Jane

I remember being not out of earshot too
and hearing words reminding me
I’m no one’s ideal of beauty.

I loved you then,
for our shared sin
of not adorning the world.

I revisited you, year after year.
One day, after a pilgrimage to a crossroad
that long had intrigued me
I found what I reverence, what I delight in –

you fell a little in my eyes.
I’d have never ran
from love to conform to a dogma
that did its best to shame me.

Then I grew a little more, realizing
you defined your own dogma
to align with the dictates of your spirit,

just as I’ve done. Though I’d go left
where you’d go right, conventionalities don’t bind us.
My spirit recognizes yours
and I’ll always love that.



This poem was created as response to the prompt given over at Imaginary Gardens With Real Toads: My Dearest Book, I Wrote You a Poem. I chose one of my all time favorites, Jane Eyre. I love the book so much, I have an infinity scarf with the text from the scene where Jane and Mr. Rochester confess their love to each other. This is also linked to Poet's United Poetry Pantry #370

45 comments:

  1. I love it when you write poetry that grins with gentle fierceness, with truth born of living and of reading... poems that show a part of your poet's heart, which are very clear at letting us know that the inside is a thing of wonder.

    " My spirit recognizes yours / and I’ll always love that", too, about the wonderful books (and people) in life.

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  2. This poem is so full of strength and independence. This truly does show your heart - beautiful!

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  3. "My spirit recognizes yours" - what a beautiful message

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  4. Yes, the same fierce independence of spirit that she had shines through your poem too. She was one of my early loves, for whom I still feel affection; I sometimes revisit.

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    1. I haven't in a little bit, but I think it's time to again. My son has to read it for his AP English class.

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  5. And yet, Rommy, you are beautiful. Sometimes it takes a while to know that. I loved Jane Eyre too, but now recognize i had a penchant for difficult, irascible men.....in literature and in life, lol.

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  6. I love how you tie the book to yourself, and even if you had done differently you could see the person and admire her. Maybe being blessed of living in a different time,

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    1. I definitely think so. There are a lot of things I take for granted as having the freedom to do now that certainly would be unthinkable in Jane's time.

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  7. A wonderful write Rommy...like a conversation with a reflection.

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  8. 'I loved you then,
    for our shared sin
    of not adorning the world' - I'm intrigued by this book.

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    1. It's a classic of Victorian Lit. It isn't everyone's cup of tea (my husband runs, who is a smart and well read man, runs the other way when confronted with Austin and the Brontes) but I love it.

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  9. "you defined your own dogma
    to align with the dictates of your spirit'
    Great spirit to connect to Love this poem

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  10. 'I loved you then,
    for our shared sin
    of not adorning the world.'


    I love this! Beautifully rendered.

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  11. How well you talk to her, admiring her for her spirit quite regardless of whether you agree with all she did and said. Beauty is only skin deep they say but that is quite a bad assessment as beauty is very deep indeed.

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    1. You have to go to the deep places to see the real beauty of the soul

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  12. Recognizing another's spirit is the greatest gift we can give that person.

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    1. I think it's something that people should try to do more often

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  13. Sometimes we are really driven to revisit what one loves....and recognizing a person's spirit IS a beautiful thing.

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    1. I've loved my repeat visits to Thornfield :)

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  14. I love that you took the differences and examined them looking for ways to intersect. I wish we all could operate on this level.

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    1. It'd be a cool thing if we all tried to do that

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  15. My spirit recognizes yours
    and I’ll always love that

    It is amazing to be able to support a loved one in facing the world

    Hank

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  16. a great adventure and true romance between two spirited people - no wonder you fell in love with this book

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    1. Yep, it's been a favorite of mine for decades

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  17. "You defined your own dogma" ... and our greatest lesson is to not allow others to define ours! Great write.

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  18. Love the poem and love Jane too! Wonderful end.

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  19. Jane Eyre is fantastic. Have you seen the movie version with William Hurt and Charlotte Gainsborough? That's my favorite.

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  20. A thoughtful and thought provoking piece. 'My spirit recognizes yours' is a rather hypnotic nuanced line and gave me pause, particularly as Jane Eyre is my all time favorite book as well (and I so see the Jane/Mr.Rochester spell in that) - but then, I lingered with the line a little longer as it drifted onto 'real' relationships - and that was interesting to contemplate. Wonderful writing!

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    1. Excellent! I did try to take words and ideas that fit with some of the ones expressed in the actual book.

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  21. A wonderful poem for a worthy book !

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