BetterMost, Wyoming & Brokeback Mountain Forum

Brokeback Mountain: Our Community's Common Bond => Brokeback Mountain Fan Fiction & Poetry => Topic started by: Kerry on December 13, 2006, 07:30:05 am

Title: A Sonnet for Jack
Post by: Kerry on December 13, 2006, 07:30:05 am: Warning! I am a romantic! And an outrageous romantic, at that! So, you must forgive me if I engage in a little overt fantasizing here for a moment! Imagine, if you will, that Jack is a secret sonnet lover (I did warn you!!!) and has secreted in his saddle bags, that glorious summer of 1963, a small volume of Shakespeare’s sonnets. Over the campfire at night, Jack and Ennis languidly read sonnets to one another. Sigh! Sooo romantic! Ennis might very well have read this sonnet to Jack, a man whose “sweet love” he experienced so rapturously, he would not betray it, not even to become a king.

“When in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes,
I all alone beweep my outcast state,
And trouble deaf Heaven with my bootless cries,
And look upon myself, and curse my fate,
Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,
Featur'd like him, like him with friends possess'd,
Desiring this man's art, and that man's scope,
With what I most enjoy contented least:
Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising,
Haply I think on thee,--and then my state
(Like to the lark at break of day arising
From sullen earth) sings hymns at heaven's gate;
For thy sweet love remember'd such wealth brings
That then I scorn to change my state with kings'.”

I’ve got more sonnets and more scenarios for Jack and Ennis. Let me know if you enjoyed this and I’ll post them.

LOL

Kerry
Title: Re: A Sonnet for Jack
Post by: mvansand76 on December 13, 2006, 07:34:53 am: Quote from: Kerry on December 13, 2006, 07:30:05 am
Warning! I am a romantic! And an outrageous romantic, at that!

Nothing wrong with that, Kerry, I am hopeless romantic myself and proud of it! ;D

It's lovely, please feel free to post more!
Title: Re: A Sonnet for Jack
Post by: Kerry on December 16, 2006, 08:31:04 am: Here's one of the most famous of Shakespeare's sonnets (from Jack's little book - LOL). I imagine that Ennis may have read this one in his lonely trailer, fighting back a stinging tear, contemplating the "eternal (unfading) summer" that is Jack:

"Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature's changing course, untrimm'd;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou growest;
So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee."

Kerry :'(
Title: Re: A Sonnet for Jack
Post by: Lynne on December 16, 2006, 08:44:41 am: These are beautiful, Kerry, and just serve to remind me of the timeless nature of love. Shakespeare could have written these just for our boys!

I bumped a thread over in Movie Resources about Classical Allusions in BBM and parallels with the Aeneas story.

By all means, keep posting to your romantic heart's content!
Title: Re: A Sonnet for Jack
Post by: Kerry on December 16, 2006, 10:09:12 pm: Quote from: Kerry on December 16, 2006, 08:31:04 am
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date:

For me, these beautiful words conjure up two wonderful images from the original story by Annie Proulx:

* "Ennis and Jack, the dogs, horses and mules, a thousand ewes and their lambs flowed up the trail like dirty water through the timber and out above the tree line into the great flowery meadows and the coursing, endless wind."

* "The first snow came early, on August thirteenth, piling up a foot, but was followed by a quick melt - another bigger storm was moving in from the Pacific - and they packed in the game and moved off the mountain with the sheep, stones rolling at their heels, purple cloud crowding in from the west and the metal smell of coming snow pressing them on."

As Lynne said to me recently, it's almost as though these sonnets were written with our boys in mind! :o

Kerry
Title: Re: A Sonnet for Jack
Post by: magicmountain on December 16, 2006, 11:31:57 pm: Here is another sonnet to Jack from Sonnets from the Portuguese by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

XLIII

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of everyday's
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints,--I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life!--and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.
Title: Re: A Sonnet for Jack
Post by: Kerry on December 17, 2006, 02:37:17 am: Quote from: magicmountain on December 16, 2006, 11:31:57 pm
Here is another sonnet to Jack from Sonnets from the Portuguese by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life!--and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.

:'( Thank you for posting that beautiful EBB sonnet, MM. It sure got me good! :'(
Title: Re: A Sonnet for Jack
Post by: twistedude on December 17, 2006, 06:16:31 am: The old disappears, and the new taikes its place. I wrote out "When in disgrace.." from memory about 4 months ago, and it's now on page two or three, with a lot of other "poems that remind you of Jack and Ennis."

