Rome by libera - WriteWords.org.uk

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Rome

by libera

Posted: 12 March 2004
Word Count: 120
Summary: After having lived in Rome.....

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Rome is flushed and radiant with pride,
For in her heart, romance resides.
A constant blushing maiden
Where many lovers have laden.

This ever-glowing city,
Who in ancient times knew no pity.
Represents an empire of might
Beneath her pretty peach light

Here I long to get lost,
Whatever the cost.
To be found by another?
I never knew what was round the corner.

A tempered chaos of beauty,
Brews gently beneath the antiquity
Of a sumptuous state that makes me real and alive,
Where love, power, mystery, and history can strive.

Her surprises make for perpetual suspense
From holiness to romance, to pure decadence.
Rome can take your breath away
And it is here I wish, always, to stay.

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miffle at 11:53 on 12 March 2004 Report this post

Libera, I never made it down to Rome but I was very taken with all Italian cities that I visited one summer (Verona, Firenze, Venice) and hope to get there one day.

I loved the contrasts in your poem: the 'empire of might', 'the pretty peach light', the 'blushing maiden', the 'tempered chaos of beauty. Loved that last phrase especially - sounds very human (not idealised) to me and I like this approach, I find it genuine.

'To be found by another' 'I never new what was around the corner'...sounds to me that you may have found romance with someone, if not, at least with the city. And aren't Italian cities traditionally associated with love. I think of Forster's 'Room with a View' and the 'muddled' Lucy and George who find love in Florence.

'How I long to get lost/ Whatever the cost' viewed in context of the lines that follow seems to me to hint at once to Love, at once to the City. Creates an image of labyrinthine streets. A city that sucks you in with its beauty. Also reminds me of Lucy's chaperone in Room with A View (played by Maggie Smith in the film) and the sort of thing that she would say. She's the kind of eccentric who condemns all guide books! I like her style!

Long may your love affair burn...

Write on, miffle ;-)

Just one thought - the 4th line in the 1st verse, I felt you were constricted by rhyme there perhaps (?). 'have laden' (?)...I'm not sure what you mean? Where many lovers have had laden hearts? (heavy, weighted, full) or where many lovers have lain down? ...I think 'laden' is adjective (?).

<Added>

'Where many lovers were laden' (?)

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roovacrag at 22:26 on 12 March 2004 Report this post

Last line of the forth stanza said it all.
Last two of the fifth stanza made it complete.
well done.
xx Alice

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