Anda Pielaru

February 5th, 2009

Writing Non-Fictional Prose

Professor Henkle

The Greatest Search of All


According to the dictionary, an abstraction is a state of being lost in thought,

something along the lines of a daydream. “On Love” is an essay that seems to be written

in the form of just that, a daydream, an imaginative outlook on the human condition of

love. Percy Bysshe Shelley says in the beginning of the essay how he does not know the

internal constitution of others. This seems to be a very honest way of saying that he does

not know how anyone else feels about certain things and the views they hold on the

world, but he does know how he feels, especially when it comes to love.

We as people want to know what love is and what it means to us. Shelley tells the

reader where he stands on this widespread topic of fascination. The view he seems to

have on this subject is one that most people do seem to have. Love, according to him is

something that creates fear yet at the same time, hope that a certain void within us will be

filled from the look in someone else’s eyes as well as from the touch of one another’s lips

against our own.

As you can see, everyone has their own viewpoint when it comes to love. Mine is

the following. Love is something that when it is felt deep in one’s heart and soul, it is

inexplicable. Just the mere mention of the person you have fallen head over heels for

makes you get butterflies in your stomach and feel as if there could be nothing that can

ever make you happier in the whole entire world. Romantic love does and should happen

for everyone at some point or another throughout their lifetime. One does not know when

it will come but they have faith that someday it will.

In a world full of hatred and animosity, love is deeply desired, and not just

romantic love either but yet love for your fellow man and neighbor as well as love for

animals and nature. It is extremely important to be a loving person and to know how to

show it. Being a loving person does not come easy to everyone though, and that is the

saddest part. But we must learn to change, we must learn to rethink our priorities and to

be more loving than ever before.

Love does not come to everyone right away, romantic love that is. Some must

wait a long time for it. They do not know why they have to wait and it can be frustrating

as well as overwhelming but that is just the way it is and we have to deal with it. But the

day will come and once it does it is vital that we know how to hold on to what we have

been given because it is truly the gift that we have been searching for and that is the love

of our lives.

The greatest search of all is that for love and it is the most time consuming as well

as exhausting search. Time and time again one finds themselves accepted while other

times they are rejected. Both acceptance as well as rejection are a big part of life and

must be taken in with grace and knowledge that even though it can be disappointing the

greatest search of all will be worth it all.