revive, relighten the borderlands.
And as regal dame steps down from carriage
their broken hearts repair souls’ marriage.
The torch is lit anew! It burns brightly
and sparks, smoking, as does a candle caught
by smoldering strike of sulf’rous match.
O revenants!
O gardeners of the gloom, beware tonight!
This dusk must thou creep and crawl,
wallowing back to thine tombs,
for this twilight bears the torch of true faith!
Here an Adam, here an Eve,
have brought the fruit to their ashen mouths; bitten!
The slick soft core, tasted for the first time:
pulpy, sweet and redolent of summer-time and stormy seascape, but too, Elysium.
Senses swell, overwhelmed,
as thrumming thunder wakes
in cumulonimbus clouds invading
first the heavens, driving forth
the sun, which hurriedly flees behind the hills.
The warm winds and wet earth,
which decadent, fall on naked youths who play
at heathen heat in hurricane’s rage.
Long, tossed tangles of hallowed hair,
willow branches, whipped wind whirls
as earth is shaken in divine delight.
And thus, the storm passes, its fury spent
in moments, like the melting of a ’berg
in molten blast of desert burning.
Here on this mainland, through this tempest,
the torch now burn’d bright, and burns anew.
Alas! Could years pass as quick as that?
Couldst Time, angry at its impotence and
failure to break the bonds of men, re-seize
the sun, the summer storms, and hide them here
’neath Winter’s wrath? Aye, for the fawning age
of paradise passes, and celestial mourning
is here and naught shall ease for eons hence.
’Tis but a play of pretense past; presently,
aye, fought again within that mainland.
Again was played that dullest drama:
knight leaves home for buxom blond.
Aye, she was a fair dame, though not so fair
as one should wish. For knights grow old
and tire of treaties, wish of war again to ride.
Alas, they forget they keep a homeland,
a hamlet safe, that none should harm.
But forth he rode in radiant armor,
forth he rode with shield shining…
encountered not one fearsome foe
for worthy war to wearily wage.
Like knights through ages, bored as such,
without a wound for lance to pierce,
he thus turned home, secure of that.
Alas, the fiefdom has been fought for:
a valiant lad who knelt and stay’d,
known loyal to the castle’s cause.
“Come forth! Come forth and fight!”
Knight’s challenge issues o’er the fields and farms of wheat.
But seeking to save the lives of lovers,
forth the princess angry came.
“You were he who left dominion;
you were he, left sword behind.”
And thus she held aloft, luminous,
that which he’d harbored for years before.
Missed, forlorn, alone at his bedside—
left on that hurried morning months ago.
“It is thine,” she says, she spaketh,
“But such is what remains for thee.”
“But summer storms”—and so he hails her—
“Places peppered with our pain. Shared so much,
had we forever, shall we give such ever end?”
She nods.
Anew is armed that far-off tower,
again the blades and battles blaze,
burning o’er the bordering kingdom.
There a tower, grey near gravesites
which litter its eastern edges, rises, ripp’d
stones built pointing towards the starscape.
Hidden betwixt its broken borders,
stirs the knight whose dream hath ceased.
At his side there sleeps a scabbard.
Though his head is bare of helmet,
and his chest is sans le plastron,
he is geared for that battle;
he is fitted for the fighting,
though he no longer loves the gore.
Knowledge now will make him master
like he was of men before.
This knight straps on his new-made cuirass,
solemn he lifts misshap’d shield.
The armies cometh, annihilation,
and yet he stands and stares at sky.
“’Tis I. Know that I am unchangeable—
like the mountains I stand,
and will withstand the might of mortals, for I must.
I shall survive throughout the ages,
and I shall be when you return.
These armies are infants, beneath my might
strengthened by solitude and polish’d by pain.
In these travels, in these travails, I know—
I pray, I shall stay faithful, to thee, ami,
and thus to myself.”
Il y a quelque chose plus grand que moi ou toi;
C’est nous. Et j’usque-là, je peux batailler seulement.
