Passionate Poetry

[Bert_Fegg]

Et in Arcadia Ego​

For Katy


'For he on honey-dew hath fed,
And drunk the milk of Paradise.'
'Kubla Khan', Samuel Taylor Coleridge


For early humans, things without a flaw,
Were holy, to be feared. In Egypt still,
To symbolise the nature of this life,
An imperfection, subtly woven in
To every carpet, tells us that the joy
And tragedy of life are but one word.

But since that Sunday evening, just one word
I never thought to hear has ripped that flaw
From the threads of my life; and all the joy
I thought had disappeared is with me still.
Two souls who swore off love now find that in
A mutual passion beats the heart of life.

It is as though the dullness of a life
Grown dark, where mere contentment was the word,
Now glows a sudden gold. I know that in
Whatever life I have, no future flaw
Shall mar the glory of that look, which still
Tears through my mind in terrifying joy.

As though the Gods themselves shared in out joy
And, jealously, desired to share our life.
The wonder of a deer, held frozen still
Whilst you and I gazed back without a word -
Such endless snapshots, flowing without flaw,
Now held in silent patterns deep within.

In Oxford, where we walked together in
That Eden once again restored to joy -
Like rocks which, without moving, cause the flaw
Which splits the river in twin streams; so life
Slowed round us: stopped. Without a single word.
Some shadow of that moment lives there still.

One day my life will cease, my heart grow still,
And all this silent glory held within
Shall burst across the world - my flesh made Word
To wake a thousand millions starved of joy.
To tell the truth we learned together: life
If lived as we have lived, can have no flaw.​

A sestina written for my wife some years ago, long before we were married. As I explained at the time:

'The form is as draconian as I could choose - perhaps because I do not trust myself to write about such matters more freely. Then again, if I was trying to lock away my emotions, in this poem or at any other time with you, I have failed miserably. Words fail me - or rather, I fail them. But I had to write something.'

Pace the title of the thread, I am not sure if this counts as poetry, particularly given some of the timeless examples quoted above. But it is certainly passionate.

This is too lovely for any words of mine to do justice to.

 

[yeishia]

Et in Arcadia Ego​

ForKaty
​

Pace the title of the thread, I am not sure if this counts as poetry, particularly given some of the timeless examples quoted above. But it is certainly passionate.

Of course it counts. Your heartfelt words touched my very soul.

Welcome to my thread.

 

[DesEsseintes]

Mr Fegg, Yeishia - you are both too kind. Thank you for your charming words.