a shrinkwrapped bird! a shrinkwrapped bird!!!

She was sitting very still, quite immobile, while he moved about the room—now by the fire, now by the window.
“You want to know what love is?” she asked after a long silence, asked again, “You want to know what true love is?”
He turned, looked at her, “Yes. Yes, tell me.”
She didn’t move. She said, “It’s when the egg comes loose, detaches from its moorings, and swims towards the sperm.”
He stepped forward, stopped. And understanding, said, “You’re right. You’re quite right. Anything else… is rape.”
She shook her head, somehow, without moving, eyes pristine fixed. “No,” she answered, motionless, low, “No, love. You’d never understand.”


They splashed across the sunshallow pool. Around them were the broken birds.

I just read one of the most beautiful sentences I have ever read, and I’m not sure that it was meant to be beautiful:

In the statement "I love you," for example, why is the "I" meaningless, as well as the "love"?