# CXXXVIII explained — Poetry

> Chapter companion for Poetry by Ambrose Bierce.

## What happens

A brief reflection on the nature of love, suggesting that each new love feels like the first and that claiming to have loved twice implies never having truly loved.

## Themes in this chapter

### Love and Communication

The chapter meditates on the singularity and intensity of true love, asserting that each love feels like the first and that multiple loves negate the experience of love itself.

## Key lines

> Although one love a dozen times, yet will the latest love seem the first. He who says he has loved twice has not loved once.

Even if someone falls in love many times, each new love feels as fresh as the first. A person who claims to have loved more than once has never truly loved at all.

_The narrator presents a paradoxical view of love as both repeatable and singular, emphasizing its unique and all-consuming nature._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_se/chapters/cxxxviii
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_se/chapters