Camille Poem by Ted L Glines

Camille
by Ted L Glines

Lady of the Camellias
ailing lovely courtesan - blue lady - weeping in the wind
dukes and counts paid for her
yet she loved Armand - a commoner - for free.

oh the heartsick pathos of her love
forever doomed to crave what cannot be.

torn between her 'proper' place and mellow love
her heart loved Armand - her 'station' said no
ever trapped in a rain of loss and tears.

Camille's lovers wore the purple
at the gilded hearth of the elite,
meanwhile her hopeful common lover
embraced his dreams - intuition saying no,
lost - a mournful whistle in a tuneless disarray,
last scene - Armand threw jealous cash at her,
insulted vengeful love - showing he could pay,
a wreath of camellias - sadly wilting now
signs her curtain call in memory to this day.


Author's Notes: 'Lady of the Camellias, ' a joyful/sad work by Alexandre Dumas (the younger) , spun the tale of a French courtesan who was loved by dukes and counts, but who loved a commoner, Armand. She was made to promise not to see Armand for reasons of protecting him and his sister's reputations. Armand was devastated, and her promise was impossible. She was dying of tuberculosis and from the poison of an ill fated love. Fortune was not kind to her. The Dumas play was later poorly imitated in 'Moulin Rouge.'