I feel I can't go on until I've completely understood my obsession with the word 'effulgent'.
It began, many years ago, while I was watching an episode of Buffy, the Vampire Slayer. One of the characters, William, who was known for his bad poetry, used 'effulgent' in a poem he wrote for his true love, Cecily. Sometime after this he became a vampire (Spike) and she became a vengeance demon (Halfreck). So it all worked out nicely. Here is the poem:
"My heart expands.
'Tis grown a bulge in it,
Inspired by your beauty, effulgent."
William the Bloody*
Breathtaking. It outshines even Vogon poetry. And, with a ludicrous flourish, it speaks the truth. Being in love can feel like your internal organs have expanded, and are being squashed together, and are constricting your blood flow. Your mind is also affected; your thoughts become obsessive and misshapen, and drift away from reality. I've heard it said that it can be difficult to distinguish between a person who is insane and a person who is in love.
So, I can't help but to be in love with effulgent for being such an excellent word to use in bad poetry about love (beautiful and bulging).
*This poem was actually written by Douglas Petrie for the episode 'Fool for Love'
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