Poem by jan-u-wine, inspired by "Frodo and the Enamoured Woman"....

[mechtild]

Since posting my new "Frodo Art Travesty" manip...

Frodo and the Enamoured Woman (detail below), one of the Tolkien friends with whom I correspond, jan-u-wine, was inspired to write a poem to go with it. She is a writer of very perceptive, very fine LotR poetry (a link to her works appears below her poem).







What she wrote for this manip was so evocative to me of what might have transpired in the mind of Frodo when faced with the spectacle of such love for him in the face of another, I decided to edit it into my entry.

Here it is....

The Fields of Forever by jan-u-wine


The warm-cool curve of her throat rests upon my shoulder,

tender pulse
racing and fluttering like the wings
of some wild and frighted bird,

though
her eyes are calm
and sure

and sorrowfully certain

(as if she held some great truth
untold,

untellable,
within).

And I feel
caught

unawares,

as though there were more
to my nakedness

than a simple lack of clothes,
more that rises within

than that without.

Almost
I welcome
the familar sharp definition
of the cliff-face at my back,

the chill counterpoint of rock
holding me on the edge of a dreme.

I wanted.......

I wanted
to smile

as her nose brushed mine

I wanted.......

I wanted to
laugh

at the sweet absurdity of the gesture,
at the curious

intimacy of it.

I wanted.....

oh,
I wanted to know
(above all, I desire to know)


why
her eyes were sad with a wanting of their own

how
in all the wide Circle of the World

she chanced upon me
(or we, upon each other),

who she should be
and

where she might call home......

I wanted.....

I want
to know

what
the summer-crushed-berry
of her mouth tastes like

and the feel of her hands,
running

like water

like silksmooth moonlit water
upon me

and mine -

answering,

answering
until

there can be no more questions,

only
the gentling of my name upon her lips

as if it were the only word the moon and stars
and sun

had need of or would ever know.

She is settling the rich darkness of her garment about her again,
though

her unbound hair still mingles with mine,
the scent and feel and aching-sweet sense of
her

echoing and singing within me.

And we fall into sleep, thus:

arms and legs twined to and twixt,
a warm puzzle of limbs
(gently tired by loving),

eyes speaking all which there are no words for
until

perforce
sleep closes them.

And that last moment of waking
falls

into the first moment of dreme,

her eyes holding me more-so
than ever hands could do,

until
I am walking within the startling fields of them

and dreme upon
forever.

~ Frodo and the Enamoured Woman:









~ Jan-u-wine's Lord of the Rings-based poetry is featured at LotR Scrapbook.



~ Mechtild



View Frodo Art Travesties Table of LJ Entries page HERE.

View Frodo Art Travesties Album HERE.

Comments

[starlit-woods.livejournal.com]

I wish I had words that would say how wonderful that poem is, but I'm just not good enough, so I'll say...beautiful. That was just so beautiful! It goes perfectly with your wonderful picture and it really described the picture and love so well!

And, my eyes are just about popping out of my head because I've just found the link to your other pictures you've made!! OMG! They look so fantastic I'm going now to save a copy of every single one to my computer!! :D

[mechtild.livejournal.com]

Your words are more than adequate, Starlit Woods. I note your choice of icon, too.

The poem really does "open up" the picture, don't you think? And her word image of Frodo's inner workings is so book-like to me.

You found the Frodo Art Travesties? Oh, I am pleased. I loved making them. You will see they have progressed from the simplest cut-and-paste's (when I was just learning) to more subtly-done things like this one. Film-Frodo's face is so classically beautiful, I felt just *compelled* to see how he would look in various periods of art. Thank heaven he is so lovely, or the cruder efforts would not be worth looking at.

[starlit-woods.livejournal.com]

I would love to have someone look at me the way those two are looking, and the beautiful way it is described in the poem :)

I LOVED your manips! You did such an amazing job! I love artwork by the old Masters, my brother always had books lying around the house and we'd talk about which ones we like the best (though he knows heaps more about it than I do!) and I really loved seeing you turn those works of art into new works of art! I was so excited seeing each one! I was like "Ooh! Frodo in a Bouguereau!!" :D You get better and better with each one and I really can't wait to see more :)

[mechtild.livejournal.com]

I would love to have someone look at me the way those two are looking, and the beautiful way it is described in the poem :)

Would not we all? I think it was Pearlette up there who said the poem not only well-expressed Frodo if he had loved, but the heart of anyone who truly loved. The poem is art because while it perfectly applies to its specific case (Frodo and the mystery person he loves), it is applicable beyond itself.

THanks for the compliments, Starlit Woods. I don't know how many more I'll do. I keep saying, "That's my last one." Simply because I don't find that many likely source paintings that would work well for various reasons (face in bad position, body a poor match, not a large enough copy of the image, etc.). But everytime I think, "Well, that's that," an image (like this Sheila Metzner art photograph) will just turn up on its own and I'll say, "Wow, I have to do it!"

[starlit-woods.livejournal.com]

Pearlette is right, the poem is wonderful in relation to Frodo and even if you take it out of context and relate it to love in general. There's nothing like love, so many words and paintings and songs, but nothing describes what it's really like to love and be loved.

You can't stop doing pictures now when I've only just discovered you!! Not that I'm trying to talk you into anything but *cough* http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b37/livtyler/homere-bouguereau.jpg *cough* A little Frodo might fit in there nicely! Please, feed my addiction! ;)

[mechtild.livejournal.com]

The link says that's a Bouguereau. Is it really??? Actually, that painting already looks like Frodo so much (he's even nearly to scale, had he swigged a few litres of Entdraft), it doesn't need manipping. Do you know the topic of the painting? Gandalf would do very well in it, too. I thought it was Abraham walking with Isaac at first, but then who would the people be at the back? Or is it young Samuel and Eli? Or some other characters all together?

[starlit-woods.livejournal.com]

Yes it is a Bouguereau, it's a picture of Homer and his guide. It really could do excellently as a Frodo/Gandalf picture couldn't it?! I'm about to go off to bed, but I found a beautiful Hi Res version of it for you :)

http://www.artrenewal.org/asp/database/image.asp?id=1416&hires=1

[mechtild.livejournal.com]

Thanks for that link, Starlit Woods. I will think about it. Because Frodo would appear as a child in this image, not an adult, it is not the sort of thing I would normally do. I do tend to chose paintings, whether there are of two people relating or just a man by himself, which make images in which film-Frodo is portrayed as the object of desire (for me and for other besotted fans). If I made this into a manip, I might swoon for the manip created, but not Frodo in it. Do you know what I mean? I suppose it could be a whole new series, though: "Gen Art Travesty Frodo," LOL.

[starlit-woods.livejournal.com]

LOL I do understand, it would be a bit hard to perve on Frodo when he's too young! I hope you really do keep making more pictures though, you're really wonderful at it! :D