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Thursday 17 April 2014

MESSENGER

Echoes of Emily Bronte...


The blank white page appears to issue
a challenge - Emily sits frowning at it as if
caught up in some major inner conflict.

Their lives are so discordant,
these inhabitants of Gondal:
it's illustrious emperor, Julius Brenzaida
and his unfaithful married lover, Augusta Geraldine Almeda.

Although mere figments of a fertile imagination,
they have begun to elude Emily's pencil of late
and to take on a life of their own.
She no longer has power over them, can only observe
then record their epic adventures...
and today she is devastated.
She hadn't foreseen this:
the great Julius is no more.
His assassination has rocked the very foundations
of Gondal's great dynasty.
Augusta's numerous casual lovers are cast aside
as she mourns her one true love.
But it is Emily's heart that is breaking
as Augusta kneels, weeping, at his graveside
on that bleak northern Angora shore...

The page is no longer blank - it is filled
with words scrawled in unfamiliar handwriting.
She has no idea where they came from,
nor who wrote them here.
There is only the slightest recollection
somewhere at the back of her mind
of having temporarily escaped the confines
of Howarth's dreary Parsonage -
oh such a feeling of liberation, of utter bliss...

The clock in the hall chimes four times.
It is time to prepare dinner
for Papa, Aunt Bramwell, and her siblings.
As Emily clears her writing bureau,
she notices that the point of her pencil
is worn down flat to the wood...
yet she hasn't written a single word today.



26 comments:

  1. This is yet another captivating piece. I loved it because it made me wait what Emily is going to write at the end. Though she has written nothing at the end, that nothingness has given a special meaning in your writing. A lively poem indeed. Keep writing. I envy you all because these days, I am kind of busy with my research works.

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    1. Oh Dumcho...I am such a huge fan of Emily Bronte...she is one of those writers who inspired me to become a writer myself, even though she passed away in 1848!
      The Chronicles of Gondal have always facinated me...oh such a fertile imagination she had.
      Thank you so much for your kind comment. I am so happy you liked this.:)
      Please do keep working on your research...it is so important. You are doing a great job. x

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  2. Wow as a real fan of the genre especially since I receive the book when I was young and I still remember her sitting on a window sill behind the curtains so no one would catch looking and writing...Anne, I recall was the name of the young poor girl....what memories you bring to me this morning m'dear Ygraine

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    1. It is so good to find a fellow fan, Lorraine...wow...the Bronte's are loved worldwide, aren't they?
      I have always particularly liked Emily's work...it is so incredibly deep and dark.
      Wuthering Heights has haunted me ever since I first read it at age 13!

      Thank you so much...:)

      Big Hugs xxx

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    1. I deleted my answer because it printed twice...weird. So I am trying again...Emily died so young...what a tragedy. She is one of my favorite writers~~~

      The heart so long endeared to thee
      When earthly cares no more distress
      And earthly joys are nought to me

      Weep not, but think that I have past
      Before thee o'er a sea of gloom
      Have anchored safe and rest at last
      Where tears and mourning cannot come

      'Tis I should weep to leave thee here
      On the dark Ocean sailing drear
      With storms around and fears before
      And no kind light to point the shore


      But long or short though life may be
      'Tis nothing to eternity
      We part below to meet on high
      Where blissful ages never die

      For life is but a passing breeze Nothing that we gain can we enjoy Nor can we delight in its devulgant pleasures Above waiteth thy bliss of glory

      Hugs

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    2. Now this time it didn't print what I said about your writing being such a lovely tribute to Emily Bronte...your words were beautifully written~

      Hugs
      xoxoxo

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    3. Oh thank you, Jan!
      When I first visited the Bronte Museum at Howarth Parsonage, I found those miniature books of the Chronicles absolutely facinating.
      So tiny that one could hardly read them, except with a magnifying glass...I was hooked!
      Did you know that the path from the Parsonage that runs across the moor to Top Withins (Emily's inspiration for "Wuthering Heights") is said locally to be haunted by Emily herself?
      I have followed in her footsteps myself. I encountered no wandering Spirit, but the atmosphere on a misty evening certainly does feel powerfully "charged".

