I love thee, I love but thee With a love that shall not die Till the sun grows cold And the stars grow old.

I love thee, I love but thee
With a love that shall not die
Till the sun grows cold
And the stars grow old.

I love thee, I love but thee, til the sun grows cold and the stars grow old

This quote is perhaps my favorite “not by Shakespeare” of them all.  And by that, I mean I very much wish it was Shakespeare because I love the quote.  I texted it to my wife once and left her speechless.  Then, being the geek I am, I had to explain that it’s not Shakespeare, lest she think it was.

The quote comes from Bayard Taylor’s Bedouin Song, some 200 years after Shakespeare:

ROM the Desert I come to thee
On a stallion shod with fire;
And the winds are left behind
In the speed of my desire.
Under thy window I stand,
And the midnight hears my cry:
I love thee, I love but thee,
With a love that shall not die
Till the sun grows cold,
And the stars are old,
And the leaves of the Judgment Book Unfold!

UPDATED! After I posted this, Professor Stanley Wells (of The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust) made the comment that perhaps a particular quote may have been at least in part inspired by Shakespeare.  Can you guess which play and which quote?

How about Hamlet? In Act 2, Scene 2 Hamlet writes a love letter to Ophelia, expressing the depth of his love. He suggests that while one might doubt fundamental truths like the nature of stars or celestial movement, his love remains absolute and unquestionable. The quote symbolizes unwavering devotion and the intensity of Hamlet’s emotions during a period of personal turmoil and political intrigue.

“Doubt thou the stars are fire, Doubt that the sun doth move, doubt truth to be a liar, but never doubt I love …”

Today, the quote remains poetically profound, resonating with those seeking to express profound, unconditional love.

Explore more posts in the Not by Shakespeare category.

9 thoughts on “I love thee, I love but thee With a love that shall not die Till the sun grows cold And the stars grow old.

  1. Stupid quote. The Stars are older than earth. That means you quit loving your wife before she was even born, lol.

  2. Gene Kelly as Don Lockwood in ‘The Dancing Cavalier,’ misquotes this as, “‘Till the stars grow cold” at the end of the musical-within-a-musical in, “Singin’ in the Rain.”

  3. Profound simplicity…..monumental dynamic projected with laconic terseness….the minimal verbiage, the exponential depiction of commitment, constancy and nature of love that makes it impervious to any human act, however calamitous, vulnerable only to acts of God…….

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