Bright Star

Bright star, would I were steadfast as thou art-
Not in lone splendor 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 the earth's human shores,
Or gazing on the new soft-fallen mask
Of snow upon the mountains and the moors-
No--yet still steadfast, still unchangeable,
Pillow'd 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 to death.

In class, we read John Keats' poem "Bright Star" during our study of the romantics. Keats was one of my favorite poets that we read, and "Bright Star" is one of his most well known works. Recently, a book of love letters written by Keats to his lover Fanny Brawne has been published under the title "Bright Star," and a movie has been made based upon the book. Throughout my blog, I'm sure you'll notice the references to and reviews of movies- I am a huge fan of movies and I enjoy connecting them to what we've been studying in class.

I decided to watch the film "Bright Star," directed and screenplay by Jane Campion, starring Abbie Cornish as Fanny Brawne and Ben Whishaw as John Keats, to see what all the fuss was about. Aside from it using the letters and names of Keats and Brawne, for me it didn't capture the essence of Keats' poetry. His letters to Fanny are beautiful, however. The movie was a good love story, but didn't seem to have the same meaning that his poetry, such as "Bright Star" itself has. The poem itself is a tribute to Fanny. In the poem, he references religion, as well as the north star- perhaps she is his religion and his guiding star?