But thy sweet love remembered such wealth brings
I then do scorn to change my state with kings...
Title: Re: A Sonnet for Jack
Post by: Kerry on December 18, 2006, 08:03:53 am: Quote from: twistedude on December 17, 2006, 06:16:31 am
The old disappears, and the new taikes its place. I wrote out "When in disgrace.." from memory about 4 months ago, and it's now on page two or three, with a lot of other "poems that remind you of Jack and Ennis."

Sincere apologies, Twistedude. I didn't realize you had already posted it. I haven't been here long and I guess I was just swept away by the romantic atmosphere that pervades BetterMost. I should have done a search before posting. I am so impressed that you quoted it by heart :o. Sadly, I cannot make that claim. It was a case of cut and paste for me :-\.

I've just had a quick look back at previous posts and can't locate the following poem anywhere. Apologies if it's already been posted. It's called "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love" and was written by Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593). I can't help but hear Jack's voice here, cooing gently in Ennis' ear, as they cuddle-up together by the campfire at night. Note the references to shepherds, mountains and rivers - even roses (stemmed or otherwise ;) LOL). But the most poignant and relevant line for all of us here must be, "Come live with me, and be my love." It is so reminiscent of Jack's plaintive entreaty, "What if you and me had a little ranch together somewhere, little cow and calf operation, it'd be some sweet life":

"Come live with me, and be my love;
And we will all the pleasures prove
That hills and valleys, dales and fields,
Woods, or steepy mountain yields.

And we will sit upon the rocks,
Seeing the shepherds feed their flocks
By shallow rivers, to whose falls
Melodious birds sing madrigals.

And I will make thee beds of roses
And a thousand fragrant posies;
A cap of flowers, and a kirtle
Embroidered all with leaves of myrtle;

A gown made of the finest wool
Which from our pretty lambs we pull;
Fair-lined slippers for the cold,
With buckles of the purest gold;

A belt of straw and ivy-buds,
With coral clasps and amber-studs:
And if these pleasures may thee move,
Come live with me, and be my love.

The shepherd-swains shall dance and sing
For thy delight each May-morning:
If these delights thy mind may move,
Then live with me and be my love."

Kerry
Title: Re: A Sonnet for Jack
Post by: Lynne on December 18, 2006, 11:38:09 am: Quote from: Kerry on December 18, 2006, 08:03:53 am
Sincere apologies, Twistedude. I didn't realize you had already posted it. I haven't been here long and I guess I was just swept away by the romantic atmosphere that pervades BetterMost. I should have done a search before posting. I am so impressed that you quoted it by heart :o. Sadly, I cannot make that claim. It was a case of cut and paste for me :-\.

No apologies necessary on anyone's part! Just a different way of 'bumping' an old thread - we have nothing here but space and opportunity! 'Sides, if I had a nickel for every time I repeat myself...;)

I love the image of Jack as shepherd! 'Come live with me and be my love'

**sigh**

You've reminded me of an old thread that does some Jack/shepherd analysis and has a poem by St. John of the Cross:

http://bettermost.net/forum/index.php?topic=1137.msg130961#msg130961

-Lynne
Title: Re: A Sonnet for Jack
Post by: moremojo on December 18, 2006, 08:22:58 pm: Hi, Kerry--

Thanks for being a romantic, and a lover and sharer of poetry! Share to your heart's content; you'll find that many here find refuge in poetry in working through the feelings engendered by this very poetic film.

For what it's worth, here is the link to a Brokeback-inspired sonnet I wrote and posted on this site back on September the 5th:

http://bettermost.net/forum/index.php?topic=4174.msg83478#msg83478 (http://bettermost.net/forum/index.php?topic=4174.msg83478#msg83478)

Regards,
Scott
Title: Re: A Sonnet for Jack
Post by: twistedude on December 18, 2006, 11:13:03 pm: Re: Poems--from anywhere, for Brokeback Mountain sensitized feelings...
« Reply #1 on: April 28, 2006, 01:22:13 pm »

This is Pablo Naruda's Sonnet #17, posted by RouxB.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I don't love you as if you were the salt-rose, topaz
or arrow of carnations that propagate fire:
I love you as certain dark things are loved,
secretly, between the shadow and the soul.

I love you as the plant that doesn't bloom and carries
hidden within itself the light of those flowers,
and thanks to your love, darkly in my body
lives the dense fragrance that rises from the earth.

I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where,
I love you simply, without problems or pride:
I love you in this way because I don't know any other way of loving

but this, in which there is no I or you,
so intimate that your hand upon my chest is my hand,
so intimate that when I fall asleep it is your eyes that close.

