When I Was In Love With You

OH, when I was in love with you,
Then I was clean and brave,
And miles around the wonder grew
How well did I behave.

And now the fancy passes by,
And nothing will remain,
And miles around they ’ll say that I
Am quite myself again.

XVIII. Oh, when I was in love with you
Alfred Edward Housman (1859–1936). from A Shropshire Lad. 1896.

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I remembered a classmate back in high school who was courting one of the prettiest girls in our 2nd year class. We were amazed at how behaved he was. We all knew he’s one of the class jesters. But this time, he was dead serious. Gone are the usual jokes. He said he wanted to look his best to impress the girl.

We just played along and let him do his stuff. But it’s kind of weird not seeing him laughing and making jokes here and there. His grooming improved. His curly hair seemed to be in a good place. His moves were carefully done. He looked like a real gentleman with the girl.

A few weeks passed and he was no longer with her. He arrived to class late and with uncombed hair. We asked him what happened. “We broke up” he curtly said. “I don’t want to talk about it”.

And so be it. We were glad he was back to his normal self again. His sense of humor returned to him, and we again enjoyed his company. But I haven’t heard anything about his love life after that, even years after we graduated from high school.

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