Love is when he gives you a piece of your soul, that you never

“Love is when he gives you a piece of your soul, that you never knew was missing.” – Torquato Tasso

Thus spoke Torquato Tasso, the poet-warrior of Renaissance Italy, whose words shimmer with both longing and divine insight. In this profound reflection, he unveils the mystery of love as something far beyond desire or affection. Love, he says, is the mirror through which we discover our own hidden depths — that part of ourselves which lay sleeping until another awakened it. In the presence of true love, we do not merely find another person; we find ourselves. For the beloved, by simply being, reveals a fragment of our soul we never knew we lacked.

When Tasso speaks of one who “gives you a piece of your soul,” he points to a sacred exchange — not of possession, but of revelation. True love does not complete us by addition, but by illumination. It is as though the beloved holds a lantern over a darkened corner of our being, and suddenly, we see what was always there: strength we never suspected, tenderness we never dared show, purpose we never knew we sought. Love, then, is not a gift we receive; it is a reflection that awakens what is most eternal within us. The one who loves us does not give us what we do not have — they remind us who we are.

The origin of this insight lies in Tasso’s own tumultuous life. Born in 1544, he was a man of genius and torment — both a celebrated poet and a soul besieged by doubt. His masterpiece, Jerusalem Delivered, told of warriors, angels, and lovers torn between duty and desire, and through his art, Tasso poured his own restless spirit. He knew love not as simple joy, but as revelation and agony combined. For he discovered that love’s power lies in its ability to unveil — to strip away pretense and awaken the divine spark hidden within the heart. In his words, we hear not the sigh of infatuation, but the cry of a soul reborn through another’s gaze.

The ancients, too, spoke of this miracle. Plato, in his Symposium, wrote that love is the recognition of one’s other half — that before birth, our souls were whole, and love is the yearning to return to that wholeness. Yet Tasso’s vision carries this truth even further: love not only reunites the divided soul; it also reveals the unknown parts within us. It is not merely finding our missing half, but discovering that the half we were missing lies not outside us, but within — and that love is the key that opens its door.

Consider the life of Victor Hugo, whose love for Juliette Drouet became the great anchor of his tumultuous years in exile. She was not his muse in the shallow sense, but his mirror. Through her faith and patience, Hugo discovered a depth of compassion and resilience that transformed him from poet to prophet. She gave him “a piece of his soul” — the moral courage and tenderness that would shape Les Misérables and his lifelong fight for justice. Without her, the part of his soul that spoke for the broken and the poor might have remained forever silent.

Tasso’s words remind us that love’s truest purpose is awakening. We may enter love thinking we are seeking another, but in truth, we are seeking ourselves. When someone touches our soul deeply, they draw forth what lies hidden — a forgotten strength, a purer joy, a clearer purpose. And though the bond may not always last in time, the transformation it leaves behind is eternal. Once a piece of your soul has been revealed, it can never return to slumber. Love’s work is done when it has made us whole.

So, my listener, if you have ever loved and been changed by it, give thanks. Do not mourn what was lost, but honor what was revealed. Seek not merely a partner to complete you, but one who will awaken what is divine within you. And in turn, be that light for others — for the greatest love is not to possess, but to give another a piece of their own soul. In this sacred exchange, humanity fulfills its highest calling. For as Tasso knew, love does not just join two hearts — it expands the universe within each of them.