Pablo Neruda
Title: Re: A Sonnet for Jack
Post by: Kerry on December 19, 2006, 07:29:13 am: Quote from: goadra on December 18, 2006, 10:51:59 pm
"All days are nights to see till I see thee,
And nights bright days when dreams do show thee me."

Thank you for posting, Goadra. So very beautiful.

Here's another of my favourites by my old mate, Bill ;D

Practically every line has Ennis' voice attached to it, as addressed to Jack. So much so, I can't particularly single out any one line for attention. They all have relevance. I love this sonnet. As you read it, imagine it being read by Ennis (with his voice), sad and alone in his lonesome trailer:

Sonnet XXX
When to the sessions of sweet silent thought
I summon up remembrance of things past,
I sigh the lack of many a thing I sought,
And with old woes new wail my dear time's waste:
Then can I drown an eye, unus'd to flow,
For precious friends hid in death's dateless night,
And weep afresh love's long-since cancell'd woe,
And moan the expense of many a vanish'd sight.
Then can I grieve at grievances foregone,
And heavily from woe to woe tell o'er
The sad account of fore-bemoaned moan,
Which I new pay as if not paid before.
But if the while I think on thee, dear friend,
All losses are restor'd, and sorrows end.

:'( :'( :'(

Kerry
Title: Re: A Sonnet for Jack
Post by: Kerry on December 19, 2006, 07:33:55 pm: Quote from: Lynne on December 18, 2006, 11:38:09 am
You've reminded me of an old thread that does some Jack/shepherd analysis and has a poem by St. John of the Cross:
http://bettermost.net/forum/index.php?topic=1137.msg130961#msg130961
Hi Lynne,

Thank you for directing me to the Gay Alliance site and the beautiful poem by St John of the Cross. I loved all the pertinent metaphysical references. Though it's been some decades since last I formally studied theology, I would personally interpret the "beautiful shepherd" as being Christ, hence the "young shepherd's" love for the "beautiful shepherd." Just my spin on it and it should certainly not detract from the application of these beautiful words to love, per se, by any definition. :)

I loved this part of the Gay Alliance article:
Ennis and Jack’s love is sacred and reveals the divine character of relationship and longing. Their love, set amidst the grandeur of pastoral images of animal flocks, mountains, and astride horseback, reveals a universal love, the infinite longing, like that between God and humanity, ever aching to be fulfilled and consummated. Hidden in the love of two sheep-herders, is the archetype of that same Good Shepherd who envisions our life together beside restful waters, in verdant pastures… “If you and me had a little ranch together, little cow and calf operation… it’d be some sweet life…”

LOL

Kerry
Title: Re: A Sonnet for Jack
Post by: louisev on December 20, 2006, 12:08:34 am: I wrote a story that took place two years after the death of Jack Twist, in which Ennis comes into possession of a journal Jack kept during the summer of 1963 on Brokeback Mountain.

And darned if Jack didn't write a poem to Ennis in there!

While not strictly in sonnet form, it does bear some resemblance to actual doggerel:

"Roses are red
Violets are blue
I'm sure hot
For the likes a you."

- Taking Chances, Chapter 8.
Title: Re: A Sonnet for Jack
Post by: Kerry on December 20, 2006, 07:06:05 am: Quote from: louisev on December 20, 2006, 12:08:34 am
"Roses are red
Violets are blue
I'm sure hot
For the likes a you."

That is sooo gorgeous. For me, it really does have Jack's voice to it. I can picture his sweet face, with a cute studious little frown, as he tries to concentrate on composing the verse. :)
Title: Re: A Sonnet for Jack
Post by: louisev on December 20, 2006, 03:42:39 pm: ...getting the words and the cadence just right...

he also wrote a love ballad, entitled:

"Ennis I'm a want you"
Title: Re: A Sonnet for Jack
Post by: Kerry on December 20, 2006, 06:28:24 pm: Quote from: louisev on December 20, 2006, 03:42:39 pm
...getting the words and the cadence just right...

he also wrote a love ballad, entitled:

"Ennis I'm a want you"

I'd love to read it. Do you have the link?
Title: Re: A Sonnet for Jack
Post by: louisev on December 20, 2006, 06:37:03 pm: er...

I'm sure I have it around here somewhere.... :o
Title: Re: A Sonnet for Jack
Post by: moremojo on December 20, 2006, 07:06:50 pm: Quote from: louisev on December 20, 2006, 06:37:03 pm
er...

