Today is World Poetry Day, so here is a quick poem dedicated to the girl at the back left of Rossetti's The Beloved (The Bride), just in case you were wondering what she was thinking about...
Always and Never: The girl at the back left in The Beloved (1865) Dante Gabriel Rossetti
I doubt our eyes will meet,
You will not see my face today,
Another’s in my place today,
Another’s in my seat.
While I’m behind the bride,
You will not see my heart today
As I am torn apart today
As I draw back and hide.
We crowd around your love,
Their faces filled with bliss for you
And I am dreading this, for you,
I was the perfect dove.
When you and she are one,
I will be crushed to dust, my love,
A cloud of thwarted lust, my love,
And my heart will be done.
You will not look at me,
But you will know I burn for you,
And you will know I yearn for you,
And you will not be free.
Egads, how sad, and how powerful, and how true.
ReplyDeleteThanks Marcheline. I like writing poems for the pictures with more than one figure, especially when there is a group. I always wonder what the minor figures are thinking...
ReplyDeleteSo you wrote that? Well, obviously, rhyme "dove" is the cliche of cliches, but it also has a nice, traditional, expected feel, so I guess that's what you were aiming for? Lovely post, and I enjoyed this poem. Almost vicious, yet so meaningfully beautiful.
ReplyDeleteThank you, I think. I rhymed 'dove' and 'love' as a nod to Rossetti and Elizabeth Siddal - he called her his dove yet was anything but faithful.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments :)