Here Lies One Whose Name Was Writ in Water

The two lovers, Fanny Brawne and John Keats, one of his letters to her, and her engagement ring.

I am a female. I wonder if it then follows that I love love stories (or in the words of Ginny Branch Stelling, "I Love Love.") or if it's just because I am a sap. Throw a couple of love letters into the said love story (extra credit if there is poetry) and I am hooked!

In all fairness, I discovered the wonders of John Keats, young English poet, in high school. I still quote his "Beauty is truth, truth beauty, --that is all ye know on earth and all ye need to know." from Ode on a Grecian Urn to myself and friends. I memorized his poem, La Belle Dame Sans Merci in part because I loved the sentiment (and haplessly identified with the titular character) but also because I loved these works of art (by artists who had also been inspired by Keats):

La Belle Dame Sans Merci, by John William Waterhouse and Frank Dicksee

Poor Keats. His poetry was a critical failure in his own time, his lady love seemed to be something of a minx (is she the original La Belle Dame Sans Merci?), and he was dead by the age of 25 from tuberculosis. He also lost both of his parents early in life, and his brother to the same disease.

But this is the stuff of cinema. Director Jane Campion (The Piano) brings the story and the romance to life in this month's Bright Star. It looks good. It probably won't come to Dubai for some time, but if you get to see it, let me know what you think.

And, while you're at it, be sure to check out his love letters. They're intoxicating!

The above postcard is a selected portion from one of the poet's letters to Fanny. The handwriting is my own, a font created by the lovely Frederique at The French Frog. Some of the scrapbooking elements above come from Raspberry Road Designs.

XOXO,