Love is a smoke raised with the fume of sighs;
Being purged, a fire sparkling in lovers’ eyes;
Being vex’d a sea nourish’d with lovers’ tears.
– William Shakespeare
Romeo and Juliet, Act 1, Scene 1. Romeo is not finding love very easy. He uses three metaphors to explain the heartbreaks it causes. He compares it to a smoke made up of lovers’ sighs, a fire burning in the eyes of lovers, and when twarted a sea filled with lovers’ tears. This is one of Shakespeare’s most famous definitions of love, showing how it be either a source of great happiness or heartbreak.