This Love Ever Mine

...a posthumous love letter to Keats

This Love Ever Mine

 

 

This love ever mine

was deserving of

a lifetime longer than

any words could pen

a sonnet

 

longer than

the cocooning of

a butterfly

from a chrysalis,

or the turning of

winter into spring

 

longer than

i could ever wish

to hold my breath,

to conceive of what

my heart would do

within its chest,

to beat without

the thought of you…

 

for to love again

would be to feel

the fluttering of

a wounded bird

that had come to rest

within my hands…

 

to conceive of what

my heart would do

within its chest,

to beat without

the thought of you.

 

 

 

 

Art by Felix Mas

 

Author's Note

I thought a little out of the box on this one. It’s a posthumous love letter to Keats, from his beloved, Fanny Brawne. But in writing it, I wanted it to be in Fanny’s voice, and from the twenty-first century. I wanted to express what Fanny must have felt, the heartache and pain of losing her only love…feeling as though they were cheated out of a lifetime together. I used the analogy of the wounded bird to reflect her hopelessness of ever loving again.

Reviews

[Annette Pisano-Higley]

Purely stunning poem- your poetic voice portraying Fanny’s expression of absolute love and loss. Pristine, lyrical, beautiful painting and nature’s green in your font...all perfectly interwoven in the essence of this amazing poem. “To beat without the thought of you”...ruby tears flow from the wounded bird....Magnificent.

[Kelly Scheppers]

Reading your review gave me a chills, Annette...the ruby tears got me! Thank you for being here enlightening my day!

[Annette Pisano-Higley]

Xo.........:))

[Trace]

This stands alone with or without the help of inspiration from Keats. You have a magical way of interpreting what you see or read into incredible poetry.

greatly enjoyed this piece.

Huggs, Trace

[Kelly Scheppers]

...and I greatly enjoyed having you here! Many thanks, Trace.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

"to feel the fluttering of the wounded bird"
something that happens once in a lifetime, that we just can't get back once we lose it.
fantastic write...and yes, as Lydi said...you were and are Fanny or anyone else you want to be when you write.
I was taken back to an earlier time with this poem, but i also went back to the 70's musically and started humming the song Longer Than..."Longer than there have been fishes in the ocean, higher than any bird ever flew"
...."I've been in love with you"
love that is timeless expressed in poetry that is timeless.

amazing stuff, my friend.
j.

[Kelly Scheppers]

Thank you so much, Jacob. I appreciate that more than you know!

[Richard🖌]

Oh, Kelly,
Over the years, you've never ceased to amaze me … so, to say I am amazed by this monumentally beautiful, embracing flow of Free Verse imagery from your loving heart, tho' not surprising you could, but entirely stunned in the way you have.
Too, knowing the extent of your uniquely-creative bent, combined with your romantic penchant for Keats, it seems completely natural (to me) that you would vicariously become his dear love, penning her (parting ?) heartrending letter to him.
Your refrain …

"to conceive of what
my heart would do
within its chest,
to beat without
the thought of you."

… brims my heart to overflowing … magnifique, Dear Kelly!
One to surely be proud of, Dear Poetess.

Bowing with a low sweep of my broad-brimmed chapeau🌸 ⁓ Richard

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Tho' their relationship is controversial in the annals of history, I like to think of them as the consummately tragic lovers of the 19th century, she fell desperately in-love (Fanny Brawne with John Keats) against her family's most ardent wishes, as she was a well-to-do heiress to be, and he but a lowly, poor, and struggling poet with no impending means of support to show, rather a ne'er-do-well of the time.
Sadly, Keats contracted tuberculosis at the end of their three year courtship (during which time he wrote his most noteworthy poems), among them the Sonnet, "Bright Star" of his beloved Fanny:

"BRIGHT STAR"
John Keats, 1795 - 1821

Bright star! would I were steadfast as thou art—
Not in lone splendour hung aloft the night,
And watching, with eternal lids apart,
Like Nature’s patient sleepless Eremite,
The moving waters at their priestlike task
Of pure ablution round earth’s human shores,
Or gazing on the new soft fallen mask
Of snow upon the mountains and the moors—
No—yet still steadfast, still unchangeable,
Pillow’d upon my fair love’s ripening breast,
To feel for ever its soft fall and swell,
Awake forever in a sweet unrest,
Still, still to hear her tender-taken breath,
And so live ever—or else swoon to death.

(love the title, the picture of Fanny, font, color, and your presentation is immaculate perfection)

[Kelly Scheppers]

Wow, where do I begin? A thousand thank you's would not suffice for the weight of this review. I have been enthralled by Keats ever since the release of the 2009 biographical romance movie by Jane Campion, entitled, "Bright Star". To make a long story short, I pretty much know all there is to know about the man, and it overwhelms me how he continues to surge through me from time to time, inspiring me to write pieces such as this. Unfortunately, that photo is not of Fanny...but it does capture the 19th century feel and frock so well, don't you think? I know this will only appeal to a small range of poets, but that's alright. I always go with quality over quantity, anyway!

[Lydia Shutter]

OH MY....be still my heart. Kelly, this is exquisite poetry. You became Fanny....I could feel her pain and her loss through your words. Stunning....as ever. Lydi**

[Kelly Scheppers]

I am most proud of its completion, having worked through the wee hours of morning to get it just right. I feel most inspired by Keats at that time of quiet and calm. Thank you, Lydi. I derive much pleasure in knowing you enjoyed it!

[Pete]

this is beautiful, moving and inspiring.

made me draw a parallel with Tennyson's poem 'In Memoriam' - "Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all." in grieving for the loss of a someone close.

you have paid Keats a wonderful tribute and have well captured what Fanny must have felt. he would be proud and is surely smiling upon this write Kelly. wonderful concept and great work ... :)

[Kelly Scheppers]

There's something about that period of time and his brief life that simply surges through me every now and again. Your enjoyment of it, and this review, mean more to me than you'll ever know, Pete. Thank you so much!

[Stella Armour]

You have done this beautifully, and i loved the analogy of the wounded bird too, it was very moving :)

[Kelly Scheppers]

...thank you, Stella. I absolutely love that period of time, and of course, Keats!

[Stella Armour]

my pleasure, these old poets are still the best :)