Romancing the Imaginary Other

Romantic poetry, while usually written to a specific individual, often outlives the relationship. When viewed over the course of a lifetime it seems that all these poems were written to a single idealized lover who peered briefly from real eyes. But those flesh and blood partners eventually, inevitably, succumbed when measured against the incomparable charms of the imaginary other. This is a collection of poems written to those imaginary others.