Bright Star

Title: Bright Star

Actors: Abbie Cornish as Fanny Brawne.

Ben Whishaw as John Keats.

Director: Jane Campion

Rating: 5/5

BRIGHT STAR, WOULD I WERE STEDFAST

By John Keats

Bright star, would I were stedfast as thou art---
Not in lone splendour hung aloft the night
And watching, with eternal lids apart,
Like nature's patient, sleepless Eremite,
The moving waters at their priestlike task
Of pure ablution round earth's human shores,
Or gazing on the new soft-fallen mask
Of snow upon the mountains and the moors---
No---yet still stedfast, still unchangeable,
Pillowed upon my fair love's ripening breast,
To feel for ever its soft fall and swell,
Awake for ever in a sweet unrest,
Still, still to hear her tender-taken breath,
And so live ever---or else swoon in death.

My heart is so full from seeing this movie this afternoon. The love between poet John Keats and Fanny Brawne, his muse, was intoxicating and brilliant. The poem, Bright Star, above was written for her during his last months of life.

I don't think I could put into words what this story was about because of the depth of emotion it held and the emotion I'm feeling right now. All I know is that I will seek out his poetry now and dig deeper into their love and his short life.

Let the trailer (and the brilliant poem above) tell you a little of the story. It takes a second to load but wait patiently, it's worth it. If this movie is near your neck of the woods, go see it. If not, spend a night warming up to someone you love and rent it.

Happy Viewing!

* red headed book child