Study For The Lady Claire, John William Waterhouse
I saw beauty in her eyelids
in the arc beneath her lips
in the way her mouth turned downward
stray hairs, that gray eclipsed.
I saw beauty in her faultlessness
in how she bowed her head,
in how her eyes reflected love
in every word she said.
Beauty in her subtle flaws,
in her hardness to forgive
and in the way she now consigns
past feelings that once lived.
Author notes
Before anyone reads it and misunderstands, it's just my belief that beauty remains beauty, and is not defined by temporal means, or by aberration. That if one finds the essence of another to be beautiful then it is a reasonable correlation that all things about them are beautiful, no matter the action, no matter the incentive or the revocation of feelings.
I wanted to show beauty first, in its minute details, in that I noticed these small things, found charm in them (part one.) In it's outward reflections (part two) and in its essence (despite flaws and a transference of feeling (part three.) In part two, "grace" takes on two meanings, not only the popular one, "Elegance" but also as one "under divine influence,"
Beauty is layered and permanent. I may (or may not) have used a specific person to illustrate this, but it is exemplary of every instance of beauty.
In a list
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Comments
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Yem, I am with you here, and I do love the progression that you made. I almost wanted it to go one step deeper, but I am still noodling on how or what.
The facial descriptions were so lovely, and I really liked that you stuck with the face, for it is that by which we most easily identify a person...no wonder it is the face that gets so much credit for beauty.
The second set of qualities...how a person carries herself is such a significant part too. I know of someone who is a knockout beauty but she talks SO much and is SO lacking gentility that the physical beauty gets undermined.
I really liked the truth of the last stanza. Okay this is going to sound stupid, but let me share this...someone close to me said that they love to see me make mistakes or get out of sorts, upset or anything because it reminds them that I am not perfect afterall. (You and I both know that I am, but this was a humble fellow, so we won't fault him.) Anyhow, I share that real example to show that there is a connection that we feel when we can recognize someone else's faults and allow even those to be endeared to us. They are like I am. I need love, deserve it, so do they. Beauty is found where you want to find it. I think you can love just about anyone if you get to know them because there is beauty in each one of us... some more than others, of course, but when we know someone's story we tend to see beauty more readily, don't you think?
The softeness of your delivery was just perfect. Everyword fell so delicately, enhancing the potency of your opinion.
I enjoyed this!
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Amazingly beautiful and perceptive comment. I knew a woman who was sort of perfect, smart, talented, funny, good looking, seemed to always be under control and could handle any situation. Sadly when I finally found her flaw it affected me personally, lol
Ah, there is a measure of love and respect in someone thinking we only have one flaw, and maybe a measure of insanity, lol
"but when we know someone's story we tend to see beauty more readily, don't you think?"
Of all the truths you have written in comments and in poems, this may have been the truest.
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my verdict on elegance ...
and internal beauty, being viewed from your perspective, is nothing of "I'm amazed" ... Such interesting thoughts on the lines in your AN " That if one finds the essence of another to be beautiful then it is a reasonable correlation that all things about them are beautiful, no matter the action, no matter the incentive or the revocation of feelings.
For truth is beauty and must be permitted to permeate that which knows that sense of feeling.
I am so enjoying going back in time and reading these poems that are meaning-full. I'm glad that you posted or maybe reposted them into a file that is fun to peruse. Time slips away, like a stallion on a wide-open grassland but there's always a place to find hay! eh? j
y
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Yeah, it was either re-posted or pasted into a placeholder, I forget.
That's a rather broad statement I made in my author notes and there are certainly exceptions, but for practical purposes it helped me come to terms and understand the then situation.
Thanks for digging through all this stuff.
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Another beautiful poem, even though the last stanza isn't so flattering
But really, this is truly excellent poetry filled with sentiments and beauty
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It is all flattering. You just want blind adoration, lol.
The point was, beauty exists beyond flaws, beyond the end of feelings. It exists beyond whatever was or will be...ok, I see you are falling asleep.
And I was proud of my theory, lol
Thanks for reading the raving poems. They were raving mad, but they were honest.
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Was this gem in hiding
shadowing the beauty?
But here it appears
accomplishing perfectly
your intent, to expose
the layers of beauty.
Well, done poet.
M-C
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It was kind of important for me to write, I think. Set things in perspective for me.
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Words on the page, so orderly,
an impetus to order in the mind! -
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bye
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