      Thank you so much, also, for the wonderful poem...it is SO Emily!

      Have a wonderful Easter.

      Hugs xxx

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    4. No I didn't know, Ygraine! But I would have loved to see for myself just as you were so lucky to be able to do :))

      I did but it was very busy :)

      Hugs
      xoxoxo

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    5. Oh you would really love it, Jan. I know you would!
      If I go there again, I will try filming it as I go...wouldn't carry the atmosphere, but would give you an idea of how it looks. The little waterfall in fabulous.

      So glad you enjoyed your Easter holiday:)

      Hugs xxx

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  4. I discovered Emily Bronte quite late and haven't had the chance to read all her works yet. The charm of the writers from the eighteenth and nineteenth century just cant be matched :)

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    1. I totally agree...there were so many really talented writers in that era, and the Brontes were my main inspiration - especially Emily.
      Many thanks for reading...:)

      Happy Easter xxx

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  5. This is wonderful, and as I assume some of the writing moments must have been, when the imagination takes over and the words flow.. it happens in many forms as the creating becomes a form of living in itself. Your intuition is expressed so well.

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    1. Wow...you express the writer's flow period so well.
      I guess it is the same sometimes for you artists, when the picture you are painting takes on a life of it's own...yes, I have undoubtedly seem it happening in many of your wonderful pieces - when they have become something entirely different to that which you had initially intended them to be...only serves to reiterate my belief that art expresses itself through us, rather than the other way around!

      Thank you so much.

      Happy Easter :)

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  6. ha. its cool...and i can relate as well to the out of body experience of writing at times...and what a feel too when you realize the writing has done itself...i have not read the chronicles...i will see that i correct that...smiles...

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    1. Smiles...yes, that is exactly how it is for us at times, isn't it?
      I do occasionally finish a poem, and then wonder, "Where on Earth did THAT come from?"
      Such a talented writer as you...well...it must happen frequently.

      Just a word of advice...if you do ever get to read the Chronicles (the original hand-written ones in the museum), you will need a magnifying glass...it makes you wonder how a human hand could write anything so tiny, albeit a child's!

      Many thanks, Brian...and Happy Easter :)

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  7. This is just wonderful, Ygraine.
    I have always been a big fan of Emily Bronte.
    Emily would so like your poem.
    I know I certainly did.

    Have a great weekend.
    xo

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    1. Oh thank you so much, Margie!
      There really is something rare and special about Emily's amazing talent, isn't there?
      I would so love to think she would have liked my humble little poem...it was a truly amazing experience to imagine myself inside her mind for that short time...magical!

      Happy Easter:)

      Hugs xxx

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  8. A very wonderful and captivating piece! I hope you're having a great day my friend ;o)

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    1. Thank you so much, Stacy.
      You are so kind!

      Happy Easter xxx

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  9. Las paginas blancas son un desafio, gran texto amiga.

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    1. Many, many thanks, Boris!
      I so appreciate that.

      Happy Weekend :)

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  10. Oh fabulous Ygraine, I think your pencil is the same as Emily's you write so
    effortlessly and your page is never blank :) I love your writing and I am always
    fascinated by your ability to paint such vivid pictures with your words:)

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  11. Oh thank you so much, Rose...yes, I guess I do write quite a lot...pity mine is mostly piffle though! lol
    Still, I do so love writing...whatever the subject.
    It gets my thoughts and observations out of my head and onto paper.

    You are the talented one, Rose...your poetry is always so unique and vivid.:)

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  12. This is wonderful.Ygraine I can see her every moment, and I love Emily Bronte!
    Lovely piece dear and hooe hou had a wo derful Easter:)

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    1. Oh thank you, Gloria...that is so kind!
      So wonderful to find another Emily fan :)

      Yes thank you, I had a good break...hope yours was great too. xxx

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