Monday, September 21, 2009

my last duchess

Dear Jone:

How are you lately? For me I never feel so good for years. Erevything seems undercontrol now and I would love to invite you to visit my last Duchess painting. Surely you remember her, right? She simled to you last time when we met, yes, she was always so happy, smiled to every man. But now she can only smile to the one I allowed since there's a curtain I put for her and can only be drawn by me!

Do you remember last time we met? We were riding round the the trrrace. She was so joyful, liked whatever she looked on and her looks went everywhere.Just before we met you some officious fool broke the bough of cherries for her, she was over-joyed and thanked him, oh she thanked everyman and treat their stupid gifts as the same as my nine-hunderd-years-old name, I cannot stand for that, I wanted to lecture her what she did disgust me, what she had missed and what she exceed! But I didn't, it's such a shame for me to lucture her! Then you passed, she smiled to you, to everyman passed, here I was overbared, I commanded, the smile has to be stoped!

Then it stoped, here she is under my full control as an image on the wall. She cannot play the coquette; she cannot protest or disobey my commands; she cannot do anything except smile out at me and to anyone else I allows to view the portrait. Please come and visit the painting and she will smile to you again!

The Duke

1 comment:

  1. A truly bitter and mad duke you made here - good. I think you sometimes use too much of the poem's original language, which doesn't fit in so well with your prose text, so another rewrite into more plain language all the way through would be a good idea...

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