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True love, the
moment you hear these magical words, some sweetest imaginations
start conjuring up in your mind. Love must have been the first
word that was felt, understood and expressed by humans. And why
only humans? Even animals give us some wonderful glimpses of
love and care. Though in this article, we will stick to some of
the eternal human love stories that have stayed through the
course of human civilization.
Every true
lover must have read such wonderful love stories and would have
felt an invisible but strong connection. But not every love
story has a happy ending and if we look back at famous love
stories, most of them had a tragic end. So what is so
fascinating about sad love stories? Is it some sort of emotional
and spiritual connection that every true lover feels or goes
through? Or a tragic end that makes the story immortal? May be
or may not be, but by the time you ponder over this fact, let us
go through some of the most famous love stories in history and
literature. |
Sad Love story collection:
Tristan and Isolde
The heart-rending tale of Tristan and Isolde has gone through its iota
of story-telling sessions. The story takes place during medieval times
during the reign of King Arthur. The immortality of this tale is quite
evident from the way it has been told and retold through numerous
stories and manuscripts. Isolde was name of the pretty daughter of the
King of Ireland. Her father had chosen King Mark of Cornwall for Isolde
and both got engaged. Tristan was nephew of King Mark who sent him to
Ireland to escort Isolde back to Cornwall and that’s where the story
took a different turn. Love knows no boundaries and never cares for any
barriers.
Isolde and Tristan both sensed a strong sense of attachment and
fulfilment in each other. The seeds of love were sown but destiny had
something else in store. Isolde had to marry Mark of Cornwall but then
heart was longing for Tristan. As a result of that, the love affair
between the two continued even after her marriage.
They say, you cannot hide love and King Mark finally came to know about
their affair. Tristan was banned from Cornwall but King forgave Isolde.
Tristan was forced to move to Brittany where he encountered Iseult and
the similarity of her name with Isolde made Tristan felt attracted
towards her. He kept looking for signs of Isolde in Iseult and finally
decided to marry her. But Tristan’s undying love for Isolde did not let
him consummate his marriage with Iseult. His hopes started to fade away
and soon grief-stricken Tristan fell severely ill.
In the deep recess of his heart, Tristan knew Isolde would be able to
cure him. He sent for Isolde and if Isolde agreed to come, the sails of
returning ship would be white. However, in case the sails are black,
that would indicate Isolde has not decided to come. The call of love
soon became evident as the sails were white but scorned love is
extremely dangerous. Iseult could not accept the return of Isolde and
subsequently lied to Tristan and told him that the sails were black.
Tristan could not take it and died of grief even before Isolde could
reach for her lover. The pain of Tristan’s death did not spare and
Isolde either and she died soon after of a broken heart. Though, both of
them died yet gave the world something to remember for eternity.
Pyramus and Thisbe
Famous sad love stories- the title itself is self-explanatory. It’s
really hard to pinpoint the exact number of historians, philosophers,
kings, psychologists and poets who have tried to explain love in a
different way and yet the underlying emotion always remains the same.
Love is a state of heart and no matter how many definitions you try; you
will always feel exhilarated and blessed once you are in love. Even with
closed eyes, you can feel its presence and your heart will keep dancing
on the melody of its beats. The intensity experienced during love is
truly unexplainable. Sharing love stories make us remember and feel the
eternal love and it completely redefines the way one experiences love.
The story of Pyramus and Thisbe is touching but tragic. The story has
the power to move anyone who reads it. The fable has its origins in the
Roman Mythology. The tale of Pyramus and Thisbe has enthralled many
young lovers over the centuries and it has lost none of its charm even
during the modern age. Pyramus was an extremely handsome man whereas
Thisbe was the most beautiful girl in the Babylonia. They both were
neighbours and had grown up together.
As they grew up, love blossomed but it was the forbidden fruit for the
lovers. Their parents were totally against them marrying each other and
that forced both of them to meet clandestinely if they could. However,
their parents could not suppress the lights of love burning in the
hearts of love birds. One fine day, they decided to run away from their
homes and meet the next day under a mulberry tree near tomb of Ninus.
Thisbe was the first one to reach on spot and was waiting for Pyramus.
That’s when the tragedy struck and story took a devastating turn. There
was a fountain nearby where a lioness came to quench her thirst. The
sight of lioness made Thisbe panic and she hurried to safety in some
hollow rocks nearby. While she was running she left her veil behind. The
lioness came near, sniffed the veil and tore it in his bloody jaws. At
that very moment, Pyramus arrived near the mulberry tree and found the
tattered blood stained veil. He thought that his love was dead and was
completely devastated. He blamed himself to be the cause of Tisbe’s
death and in a moment of agony, pierced his chest with his own sword.
Tisbe, who was still hiding in the rocks, came out of her hiding place
and seeing the dead body of her lover, she was totally shattered and
grief-stricken. She also took the sword and killed herself and thus one
of the purest love stories ended in pain and death.
Pocahontas and John Smith
Though love stories from different places are told in contrasting styles
and languages yet the charm of romance remains the same. Love is like a
blissful flow of emotion. Love knows no barriers, caste, creed,
discrimination and status. It dictates terms on its own and has a habit
of standing against all odds. How many times, have we come across tales
of love managing to survive despite the insurmountable odds? Many times
perhaps and yet we are not tired of love tales that has a heart-breaking
end. These tales belong to different centuries but still manage to
enthral us. Painful romantic stories are timeless and have carved
themselves in immortality. There are plenty of love stories to be shared
like Helen of troy and Paris, Abelard and Heliose, Pygmalion and Galatea
and Pocahontas and John Smith.
The story of Pocahontas and John Smith is a celebrated legend in the
history of America. Pocahontas was the daughter of Powhatan. She was an
Indian princess. Powhatan was the commanding chief of the Algonquian
Indians in the Tidewater region of Virginia. According to legend, the
first meeting between Pocahontas and John Smith took place under unusual
circumstances. John Smith was leading an expedition in December 1607 and
because of certain misunderstanding Indians captivated him. Smith was
taken to the residence of Powhatan where he was tortured. But he was
saved by Pocahontas who helped him tremendously to get him out of his
misery.
Pocahontas felt an instant liking for John Smith and found him immensely
attractive and appealing. Soon enough Powhatan adopted Smith as his son
and from there onwards, the friendship between Pocahontas and Smith
started taking deep roots. They started to come closer to each other but
destiny had some other plans. John Smith had to return back to England
after getting badly injured due to gunpowder explosion. Pocahontas was
constantly worried about him and decided to make a visit to the fort but
unfortunately there she was informed that Smith was dead.
Things started to change rapidly and soon after, Pocahontas was taken
prisoner by Sir Samuel Argall who had some devious plans of his own. He
demanded return of English prisoners from Powhatan in return of
Pocahontas. In the meantime, Pocahontas decided to become a Christian
during her captivity. Just a year later, she married John Rolfe. She met
John Smith after an eternal gap of eight years while visiting London.
This was also their last meeting.
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