References
Nymphos and Other Maniacs by Irving Wallace
Lord Byron Discovered by Doris Langley Moore
Lord Byron: Accounts Rendered by Doris Langley Moore
The Technique of the Love Affair by Doris Langley Moore
Byron—The Last Journey by Harold Nicolson
John William Polidori by Franklin Bishop
Newstead Abbey by Philip Jones & Michael Riley
Portraits of Byron by Annette Peach
Byron—Selected Poetry and Letters by Edward E. Bostetter
The Immortal Ninon by Phyllis Tholin
Ninon de L’enclos and Her Century by Mary C. Powsell
An Underground Education by Richard Zacks
Little Brown Book of Anecdotes by Clifton Fadiman
The Worst Case Scenario Handbook (holidays) by Piven & Borgenicht
Pelican History of England, vol. 7, by J.H. Plumb
Christmas in New York by Daniel Pool
Charles Dickens’s Fur Coat & Charlotte’s Unanswered Letters by Daniel Pool
Familiar Quotations compiled by T.Y. Crowell
The Great Quotations compiled by George Seldes
Quotations compiled by Merriam Webster
Le Chevalier Sans Paix by C.E.K.
Critics Rave About Melanie Jackson!
THE NIGHT SIDE
“The Night Side delivers in spades…A seasoned storyteller, Jackson delivers another entertaining story.”
—Fresh Fiction
DIVINE FANTASY
[Jackson] “has a wonderful way with descriptive language. There are some great connections with previous books and a surprise at the end.”
—RT Book Reviews
A CURIOUS AFFAIR
“For a very different type of murder mystery and some very quirky characters and a twist at the end you won’t see coming, pick up A Curious Affair, because in this tale, curiosity does not kill the cat!”
—Romance Reviews Today
DIVINE NIGHT
“Not to be read quickly, Jackson’s latest is closely connected to the two previous Divine stories…This is an excellent addition to this series.”
—RT Book Reviews
WRIT ON WATER
“An intriguing mix of mystery and romance, with shadings of the paranormal, this is a story that pulls you in.”
—RT Book Reviews
DIVINE MADNESS
“This tale isn’t your everyday, lighthearted romance…Melanie Jackson takes an interesting approach
to this tale, using historical figures with mysterious lives.”
—Romance Reviews Today
DIVINE FIRE
“Jackson pens a sumptuous modern gothic…Fans of solid love stories like those of Laurell K. Hamilton will enjoy Jackson’s tale, which readers will devour in one sitting, then wait hungrily for the next installment.”
—Booklist
THE SAINT
“This visit to the ‘wild side’ is wonderfully imaginative and action-packed…[A] fascinating tale.”
—RT Book Reviews
THE MASTER
“Readers…will not be disappointed. Her ability to create a complicated world is astounding with this installment, which includes heartwarming moments, suspense and mystery sprinkled with humor. An excellent read.”
—RT Book Reviews
STILL LIFE
“The latest walk on the ‘Wildside’ is a wonderful romantic fantasy that adds new elements that brilliantly fit and enhance the existing Jackson mythos…Action-packed.”
—Midwest Book Review
THE COURIER
“The author’s imagination and untouchable world building continue to shine…[An] outstanding and involved novel.”
—RT Book Reviews
OUTSIDERS
“Melanie Jackson is a talent to watch. She deftly combines romance with fantasy and paranormal elements to create a spellbinding adventure.”
—WritersWrite.com
TRAVELER
“Jackson often pushes the boundaries of paranormal romance, and this…is no exception.”
—Booklist
THE SELKIE
“Part fantasy, part dream and wholly bewitching, The Selkie…[blends] whimsy and folklore into a sensual tale of love and magic.”
—RT Book Reviews
Other Books by Melanie Jackson:
THE SELKIE BRIDE
THE NIGHT SIDE
DIVINE FANTASY
A CURIOUS AFFAIR
DIVINE NIGHT
WRIT ON WATER
DIVINE MADNESS
THE SAINT
THE MASTER
DIVINE FIRE
STILL LIFE
THE COURIER
OUTSIDERS
TRAVELER
THE SELKIE
DOMINION
BELLE
AMARANTHA
NIGHT VISITOR
MANON
IONA
Copyright
LOVE SPELL®
February 2005
Published by
Dorchester Publishing Co., Inc.
200 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10016
Copyright © 2005 by Melanie Jackson
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E-ISBN: 978-1-4285-0871-2
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