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Heathcliff on his deathbed

I’m coming to you, Catherine, dear,
Together we shall ravage this moor
With the fire of our passions.
We shall share these heights with none
Other than the creatures of the night
Whose grit and cheek match ours.

How long and terrible a vigil did
You demand from this your mate!
And wait did I, like a lump of coal
In the womb of the earth, for a birth.
This death is my birth:
To our dark nights, our paradise.

Our paradise!
Where fire shall purge fire
Into the brightest flame
That tempers coal into diamond.
Then shall be my rebirth, and yours,
And of the night.


Note: Heathcliff is the protagonist of Emile Bronte’s novel, Wuthering Heights.

Comments

  1. SunitaOctober 11, 2014 at 11:12 AM

    Heathcliff caught my attention while surfing Indiblogger. Brilliantly expressed. My favourite lines"And wait did I, like a lump of coal
    In the womb of the earth, for a birth."

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalOctober 11, 2014 at 12:04 PM

      Most welcome here, Sunita. I'm sure you'll find something worthwhile each time you drop in :)

      Delete
  2. Abhijit RayOctober 11, 2014 at 3:23 PM

    In death Heathcliff will attain his paradise. Nice.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalOctober 11, 2014 at 7:09 PM

      Not paradise, Abhijit. I tried to be true to the novel's spirit according to which paradise will come later, after the polishing that the souls have to go through like coal (carbon compound) becoming diamond (another carbon compound). But I don't believe in life after death. So the message is for this life: we, here in this given condition, have to do the polishing.

      Delete
  3. Datta GhoshOctober 15, 2014 at 1:43 PM

    Oh Heathcliff and Catherine I just cannot get enough of Wuthering Heights....you just expressed so beautifully that was ever existent since Heathcliff and Catherine first came together as children

    ReplyDelete

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