Poor little rich girl
trades forbidden passion
with traumatised orphan boy
for respectable marriage
to dull but wealthy neighbour,
the savage landscape of the moors
for a fine house, a life inside walls.
It doesn’t end well.
Her lover tries to move on
but hates his wife for not
being his lost Cathy.
He is not kind. He is not gentle.
How did Cathy die? How do I not
remember how she dies?
But she does, and the story
begins and ends with her ghost
haunting the man who lost her,
crying through the window to be let in –
but only to some visiting stranger.
The overwhelming motif
is Heathcliff alone, sobbing,
begging her wandering spirit,
which he can't hear for all his fierce desire,
to please come in, please come back to him.
I understand that longing for one dead.
The NaPoWriMo prompt for today is to recount the plot of a novel you know you liked but read a long time ago.
As I decided 6 days late to do the PAD (Poem A Day) prompts at Poetic Asides too, I'm glad to realise that this also fits the Day 2 prompt there: to write a happy or sad poem or one which is both. This one definitely qualifies as sad!
I'm also sharing this with Poets and Storytellers United for Friday Writings #122, where Rommy asks us to write of a book we've read more than once. She's primarily thinking of comfort reads, a category which I don't think Wuthering Heights could ever fall into! But I have re-read it once or twice after first encountering it when quite young. (I had this wonderful Grandpa who used to give me 'classics' for every birthday and Christmas, with no concessions to my chronological age. As I was a precocious reader, this was perfect!)
A poignant reminder of lost times and friends
ReplyDeleteYou got it!
DeleteIt is crazy how much I love this book... all its madness and darkness. There is heathcliff in all of us...a bit, a slice, a lot....
ReplyDeleteYes, it's remarkable that so many readers are completely drawn into its wildness and passion. (Me too, of course.)
DeleteI've heard of the book but haven't read it. Before this I always knew Heathcliff as a comic strip character. I wonder which was first.
ReplyDeleteJim here
...
Jim, the book was definitely first! It was first published in 1847; I''m quite sure there were no comic strips then. Funny, I sort of assume everyone must have read it, it's so large in the consciousness of so many people I know – but I am entirely ignorant of the comic strip Heathcliff. I wonder if he is based in any way on the one in the book?
Delete"It doesn’t end well." That is so true for so much!
ReplyDeleteHa!
DeleteThis engaging dark tale and how it well it was woven allowed my own imagination to take wing. The paths we choose in relationships are riddled with hidden passions and unfortunate misunderstandings.
ReplyDeleteYes, very true.
DeleteI too understand the longing for one who is dead. I can barely remember the Wuthering Heights story though.
ReplyDeleteAh well, I did read it more than once, the first time when I was at an impressionable age.
DeleteI read Wuthering Heights so long ago, I may need to read it again. Though I just may settle on something a little lighter, more spring-like right now. Your poem is lovely, Rosemary.
ReplyDeleteThis works really well and i can feel your love for the book. Well done
ReplyDeleteThanks, Alan.
DeleteHeathcliff is dark and broody. I prefer Mr Rochester. I'm doing PAD as well....I dont follow all NAPOWRIMO prompts as they are optional.I'm enjoying it but it is time consuming....bit tired (hmm) very tired LOL.....Rall
ReplyDeleteOh yes, Heathcliff is a pretty horrible character really. Mr R is different in many ways but also hravily flawed. Those Bronte girls could only envisage their men as dark, brooding and bossy, it seems. Like Daddy dearest?
DeleteYou are inspiring me to reread this classic. Thank You!
ReplyDeleteYou're very welcome!
DeleteYou've perfectly described Wuthering Heights in your opening stanza. I would reread it, but darn it all! Too depressing, what I remember of it. Yet I find myself replicating that desperate, forlorn character. BTW,, my grandma was like your grandpa. We had playing cards with all the classics. We had to match titles to authors. You just brought that memory back.
ReplyDeleteGrandparents can be such gifts in themselves!
DeleteYes, one gets past wanting to read (or watch) the depressing and traumatic.
I read a long time ago. I don't remember liking it or Heathcliff, Maybe I need to read it again after you've recalled it so beautifully.
ReplyDeleteI don't think there is anything likeable about Heathcliff! Nor meant to be. Albeit he is a tortured soul. I found it impossible to like any of the characters in Wuthering Heights, yet the book was fascinating. I wouldn't read it again now, though.
DeleteGood pick, Rosemary. I love this book!
ReplyDelete