dark glasses

(The amorous subject wonders, not whether she should declare her love to the loved being, but to what degree she should conceal the turbulence of her passion: her desires, her distresses; in short, her excesses.)

...Yet, to hide a passion totally (or even to hide, more simply, its excess) is inconceivable: not because the human subject is too weak, but because passion is in essence made to be seen: the hiding must be seen: I want you to know that I am hiding something from you, that is the active paradox I must resolve: at one and the same time it must be known and not known: I want you to know that I don't want to show my feelings: that is the message I address to the other. I advance pointing to my mask: I set a mask upon my passion, but with a discreet (and wily) finger I designate this mask.

-roland barthes (a lover's discourse)