Not-quite-Monday's post- film review, "Bright Star"

Over the weekend I watched a very powerful movie, “Bright Star.” It was the kind of film that haunts you. It follows you through the night into the morning of the very next day repeating and replaying the powerful moments that caught your breath and caused your heart to cease beating for just a moment. The film is about a budding poet, the now famous, John Keats, and his fair love, Fanny Brawne. The young admirers fall deeply in love after Keats moves in next-door to Brawne. Later, they are separated by a tragic disease and eventually, parted indefinitely by even more tragic affliction- death. (Don’t worry I did not ruin the movie for you). The crux of the plot is their deep-abiding love. Love untainted by the world and other’s affections; love founded on emotional incitement not sexual attachment; love in its purest form.

I was moved by the plot of the movie and convicted by the underlying message, not by the director but by Keats himself. At the end of the film, Keats is advised to move to a warmer climate in an effort to cure his illness. Brawne and Keats spend the night before his departure together. She, basically, propositions herself to him. Keats replies,” I have a conscious.” (Wow, not sure I know a man alive that would do that today!). He then gently takes her by the hand, walks her to the bed, lays her head softly on a pillow next to his, wraps his arms around her thin waist and they begin to fantasize about their life after marriage, foreheads pressed firmly against one another. He tells her,” We will go to bed when the sun is still high and I will kiss your lips, your breasts, your waist.” She replies,” Everywhere.”

The film reminded me a great deal of the book of Solomon. Keats (and Solomon) were never shy in their description of love. They used elaborate language to describe their affections both emotional and sexual. Much of Keats’ relationship with Brawne was separated by distance so they were forced to write to one another. In fact, the film used actual love letters written by Keats to Brawne. His word usage was so magical that, honestly, it brought me to tears. Nowadays, couples fixate on chemistry, compatibility and other nonsense, instead, of focusing on the deep emotional connection that most often only comes through words and thoughts. Solomon knew that. That is why he wrote about his love in such elaborate detail:

“ How beautiful you are, my darling! Oh, how beautiful! Your eyes behind your veil are doves. Your hair is like a flock of goats descending from Mount Gilead. Your teeth are like a flock of sheep just shorn, coming up from the washing. Each has its twin; not one of them is alone. Your lips are like a scarlet ribbon; your mouth is lovely. Your temples behind your veil are like the halves of a pomegranate. Your neck is like the tower of David, built with elegance; on it hang a thousand shields, all of them shields of warriors. Your two breasts are like two fawns, like twin fawns of a gazelle that browse among the lilies. Until the day breaks and the shadows flee, I will go to the mountain of myrrh and to the hill of incense. All beautiful you are, my darling; there is no flaw in you.” – Song of Solomon, 4: 1-7

Keats and Brawne never consummated their relationship. He died before they were to wed. But she stayed in morning for six years after his passing. Six years! People who are married barely mourn a year before they find another hussy to shack up with. Keats and Brawne were but young, innocent lovers and yet they created a love that lasted a lifetime. Oh, how drastically different relationships would be if only we practiced the self-control, respect and emotional (not sexual) intimacy that Keats and Solomon both swore by. I bet many of us would find the great love that our hearts seek. Love like Keats,’ that despite all odds, would last a lifetime.