Men remember alien ardours
As the dusk unearths old mournful odours.
In the garden unborn child souls wail
And the dead scribble on walls.
Though their own child cry for them in tears,
Women weep but hear no sound upstairs.
They believe in loves they had not lived
And in passion past the reach of the stairs
To the world’s towers or stars.
Wilfred Owen: ‘The Roads Also’
My eager feet shall find you again,
Though the sullen years and the mark of pain
Have changed you wholly; for I shall know
(How could I forget having loved you so?)
In the sad half-light of evening,
The face that was all my sunrising.
Rupert Brooke: ‘The Beginning’
Both poems quoted in
The Dancing Years by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles
Wings of Fire by Charles Todd
Pg. 107
Love
Comes on wings of fire
That sear the heart with longing
And a white-hot heat.
In its wake, no peace remains
Only the scars of a terrible loss
That mark the end of innocence.
When you saw the title some of you said, “Love is a warm puppy” and some said, “Love is eternal,” I am guessing.
In many books, love keeps us guessing. But it is always fun to remember famous couples or infamous couples at this time of year, both real and fictional.
Unfortunately tragedies abound and many stories do not have a happy ever after ending.
There are star-crossed lovers and lovers cruelly separated and the terrible triangle that many are caught in.
Mystery writers have explained the problem of having spouses and lovers in a long running series so many of them get killed off untimely. Sometimes the spouse just cannot put up with the independence of the detective or the fact that he or she is never home. One reason that I love Lindsey Davis’ mystery series set in Rome in AD 70 is the enduring marriage of Falco and Helena Justina. They have problems, but they are partners and the relationship deepens as the series continues. It is a very rich companionship compared to some other detectives.
Another detective who shares with his wife Reine-Marie is Louise Penny’s Chief Inspector Armand Gamache. Robert Parker's Spenser and Susan are also a close pair.
Sometimes the reader is jealous of the love interest of the protagonist and just doesn’t think they are worthy of the hero. I am sorry to say that I did not like either of the ladies that Lymond or Nicholas married in the Dorothy Dunnett series. I was disappointed in Lymond’s choice and seriously angry about Nicholas’ wife and her actions.
As many readers have, I tried to understand why Jo and Laurie in Alcott's Little Women would not work out and disagreed with the author about it. I was disappointed when Scott's Ivanhoe did not choose Rebecca.
There are women who have loved men and vice versa who were not worthy. The reader learns to question relationships by observing them in books. We are horrified that Lady Macbeth had such power over her husband and we wonder how Lucy in A Tale of Two Cities should be so admired by Sidney Carton. Alas, such is life.
We see the obsession of Heathcliff for Catherine and we tremble for them and for the vengeance that occurs. We take a little time out in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar to watch Portia ask for the truth from Brutus. We hurt for King Arthur, Guinevere and Lancelot who seem to be good people who have lost their way.
In the real world, Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor were larger than life, Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward were good examples of fidelity and respect, FDR and Eleanor Roosevelt were powerful influences on each other, John and Abigail Adams shared their thoughts and Elizabeth Barrett met the love of her life while home-bound and for love of Robert Browning left that sheltered life to live happily with him until her early death.
Love Is…
A rollercoaster?
Like growing a garden?
Rewarding?
Patient and kind?
What makes the world go around?
Terrifying?
What do you think?
Which are your favorite lovers in history and fiction?
This site has a list that includes most of my favorite couples:
http://amolife.com/...
Another list is here:
http://sacreeta.wrytestuff.com/...
A third list with some overlapping, but new ones, too.
http://www.billiesilvey.com/...
Some that are not on the lists above:
1. Buttercup and Westley in The Princess Bride
2. Yentl and Avigdor in Yentl
3. Falco and Helena Justina in the mysteries by Lindsey Davis set in Rome in AD 70 or so
4. Laurie and Jo in Little Women
5. Dorothea and Will Ladislaw in George Eliot’s Middlemarch and Fred Vincy and Mary Garth.
Full text of Middlemarch is here:
http://www.gutenberg.org/...
6. Tarzan (Lord Greystoke) and Jane by Edgar Rice Burroughs
7. Rosalind and Orlando in As You Like It by Shakespeare
8. Claire Randall and Jamie Fraser in Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
9. Beverly Penn and Peter Lake in Winter’s Tale by Mark Helprin
10. Eugene Onegin and Tatyana Larina in the story by Alexander Pushkin
11. Edmond Dantès and Mercédès Mondego in The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
12. Etienne of Navarre and Isabeau d'Anjou in Ladyhawke
13. Henry II, King of England, and Eleanor of Aquitaine
14. Cyrano de Bergerac and Roxane by Edmond Rostand
The play is here:
http://classiclit.about.com/...
15. Ennis Del Mar and Jack Twist in Brokeback Mountain based on the short story by Annie Proulx
16. Ivanhoe and Rebecca by Sir Walter Scott
17. Faramir and Éowyn of Rohan in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings
18. Beauty and the Beast by Jeanne-Marie LePrince de Beaumont
19. Sir Percy Blakeney and Marguerite St. Just in The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Emmuska Orczy
20. Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan and Han Solo in Star Wars by George Lucas
Limelite created Readers & Book Lovers a year ago and has proclaimed this week as a continuous birthday celebration. Due to her hard work many new voices have appeared and flourished. Three cheers for Limelite!!!
I have no picture of a birthday cake as she asked for, but I have a special birthday pie:
Upside down apple pie recipe
http://www.tasteofhome.com/...
NOTE:
bookgirl will debut a new weekly series titled Contemporary Fiction Views beginning TUE, Feb. 21 at 10PM (ET)
Diaries of the week:
Write On! Voice and the narrative
by SensibleShoes
http://www.dailykos.com/...
Thursday Classical Music Opus 67: The Planets
by zenbassoon
http://www.dailykos.com/...
Kos Katalogue: Shop With the 99% for Valentines Day
by Sara R
http://www.dailykos.com/...
NOTE: plf515 has book talk on Wednesday mornings early