Love

Love, love, love—all the wretched cant of it, masking egotism, lust, masochism, fantasy under a mythology of sentimental postures, a welter of self-induced miseries and joys, blinding and masking the essential personalities in the frozen gestures of courtship

Wretched: unhappy or ill, appearing miserable or deprived, inadequate or of low quality

Cant: clichéd talk, hypocritical talk, jargon

Egotism: inflated sense of self-importance, preoccupation with sell, selfishness

Welter: confused mass

CourtShip: trying to gain somebody’s love, prelude to marriage