We have a word decal on our bedroom wall that reads "If music be the food of love, play on. -William Shakespeare" I bought it and placed it there because I love Shakespeare and theatre, my husband plays and loves music, and we love each other. Seemed like a perfect fit. After I bought it and installed it on the wall, I looked it up. I wasn't sure which play it was from, and I also knew that all things Shakespeare have a more complex meaning than meets the eye. And this was no different.
The context of this line in Twelfth Night is that a male character (Orsino) is frustrated that the woman he loves (Olivia) does not return his affection. He is hoping that if they play music long enough, it will make him no longer want her, just as eating too much makes you feel sick and no longer want to eat. Music is the food, and love is the appetite, in this metaphor.
Really not romantic at all. Kinda gross, actually.
Yet, it still adorns our wall, and it makes me smile every time i look at it, which is almost every night before i go to sleep and every morning when i wake up. Its still there and it makes me smile because its funny, that we have this seemingly romantic sentence in our bedroom that is in fact, the opposite of romantic. Funny because of all the people I imagine have it on their walls but have never looked it up and live in blissful ignorance of its true meaning. Funny because of the image of a man becoming nauseated by listening to too much music. And funny because, despite knowing its meaning, we still find it romantic, and descriptive of our relationship.
We may not be the most romantic couple. We have a lot of crap going on every day, simple and direct is usually how we conduct our communication. But what we do really well is humour. That is what has gotten us this far, through all the hurdles and disasters, as well as triumphs and blessings. We laugh, at everything, most importantly, at the things that maybe seem inappropriate to laugh at. Like the inappropriate quote on our bedroom wall, not about preserving love, but about overfeeding it until it dies.
That's funny stuff, right there. :-)