Chapters 7-12, Logic at the Edge, Archiolochos at Edge, Alphabetic Edge, What Does the Lover Want from Love?, Symbolon, A Novel Sense Summary and Analysis

Chapter 7, Logic at the Edge, begins by arguing that when one desires another, she loses a part of herself because she only wants because the wanted has partaken in herself. The lover loses vital self. But in losing this part of the self, the lover notices her limits and realizes the nature of what she lost. The sweetness of Eros, therefore, comes from absence and pain. Carson then points out how puns, by mixing the meanings of words, are linguistic symbols of the mixing of self. Eros teaches a man about himself by directing him to the other. In...