LILLIE (Inspired by the TV performance of Francesca Annis)

Posted by Admin on 6 July 2008, 12:00 am

Where other, more proficient pens,
by use of pure hyperbole,
have failed to represent in words
your beauty, humour, grace, and charm,
dare I attempt to vie – compete
with Oscar’s ‘Helen’?
An ‘ivory tower’, a ‘rose of fire’ –
how out-of-date his phrases seem!
Yet what superlatives describe
the magic we have seen?
Enchantress – nothing else connotes
allure to draw a Belgian king,
two brothers of Victoria’s line,
and Rudolph, heir to Austria’s throne,
who, primed with love or lust, aspired,
one prince to kiss your hand, the rest
to share your bed – connotes as well
that spell which set the artists and
the poets at your feet.
Now, posthumously offered, comes
a simple tribute of my own.
Supreme hetaera of your day,
accept another heart!