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Upon The Quality Of Love

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Romeo  Romeo - where for art thou Romeo?

Speak that I should hear your voice, rejoice

that deafened ear should hear you call my name…

_____________

 

The quality of love is not defined,

yet trippeth from the tongue with gentle ease,

to each and every one of us a meaning

as fickle as the feather on a breeze

 

Speak not to me, I pray, of star crossed lovers,

so thwarted by the cruelty of fate,

love by trial and tedium untested,

denied the chance to flourish or to sate

 

As flowers cleave to sun, so do we clamour,

enamoured by the promise of romance,

blinded by the light to onward stumble,

and in our madness give no backward glance

 

To lowly soil beneath us oft forgotten,

that nourished once our hearts right to the core,

grounded us to earth its daily tending,

to universal chaos, lent its law

 

Uprooted we erode to senseless matter,

desiccated atoms doomed to dust,

planets out of orbit, cased in darkness,

stripped naked of that sacred mantle, trust

 

For much that speaks of love is surely lust,

lost in a reverie of youth misplaced,

masquerading whore in virgin clothing,

exacting costly penance once embraced

 

Show me a love that stands the test of time,

beholds its prize through eyes bewitched, beguiled

before a faded bloom, beyond its prime,

to see the sweetest rose or flower wild

 

Show me a love that does not ask for all,

nor seeks the easy path in life to tread,

sees every facet of a fractured soul

yet loves enough to be by blindness led

 

Show me a love that does not seek to change

To chip, to hew to mould; instead to hold

Such imperfection to the brightest light

Delight, as though the dullest lead were gold…

 

Show me a love where two minds meet as one

Sweet appetite by word and language fed

A heat to melt a frozen land locked tear

Swell hearts with hope upon a hemlocked bed

 

Then I should say that Romeo lives, breathes

that Juliet sleeps,

perchance

one day,

to dream…

love sonnet

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Comments

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Anthony Emmerson

Wed 24th Mar 2010 23:03

About time too . . .
Regards,
A.E. x

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jane wilcock

Sun 28th Feb 2010 16:58

fabulous beautiful poem, Isobel. Read with passion and soooo romantic.

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Dave Carr

Wed 24th Feb 2010 20:38

"Not marble,nor the gilded monuments
Of princes shall outlive this powerful rhyme;"

<Deleted User> (6353)

Tue 16th Feb 2010 19:29

Excellent stuff! :-)

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John Aikman

Sun 14th Feb 2010 21:15

The more I read this...the better it gets. That, for me, is the sign of the really, really, really good poem.

Thank you.

Jxxx

darren thomas

Sun 14th Feb 2010 12:43

The difference between this poem and some of the other 'poems' that have appeared on this site recently is measureable.

To spend 'blummin ages' on poetry is worth a writer's pain - otherwise the pain is transferred onto the reader.

Wonderful, disciplined metre and often when this type of verse is attempted there are a combination of words - words that are now considered archaic, and words that didn't arrive into the lexicon until fairly recently - which dilutes its sincerity (imo).

You've managed to avoid this and to good effect.I did hear (or read somewhere) that the line 'where for art thou Romeo...' does not literally mean 'where' but 'why' - as in Juliet asking 'WHY do you have to belong to THAT family' - something I've often thought myself - but as it's Shakespeare - nothing is ever as it seems.

Great piece Isobel. Now get some housework done.

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Joshua Van-Cook

Sun 14th Feb 2010 09:45

A great poem nary a word wasted and a fantastic metre. Shows as much of the quality of love as can be expressed in words and whist doing so exposes the misconceptions that only too often occur which confuse primal passion and true love. All in all, both thumbs up from me. - Josh

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John Coopey

Sat 13th Feb 2010 23:15

That's a cracker!
I had to read it twice; the first time I just enjoyed the faithful metre, the second to let the understanding through.
That's a cracker!

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Cate Greenlees

Sat 13th Feb 2010 16:10

Luv this as you know Isobel. I am a great advocator of classical styles, but they are so so hard to do well. Not surprised it took you a long time to write, it is very clever in both format and content.
Cate xx

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John Aikman

Sat 13th Feb 2010 12:06

Perfectly timed for Vallentine's Day too. You know I love this, and and my admiration is undimm'd.

: )

Jx

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Isobel

Fri 12th Feb 2010 15:50

Thank you all for your lovely comments. I'm so glad you like it - it took me blummin ages!
To save arguments, I will meet you half way and put myself on the list of nominated poems. Please vote for someone else though - there are always several worthy winners every month and in my opinion, it is always a very close call. xx

<Deleted User> (7164)

Fri 12th Feb 2010 14:02

Isobel, this really is super. The voice link adds to the depth of the content of the poem. An absolute delight to read and listen to.

If we who think this is worthy of being a Wolop winner just vote for it anyway, then she really has no other choice does she?
Although knowing Isobel, she'll choose the second place poem for the award.

Janet.x

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Cynthia Buell Thomas

Fri 12th Feb 2010 11:18

Super, Isobel! Like a butterfly out of a chrysalis this poem steps into a different world.

And, yes, Dave, I too think Isobel should be included in WOLOP choice.

<Deleted User> (7073)

Fri 12th Feb 2010 10:22

I think this is one of your best yet, I really enjoyed listening to you perform it at thet Tudor last night.... Rock and Roll Issy ha ha
luv TC XX

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Andy N

Thu 11th Feb 2010 23:58

phew.. good stuff, isobel.. am well impressed by that.. bet that took you ages to write! very very good indeed x

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Val Cook

Thu 11th Feb 2010 18:26

An exceptional poem Isabel.
Thy talent does thee proud.X

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Greg Freeman

Thu 11th Feb 2010 15:17

Shakespearean! Magnificent

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Dave Bradley

Thu 11th Feb 2010 15:13

I think you've demonstrated by now, Izz, that WOLOP isn't an ego trip, but something you're doing for the common good. For February at least, I propose that the rule that we can't vote for you be scrapped, as this is too oustanding a poem not to be in the mix. Any seconders?

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Ann Foxglove

Thu 11th Feb 2010 15:02

How beautiful.

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