John Keats

You may remember these 'Bright Star' zippered pouches that I made. I used the original manuscripts that are in John Keats' own handwriting. At the time I worried that no one else would like them, but they sold fairly quickly. I am thinking of making another set of pouches using the manuscript for 'Ode to A Nightingale' or one of the letters that John wrote to his fiancee, Fanny Brawne.

Below is a photo of the Engagement Ring that John Keats gave to Fanny Brawne.



I found this ring on Etsy. It's silver, not gold, but it is similar to the original ring up above.



There aren't too many John Keats related items on Etsy, but I did find these John Keats Buttons that are pretty cool.

Bright Star

Remember my previous post regarding Bright Star? I finally saw it last night. It actually arrived from Netflix on Tuesday, and I have been slowly dying all week while waiting for the chance to watch it.

It is a wonderful movie. Very well acted. I've only seen Abbie Cornish in Stop-Loss, and Ben Whishaw in Brideshead Revisited, but they are both perfect for the parts of Fanny Brawne and John Keats. The dialogue alone is worth seeing this movie for - almost every word between Fanny and Keats has deep meaning, and much of it comes directly from Keats' poems and letters.

The movie is slow at times, but I thought the beautiful cinematography more than made up for the lack of 'action'. The movie flows like Keats' poetry, it has a dreamlike quality, with very touching scenes of Fanny and Keats wandering through the countryside and meadows filled with wildflowers, longing for each other and dreaming together.

Maybe I like the movie so much because I have read the real story of Fanny and Keats. It is both sad and tragic, and I can't help but feel for their situation. And even though I knew how the end would come, I was still deeply upset. Be sure to listen to Ben Whishaw reciting "Ode to a Nightingale" during the closing credits. It's mesmerizing.