# CXXI: Sighing for the Absent One explained — The Kural > Chapter companion for The Kural by Thiruvalluvar. ## What happens The chapter explores the intense pangs of separation felt by a lover, who finds both solace and torment in memories of the beloved. The lover reflects on the sweetness of recollection, the pain of doubt, and the longing for reunion, personifying the moon as a witness to her sorrow. ## Themes in this chapter ### Love and Marriage The chapter delves into the emotional turmoil of a lover separated from the beloved, highlighting the depth and complexity of romantic love. ### The Vanity of Worldly Life The lover's existence is consumed by memory and longing, suggesting that worldly pleasures are meaningless without the beloved. ## Character check-ins ### Bouderie The speaker, a lover experiencing the pain of separation and longing for the absent beloved. ## Key lines > He Even in the recollection love is sweet with endless delights: love is therefore sweeter than wine. Even the memory of love brings boundless joy, making love more intoxicating than wine. _The lover finds sweetness in recollection, comparing love's delight to wine._ > The moment I recall the image of my loved one to my mind, that very moment all my sorrow is vanquished: ah, love is dear in all its aspects! As soon as I think of my beloved, all my sadness disappears; love is precious in every form. _The power of memory to dispel sorrow is emphasized._ > She I was about to sneeze, but the fit passed away: is it that he was about to think of me but did not? I was about to sneeze, but it stopped—could it be that he was about to remember me but didn't? _A superstitious connection between sneezing and the beloved's thoughts is expressed._ > Have I at all a place in his heart? As for him, there is never a doubt but he abideth in mine. Does he hold any place for me in his heart? I have no doubt that he remains in mine. _The lover questions her beloved's feelings while affirming her own constant devotion._ > He excludeth me jealously from his heart: is he not ashamed then to show himself ceaselessly in mine ? He shuts me out of his heart, yet he appears constantly in mine—should he not be ashamed? _The lover laments the asymmetry of their emotional connection._ > It is but the recollection of our union that keepeth me alive yet: what else of life is there in me? Only the memory of our togetherness keeps me alive; what else is there in me that constitutes life? _Memory is the sole sustenance for the lover._ > Even with my memory full of him, my heart burneth within me: what then will be my case if I forget him? Even while remembering him, my heart burns with pain; what would happen if I forgot him entirely? _The intensity of longing is so great that forgetting would be unbearable._ > How often soever I recall my beloved to my mind he will not be wroth with me: so much is the favour that my beloved bestoweth upon me! No matter how many times I remember my beloved, he does not become angry with me—such is his kindness. _The beloved's tolerance of constant recollection is seen as a favor._ > When my heart thinketh on his cruelty who once said, We are not two but only one life and soul, verily my life ebbeth away. When I recall the cruelty of him who once said we are one life and soul, my life truly fades away. _The contrast between past promises and present separation causes deep anguish._ > O Moon! set not in the horizon, I pray thee, till my eyes look again upon him who, abiding still within my heart, hath yet parted from me. O Moon, I beg you not to set until I see him again—he who remains in my heart yet is far from me. _The lover implores the moon to delay its setting so she may be reunited with her beloved._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_kural_se/chapters/cxxi-sighing-for-the-absent-one - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_kural_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_kural_se/chapters