Love is food; love is money;
It’s both and neither:
She for the worthlessness he’s done, he
For her airs, discredited as the ether;
A wordless demur not sweetly nor sullenly.
Romance and finance being equivalent —
“Full faith and credit” — here we are dealing
With tender(ness) that’s legal, ratios of feeling,
Two stacks at once — the meaning of ambivalent.
Discredited as the ether – Refers to the old theory of the ether as a transmission medium that has been disproven by modern physics.
“Full faith and credit” – A financial term most often encountered in government securities in which the US Treasury guarantees to pay interest and principal on its debt. In a legal context, the Full Faith and Credit Clause of the U.S. Constitution (Article IV, Section I) requires states to honor the laws of other states.
Tender(ness) that’s legal – A play on two meanings of the word “tender” – 1) As an adjective, considerate, loving; and 2) as a noun, money offered in payment; from the wording on US paper currency: “This note is legal tender for all debts, public and private.”