relationship came at an inevitable cost to you? You would lose this someone many years before you were ever ready to let them go. Most, I imagine, would never agree to giving their heart over to a relationship that you knew was ultimately doomed to sheer heartache. So why do so many of us do this?
But what if this relationship came at an inevitable cost to you? You would lose this someone many years before you were ever ready to let them go. Most, I imagine, would never agree to giving their heart over to a relationship that you knew was ultimately doomed to sheer heartache. So why do so many of us do this?
A few weeks ago my friend sent me a message asking if I had ever read “The Power of the Dog” by Rudyard Kipling? Being a fan of Kipling, I was surprised to realize I had not. This poem is not for the faint of heart. Tears were pouring down my face by the time I had reached the end. How perfectly Rudyard described this relationship.
If you were to ask me to describe my idealistic relationship, I would simply say... to find someone who loves me like my dog.
If you were to ask me to describe my idealistic relationship, I would simply say... to find someone who loves me like my dog.
The Power of the Dog
by
Rudyard Kipling
There is sorrow enough in the natural way
From men and women to fill our day;
And when we are certain of sorrow in store,
Why do we always arrange for more?
Brothers and sisters, I bid you beware
Of giving your heart to a dog to tear.
Buy a pup and your money will buy
Love unflinching that cannot lie--
Perfect passion and worship fed
By a kick in the ribs or a pat on the head.
Nevertheless it is hardly fair
To risk your heart to a dog to tear.
When the fourteen years which Nature permits
Are closing in asthma, or tumour, or fits,
And the vet's unspoken prescription runs
To lethal chambers or loaded guns,
Then you will find--it's your own affair--
But ... you've given your heart to a dog to tear.
When the body that lived at your single will,
With its whimper of welcome, is stilled (how still!)
When the spirit that answered your every mood
Is gone--wherever it goes--for good,
You will discover how much you care,
And will give your heart to a dog to tear.
We've sorrow enough in the natural way,
When it comes to burying Christian clay.
Our loves are not given, but only lent,
At compound interest of cent per cent.
Though it is not always the case, I believe,
That the longer we've kept 'em, the more do we grieve:
For, when debts are payable, right or wrong,
A short-term loan is as bad as a long--
So why in--Heaven (before we are there)
Should we give our hearts to a dog to tear?
by
Rudyard Kipling
There is sorrow enough in the natural way
From men and women to fill our day;
And when we are certain of sorrow in store,
Why do we always arrange for more?
Brothers and sisters, I bid you beware
Of giving your heart to a dog to tear.
Buy a pup and your money will buy
Love unflinching that cannot lie--
Perfect passion and worship fed
By a kick in the ribs or a pat on the head.
Nevertheless it is hardly fair
To risk your heart to a dog to tear.
When the fourteen years which Nature permits
Are closing in asthma, or tumour, or fits,
And the vet's unspoken prescription runs
To lethal chambers or loaded guns,
Then you will find--it's your own affair--
But ... you've given your heart to a dog to tear.
When the body that lived at your single will,
With its whimper of welcome, is stilled (how still!)
When the spirit that answered your every mood
Is gone--wherever it goes--for good,
You will discover how much you care,
And will give your heart to a dog to tear.
We've sorrow enough in the natural way,
When it comes to burying Christian clay.
Our loves are not given, but only lent,
At compound interest of cent per cent.
Though it is not always the case, I believe,
That the longer we've kept 'em, the more do we grieve:
For, when debts are payable, right or wrong,
A short-term loan is as bad as a long--
So why in--Heaven (before we are there)
Should we give our hearts to a dog to tear?
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