Part One
Narrator:
"Love and Fate went astray
from the world into space
to steal a night from Time and stay
to gaze into one another’s face
while all of Heaven’s back was turned
and none were witness to the crime
and so their wayward passion burned
concealed from the jealous eyes of Time..."
Part Two
Love, to Fate:
"Come down to the honey sweet
time runs low and I am incomplete
take away the aimless quietude
with music of sighs, the manna of Love’s food.'
'Come down to the velvet flower
whose petalled fissure shivers with Love’s power.
Come down warm and wetly glittering,
take this lonely flesh and make it sing."
Part Three
Fate, to Love:
"Love, my beautiful, divine
come and press those lips to mine
and I will kneel where you recline
and I will drink your love like wine."
"Garnet-scarlet is that rose
so curved in elegant repose
wickedly sullen, when morose
kiss-shaped lips so warm and close."
"I stayed for longer than was wise
to kiss the lashes of your eyes
your smile gave me butterflies.
Hearts may flutter, while Time flies."
"Love, my beautiful and dear
I melt whenever you are near
and Love, when you disappear
you leave me burning like a tear."
Part Four
Time:
"I cannot
be put into reverse
I drink down the blood of the universe
woe to Love
woe unto beauty’s bloom
mine is the hand that closes up the tomb."
"I bring
a season’s changes to the land
bring heaven’s vengeance down upon the damned
for under sentient flesh lies silent bone:
the fate of wicked souls lies carved in stone."
"Look to your soul
the mirror of your deeds
borrow levity while duty bleeds
there’s no commodity to steal or lend
that will not find your debts out in the end."
"Woe to Love!
Woe to the hand of Fate!
I am the unforeseen you saw too late
I turn the axis of the changing sky
While 'If Only' begs the question "Why"..."
"Woe to you
who puts off one more day:
I will steal your final chance away.
I steer the winds - and in your mortal breath
already lies the blueprint of your death."
Part Five
Narrator:
"Love turned from fate with a sigh
stifling a weary yawn
as, unnoticed, Time crept by
and in the harsher light of dawn
Fate and Love beheld themselves
reflected in each other’s eyes
once loved over and above all else
- now finding fault, now truth from lies."
"In sweaters and sad pyjamas, lie
Man and Woman, Love and Fate
and on their lips all sweet words die
in their grim master bed of hate
and Man shall grimly mow the lawn
and Woman, grimly wash the floor
and Time has turned their love to scorn
For them, as for so many more."
THE END.
I could re-write the last stanza to smooth out some of the harsher-sounding words, one day. It might also be fun to make a video with a speaker for each character, including the Narrator (poet friends with web cams take note - if it was done with AVIs I could splice them together). One thing I can't do is make the ending happy... because part of the point of the poem is that Time changes all things, including love, sometimes. The characters Love and Fate start off happy. So a major change is to make them sad. But hey Jim... it's only a story, after all. If I re-draft the last stanza, I'll let you know... All the best,
Sara.
How can mere words describe the beauty
With which your quill has spoken?
Your thoughts they cast such magical spells
Which shall remain unbroken.
Sara... you have an awesome talent! I shall read more of you, as time permits.
"I cannot
be put into reverse
I drink down the blood of the universe
woe to Love
woe unto beauty’s bloom
mine is the hand that closes up the tomb."
All the verses and all the metaphors and scenes painted within this poem are so profoundly real...! Intense, beautiful writing! Bravo!
All of these verses are profoundly lovely...but...for some reason
this line literally jumped into my soul.
Reindeer
This is just SO exquisite!
Surely Christina Rossetti would have been proud of you.
This gorgeous poem is in the finest English Romantic tradition.
All hail to one of England's finest poetesses of the early 21st. Century!
Richard Vallance,
Ottawa, Ontario,
Canada
Love, JC xoxoxo
PS I love your voice/accent
The theme put me in mind somewhat of "To His Coy Mistress" by Andrew Marvell.
Andrew Marvell was a quiet, solitary man who ran a specialist comic shop in Kingston upon Hull ~ until he was confronted by bad poetry and then he became MARVELLMAN. Oops, wrong place for surreal flights of fancy.
love
Ian
I could almost hear Sean Connery reciting it with pride.
I really enjoyed this.
I am in standing ovation Clapping....
" "In sweaters and sad pyjamas, lie
Man and Woman, Love and Fate
and on their lips all sweet words die
in their grim master bed of hate
and Man shall grimly mow the lawn
and Woman, grimly wash the floor
and Time has turned their love to scorn
For them, as for so many more."
Excellent reading...
Peg