"And so ended his affection," said Elizabeth impatiently. "There has been many a one, I fancy, overcome in the same way. I wonder who first discovered the efficacy of poetry in driving away love!"
"I have been used to consider poetry as the food of love," said Darcy.
"Of a fine, stout, healthy love it may. Everything nourishes what is strong already. But if it be only a slight, thin sort of inclination, I am convinced that one good sonnet will starve it entirely away."
– Jane Austen
Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 9. When Elizabeth jokes about poetry driving love away, Mr. Darcy disagrees and alludes to Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. In this play the bard metaphorically compares music to the food of love. However, Elizabeth counters that poetry may nourish strong love, but weaker love would be killed by one good sonnet.