I'm sure I have it around here somewhere.... :o
Louise, I never knew that Jack baked Bread! ;)

(Beautiful song, by the way, as so many of theirs were. It really does capture the tenderness that we know Jack nursed for Ennis).
Title: Re: A Sonnet for Jack
Post by: Kerry on December 20, 2006, 07:39:42 pm: I’ve always loved the work of Kahlil Gibran. This beautiful prose poem about friendship is one of my favourites:

And the youth said, Speak to us of Friendship.
And he answered, saying:
Your friend is your needs answered.
He is your field that you sow with love and
reap with thanksgiving.
And he is your board and your fireside.
For you come to him with your hunger, and
you seek him for peace.

When your friend speaks his mind you fear not
the “nay” in your own mind, nor do you with-
hold the “ay.”
And when he is silent your heart ceases not to
listen to his heart;
For without words, in friendship, all thoughts, all
desires, all expectations are born and shared, with
joy that in unacclaimed.
When you part from your friend, you grieve
not;
For that which you love most in him may be
clearer in his absence, as the mountain to the climber
is clearer from the plain.

And let there be no purpose in friendship save
the deepening of the spirit.
For love that seeks aught but the disclosure of
its own mystery is not love but a net cast forth:
and only the unprofitable is caught.

And let your best be for your friend.
If he must know the ebb of your tide, let him
know its flood also.
For what is your friend that you should seek him
with hours to kill?
Seek him always with hours to live.
For it is his to fill your need, but not your
emptiness.
And in the sweetness of friendship let there be
laughter, and sharing and pleasures.
For in the dew of little things the heart finds
its morning and is refreshed.
Title: Re: A Sonnet for Jack
Post by: southendmd on January 04, 2012, 10:57:27 am: Bumping this lovely thread.

Thought I'd add a little poem I remember from my youth. Don't know the author.

Love you? Well, of course I do,
Not for a special reason,
Not for hair or eyes or flattery,
Or for a praising season.

Nor best in misty morning,
Nor less in afternoon,
I was not caught with violins
That knew enchantment's tune.

So I drop my questing,
Sigh a delighted sigh,
Knowing that I love you,
But glad I don't know why.
Title: Re: A Sonnet for Jack
Post by: Sason on January 04, 2012, 01:35:41 pm: ^^^^^^^^

Sweet poem.
Title: Re: A Sonnet for Jack
Post by: Shakesthecoffecan on January 04, 2012, 03:05:42 pm: Yes it tiz. It makes a very good point. Love don't need a reason. ;D
Title: Re: A Sonnet for Jack
Post by: southendmd on March 16, 2012, 01:05:21 pm: Quote from: Shakesthecoffecan on January 04, 2012, 03:05:42 pm
Yes it tiz. It makes a very good point. Love don't need a reason. ;D

[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMyHdZXn1s0[/youtube]

[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsXS1UCnvoU[/youtube]

[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wlwCTqFeUk&feature=related[/youtube]
Title: Re: A Sonnet for Jack
Post by: southendmd on March 16, 2012, 01:16:48 pm: "Love Don't Need a Reason" was written by Peter Allen, Michael Callen and Marsha Malamet

If your heart always did
What a normal heart should do
If you always play a part
Instead of being who you really are

Then you might just miss
The one who's standing there
So instead of passing by
Show him that you care
Instead asking why
Why me? And why you?
Why not we two?

'Cause love don't need a reason
Love don't always rhyme
And love is all we have for now
What we don't have is time

If we always believe
All the madness that we're taught
Never questioning the rules
Then we're living lies we bought so long ago
How are they to know?

It's not who's wrong or right
It's just another way
And I don't wanna fight
But know I'm gonna stay with you till the end
With you my friend

'Cause love don't need a reason
Love don't always rhyme
And love is all we have for now
What we don't have is time

I'll hold you close
Time can't tear us apart
Forever, I will stand by you
We've got to start with the beat of one heart
Together, we will see this through

'Cause love don't need a reason
Love's never a crime
And love is all we have for now
What we don't have
What we don't have is time
Title: Re: A Sonnet for Jack
Post by: SuperDistortion on March 16, 2012, 06:25:52 pm: Whenever I'm alone with you
You make me feel like i am home again
Whenever I'm alone with you
You make me feel like i am whole again

Whenever I'm alone with you
You make me feel like i am young again
Whenever I'm alone with you
You make me feel like i am fun again

However far away i will always love you
However long i stay i will always love you
Whatever words i say i will always love you
i will always love you

Whenever I'm alone with you
You make me feel like i am free again
Whenever I'm alone with you
You make me feel like i am clean again

However far away i will always love you
However long i stay i will always love you
Whatever words i say i will always love you
I will always.....love you

--- The Cure