Humanism is a concept that has changed since the sixteenth century. Its original meaning was the belief in the validity of the human spirit that coincided with piety for God. Now, humanism refers to the glorification of man over God. The passing of time has transformed the concept of love, also. In our present society, one "loves" pizza or one "loves" a spouse. Currently, love encompasses a vast majority of ideas and intensities. The sonnets …
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…transformation applied to the concept of love, the words of the nineteenth century poet Tennyson ring true today as they would have in the sixteenth century: "'tis better to have loved and lost, than to have never loved at all" (qtd. in Stevenson 1463). Bibliography Abrams, M. H. Norton Anthology of English Literature. 6th Ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1993. Stevenson, Burton, ed. The MacMillan Book of Proverbs, Maxims, & Famous Phrases. New York: MacMillan Co., 1948.